Bio
Giriraj Amarnath is Principal Researcher – Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience and Research Group Leader – Water Risks to Development and Resilience at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has over 20 years’ experience of identifying, managing, and scaling-up climate resilience and adaptation projects and programs in partnership with governments, NGOs, communities, and the private sector across more than 25 countries. Giriraj’s key expertise lies in developing innovative digital applications and platforms to support nations to reduce risk from climate hazards; examples include the South Asia Drought Monitoring System, Earth Observation data for Agriculture Risk Management, and GeoGoviya smart farming platform.
Currently, Giriraj is leading an innovative climate resilience program to promote anticipatory action to mitigate climate shocks. This has involved developing a climate-smart governance dashboard that uses satellite and other data to warn of coming floods and droughts, and promotes early provision of finance for national adaptation planning in Africa and Asia. Giriraj’s expertise has been recognized through invitations to contribute to many global to regional networks, and committees. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Remote Sensing and Natural Resources Management, and is a Visiting Professor at Symbiosis Institute of Geoinformatics, in Pune, India. He has published over 85 research papers spanning disciplines including agriculture, water, disaster risk management and forests.
Research Interests
determining regionally-specific (e.g. catchment scale) impacts of climate variability and/or change
seasonal/interannual climate & hydrological forecasting
extreme event (e.g. flood, drought, forest fire) risk analysis
climate change effects on agriculture and food security
climate extremes and health risks
developing frameworks and innovative solutions to short and long-term adaptation strategies for transformative adaptation
drought and the future of rural communities
digital for climate adaptation and resilience of vulnerable communities
implementing climate change awareness and training programs.
Contact
Principal Researcher - Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience; Research Group Leader: Water Risk to Development and Resilience (WRDR) and CGIAR Climate Resilience G4R Work Stream Lead
Email: a.giriraj@cgiar.org | gudugiri@gmail.com
Research Appointments
Principal Researcher – Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience, IWMI (July 2021 - present)
Research Group Leader: Water Risks to Resilience and Development (WRDR), IWMI (Jan 2016 - Mar 2024)
CGIAR Climate Resilience Initiative, G4R Lead (Jan 2022 - present)
CGIAR Climate Resilience, Country lead Zambia (Jan 2022 - present)
Senior Researcher, Water Risks and Disasters, IWMI (2015 - 2021)
Drought Early Warning Specialist, World Bank (2020 - 2021)
Senior Researcher – Remote Sensing and Water Resources, IWMI (2011 - 2014)
Remote Sensing Specialist, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal (2009 - 2011)
Research Associate, University of Bayreuth, Germany (2007 - 2008)
Honors & Awards
2024 National Project Management Excellence Awards in Sri Lanka under Best Digitalization Process Category for the development of CGIAR Climate Smart Governance Dashboard
2023 National Project Management Excellence Awards in Sri Lanka for its Earth Observation for Agricultural Risk Management (EO4ARM) application
2020 World Geospatial Excellence Award, Geospatial World
2020 GEO Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Award, Group of Earth Observation
2017 Best Poster Award, World Bosai Forum
2017 Research Publication Merit Award by National Research Council (NRC), Government of Sri Lanka
2016 Best poster award IDRA ” for “Potenziale dei dati satellitari per la previsione delle piene nel Fiume Benue in Nigeria“, by Tarpanelli A., Amarnath G., Brocca L., Massari C., Barbetta S. and Moramarco T. in the macro-theme “Monitoring, open-date and free software”
2015 International Young Agricultural Researchers (JIRCAS - Japan)
2004 Best Paper Award, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India
2004 Best Poster Award, Indian Science Congress Association
2003 Indian Young Scientist Award by Indian Science Congress Association
Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
International Reviewer for CDRI Fellowship Programme 2024-2025
Member of Advisory Group, Sentinel Asia Steering Committee
Flood Working Group Chair, Asia Pacific Space Agency Forum (APRSAF)
Indian Society of Remote Sensing
SPIE the international society for optics and photonics
International Association of Hydrological Sciences
American Geophysical Union
Professional Education
Ph.D., Applied Remote Sensing, National Remote Sensing Centre, India (2003)
M.Sc., Geoinformatics, Indian Institute of Tropical Ecology, India (2006)
M.Sc, Botany, Madras Chrisitan College, India (1999)
B.Sc., Botany, Madras Chrisitan College, India (1997)