Patrick Reed tells us more about Cornell University

I am Patrick M. Reed, the Joseph C. Ford Professor of Engineering within the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA. Cornell University is a large public and private university that is active across sectors, scales, and interests in water research. Within Cornell, my research group in Decision Analytics for Complex Systems has primary research interests related to sustainable water management given conflicting demands from renewable energy systems, ecosystem services, expanding populations, and climate change.

With whom (other colleagues) from your organization are you taking part in Watershare?

Our environmental and water resources faculty may also be interested in interacting with Watershare members. More information on this faculty.

What can you bring to Watershare and what are you looking for?

Personally, my research group contributes to new decision-making tools for complex engineered water resources systems, considering climate change and human system pressures. Our work explores the trade-offs, vulnerabilities, and dependencies for highly consequential and investment decisions for both cities and regional water infrastructures.

What are you proud of (looking at the activities/achievements of Watershare)

In my eyes, Watershare is an impressive global network that holds a diversity of perspectives, expertise, capabilities, and needs.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for Watershare in 2021?

I do see contextually appropriate management and investment for water systems as a global challenge.

What are your ambitions as a Watershare member?

My ambitions are to learn from the diverse perspectives and capabilities of the network members on the one hand and share our own tools or insights on the other hand.

Coronavirus/Virus research: What opportunities do you see for Watershare members?

Clearly, wastewater monitoring is essential to define mitigative measures. Cornell has an extensive range of capabilities and expertise beyond my group by itself.