The American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE) was founded in 2004 to broaden and deepen the body of knowledge for practicing engineers and advance civil engineering standards. The AAWRE Outstanding Practitioner in Water Resources Engineering Award was established in 2013 to recognize a Diplomate who made significant contributions to the environmental or water resources engineering disciplines through engineering practice. For 2022, AAWRE selected Dr. Tirusew Asefa as the Outstanding Practitioner in Water Resources Engineering.
Asefa has over 20 years of experience producing innovative tools to advance urban water resources resilience. His tools focus on uncertainty, risk & reliability, and climate change impact assessment & adaptation approaches. Dr. Asefa is an expert in applied research and large-scale field application of decision-making. He has written over 45 peer-reviewed articles and over 100 book chapters, manuals, and reports on water resources operation, planning, and management. He has some developed tools highlighted by the Whitehouse Initiative’s Climate Resilience Toolkit.
Asefa leads the modeling & decision support group at Tampa Bay Water, one of the largest water supply utilities in the southeastern U.S. He is also part of a Fulbright Specialist Program roster. This prestigious program links highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals to their counterparts at host institutions abroad. Dr. Asefa is the chair of the Florida Water and Climate Alliance, where he guides the group’s effort in enhancing stakeholder-scientist partnership. The partnership is dedicated to boosting climate science, data, and tools to support Florida’s water resources management, planning, and operational decision-making.
