Tirtha Banerjee

Tirtha Banerjee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine. He leads the Boundary Layers and Turbulence (BLT) Lab, focusing on atmosphere-ecosystem interactions through turbulence and eddy motions. His research spans atmospheric boundary layer dynamics, wildfire behavior, and fluid dynamics in natural environments.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Environmental Science, 2015, Duke University
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, 2011, Jadavpur University

Banerjee’s research investigates scalar, momentum, and energy exchanges between the atmosphere and ecosystems (land, vegetation, water) using theoretical, numerical, and experimental approaches. Key areas include turbulent fluid dynamics, wildfire-atmosphere interactions, and vegetation-atmosphere coupling. His recent publications analyze firebrand kinematics, turbulence anisotropy, and WRF model performance during wildfires.

His lab has received recognition from major institutions, including support from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Notable awards include the Chick Keller Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017) and Director’s Fellowship (2018) at LANL. He also serves as Associate Editor for Earth Systems and Environment (Springer).