Rafael J.P. Schmitt

Rafael J.P. Schmitt is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Environmental Studies Program, focusing on river systems, sustainable water infrastructure, and the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus. He leverages expertise in hydrology, geomorphology, and information technology to address environmental challenges through interdisciplinary research. Previously, he led Stanford's Natural Capital Project water research program and holds a PhD in Information Technology from Politecnico di Milano.

Education:

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University (2017-2020)
• PhD, Politecnico di Milano (2017)
• M.Sc. Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich (2013)
• B.Sc. Environmental Science, ETH Zurich (2009)

Research Interests: His work spans river catchment processes, sediment dynamics, hydropower sustainability, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation. He develops models to quantify human impacts on river networks and designs strategies for low-impact infrastructure development in global basins like the Mekong and Amazon.

Publications: Recent articles (2023-2025) focus on sustainable hydropower, sediment management, climate-smart agriculture, and renewable energy integration, emphasizing tradeoff analysis and system-scale solutions for river basins worldwide.

Teaching: Courses include ENV144: Rivers and ENV194WW Water Collaboratory, emphasizing river science and interdisciplinary water management.

Lab: Leads the Schmitt Lab for River System Science and Sustainability (RS3), advancing models for river processes and strategic environmental planning.