معرفی
Marta Zaniolo serves as an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University since January 2024, addressing critical water sustainability challenges through integrated hydrology, machine learning, and systems modeling approaches. Her work focuses on ensuring equitable water access amid climate change, scarcity, and competing demands across diverse spatial scales.
Her academic foundation includes:
- B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (2014)
- M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (2017)
- Ph.D. in Information Technology (Environmental Intelligence Lab) from Politecnico di Milano (2020)
- Postdoctoral Research at Stanford University (2020-2023)
Dr. Zaniolo's research integrates water resources planning, drought modeling, and climate adaptation with cutting-edge machine learning techniques including reinforcement learning and feature extraction. The ZEDD Lab develops computational models that synthesize climate, hydrological, and socio-economic data to enhance decision-making for water security. Her work emphasizes real-world applicability through stakeholder engagement and participatory design, particularly in vulnerable regions like the Omo-Turkana basin where mismanaged infrastructure operations can trigger socio-ecological conflicts.
Analysis of her 2021-2025 publications reveals three dominant research trajectories: (1) development of synthetic weather generators (e.g., FIND model) for precise drought characterization, (2) neuro-evolutionary algorithms for multi-objective reservoir control under climate uncertainty, and (3) quantification of flexibility value in water infrastructure planning. These studies consistently bridge technical innovation with equity considerations, particularly in transboundary water systems.
She leads the Zaniolo Lab for Environmental Data and Decisions (ZEDD Lab), which operates at the intersection of hydrology, systems modeling, and machine learning. The lab's framework combines computational water system dynamics with stakeholder-inclusive approaches to develop decision support tools for extreme event preparedness. Current projects focus on urban drought resilience, dam reoperation strategies for climate extremes, and heat-substance use risk intersections in rural communities, all grounded in case studies spanning California, Ethiopia, and the American South.
