His paper gave a systems perspective to the complexity and multi-dimensional issues of water management. Appropriate agricultural water management (AWM) is crucial not only for alleviating water scarcity but also for food and nutrition security and healthy ecosystems. The multidimensional nature of AWM and inherently complex feedback among its components requires a systems approach. The paper explored six linked dimensions of AWM. By emphasizing a holistic picture of AWM and interactions among subsystems at many levels, his approach offers the opportunity to scrutinize pros and cons of proposed AWM interventions beyond their direct effects. 

Zhu Tingju joined the ZJU-UIUC Institute at Zhejiang University in December 2018. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (major in Water Resource Systems Engineering and minor in Agricultural and Resource Economics) in 2004. From 2005 to 2018, he worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC as a Postdoctoral Fellow, Senior Scientist and Research Fellow, conducting interdisciplinary research at the interface of hydrology, engineering, and economics for addressing real-world problems concerning sustainable water resource management, food security and associated socioeconomic outcomes under changing environments. He has led and contributed to research projects funded by the World Bank, the US National Science Foundation and other federal agencies of the United States, funding agencies of other OECD countries, and private foundations. Through these research projects he has collaborated with economists, engineers, and natural scientists from academia and governmental research agencies internationally. He has co-advised PhD students in major research universities, serves on committees of professional associations and international conferences as member or co-chair and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management − ASCE. His research has been recognized by the Editors’ Choice Award (2011) of Water Resources Research (WRR), the flagship water journal of the American Geophysical Union and the INFORMS ENRE Best Publication Award in Natural Resources (2018), among others. He co-chairs the INFORMS ENRE Award Committee for 2020.

Article | ZHU Xinran

Photo | ZHU Tingju provided