Ananth Wuppukondur
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Kalam Postdoctoral Research Fellowships |
| Project Title: | Improving coastal resilience under changing climate in India and USA: through hydrodynamic modelling of extreme flow interaction with mangroves and creation of US-ICoN (US-India Coastal Nature based solution) knowledge network |
| Field of Study: | Climate |
| Home Institution: | Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh |
| Host Institution: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA |
| Grant Start Month: | February 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Twelve months |
Brief Bio:
Dr. Ananth Wuppukondur is currently Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad (MNNIT), Uttar Pradesh. His research interests are in Coastal and Hydraulic Engineering, focusing on understanding the physics of natural hazards in coastal and riverine environments and exploring nature-based solutions for protection under changing climate. Prior to joining MNNIT, he was a postdoctoral scholar in a NASA-funded research project at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
Dr Wuppukondur holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, and a master’s degree in Hydraulic Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He later obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. His research contributions in restoring the Great Barrier Reef have been published in BBC’s Unlocking Science series.
During his term as a Fulbright-Kalam Fellow at MIT, Dr. Wuppukondur is quantifying the role of mangrove forests in coastal protection and establishing a knowledge network between India and USA for using mangroves as a nature-based solution to diminish the flooding associated with storm surges. Coastal communities in India and USA are adversely impacted by the increasing intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones due to climate change. The results of this work will improve assessment of coastal flood risk and help in disaster mitigation and management in both countries.