Civil and Environmental Engineering

Profile Summary

Our research group creatively addresses critical water resources management challenges in local to international trans-boundary capacities through stakeholder and decision-maker collaborations.  We work at the intersection of engineering and socio-economics to enhance management, adaptation, and sustainability of water resources by leveraging across the sciences.  Our research themes are centered on a systems-based approach, bridging models and methods across climate science, hydrology, management, the environment, economics, and policy.

Profile Summary

Our research group creatively addresses critical water resources management challenges in local to international trans-boundary capacities through stakeholder and decision-maker collaborations.  We work at the intersection of engineering and socio-economics to enhance management, adaptation, and sustainability of water resources by leveraging across the sciences.  Our research themes are centered on a systems-based approach, bridging models and methods across climate science, hydrology, management, the environment, economics, and policy.

Education

- PhD, University of Colorado - Boulder, 2006

- MS, University of Colorado - Boulder, 2004

- BS, Valparaiso University, 1995

Research Interests

- Methods, models, and tools for managing climate variability and change

- Hydrologic forecasting and integration into decision models

- Addressing water quality and quantity extremes

- Hydro-economics and policy mechanisms

- Risk, reliability, and uncertainty

- Sustainable approaches

Awards, Honors and Societies

- American Society of Civil Engineers\' Environmental and Water Resources Institute: International Committee (secretary) and Systems Committee (member)

- American Geophysical Union

- Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management Associate Editor

- Best Reviewer Award, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

- DISCCRS Scholar (Dissertation Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research)

- Licensed Professional Engineer

Publications

Peer-reviewd Publications:                                                                                                                   

Block, P., and L. Goddard, 2012: Statistical and Dynamical Climate Predictions to Guide Water Resources in Ethiopia, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 138(3): 287-298.

Block, P., and K. Strzepek, 2012: Power Ahead: Meeting Ethiopia’s Energy Needs Under a Changing Climate, Review of Development Economics 16(3): 476-488.

Block, P., 2011: Tailoring seasonal climate forecasts for hydropower operations, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 15: 1355-1368.

Kwon, H-H, F.A. Souza Filho, P. Block, L. Sun, U. Lall, D.S. Reis Jr., 2011: Uncertainty Assessment of Hydrologic and Climate Forecast Models in Northern Brazil, Hydrological Processes, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8433.

Block, P., and K. Strzepek, 2010:  Economic Analysis of Large-scale Upstream River Basin Development on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia Considering Transient Conditions, Climate Variability, and Climate Change, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 136(2): 156-166.

Block, P., A. Souza Filho, L. Sun, and H. Kwon, 2009:  A Streamflow Forecasting Framework using Multiple Climate and Hydrological Models, Journal of the American Water Resources Association 45(4): 828-843.

Block, P., and B. Rajagopalan, 2009:  Statistical-Dynamical Approach for Streamflow Modeling at Malakal, Sudan, on the White Nile River, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 14(2): 185-196.

Block, P., K. Strzepek, M. Rosegrant, and X. Diao, 2008:  Impacts of Considering Climate Variability on Investment Decisions in Ethiopia, Journal of Agricultural Economics 39: 171-181.

Morin, J., P. Block, B. Rajagopalan and M. Clark, 2008:  Identification of Large Scale Climate Patterns Affecting Snow Variability in the Eastern United States, International Journal of Climatology, 28(3): 315-328.

Block, P., and B. Rajagopalan, 2007:  Interannual Variability and Ensemble Forecast of Upper Blue Nile Basin Kiremt Season Precipitation, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 8(3): 327-343.

Other Publications:                                                                                                                                

Cervigni, R. and co-authors, 2010: The Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change: Ethiopia, The World Bank: Washington D.C., 96 pages.

Block, P. and C. Brown, 2009:  Does Climate Matter? Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on Future Ethiopian Hydropower, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaption. Proceedings of the Third Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, United States Geological Survey, R. Webb and D. Semmens, editors.

Baroang, K. M., M. Hellmuth, and P. Block, 2009: Identifying uncertainty and defining risk in the context of the WWDR-4. Discussion Paper prepared for the United Nations World Water Assessment Program, Perugia, Italy, 33 pages.

Block, P., 2008:  An Assessment of Investments in Agriculture and Transportation Infrastructure, Energy, and Hydroclimatic Forecasting to Mitigate the Effects of Hydrologic Variability in Ethiopia, CPWF Working Paper 01, The CGIAF Challenge Program on Water and Food, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 53 pages.

Block, P., K. Strzepek, and B. Rajagopalan, 2007: Integrated management of the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia: Hydropower and irrigation modeling, IFPRI Discussion Paper 700, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): Washington, D.C., 25 pages.

Sadoff, C. and co-authors, 2006: Ethiopia: Managing water resources to maximize sustainable growth, A World Bank Water Resources Assistance Strategy for Ethiopia, The World Bank: Washington D.C., 73 pages.

Block, P., K. Strzepek, M. Rosegrant, and X. Diao, 2006:  Impacts of considering climate variability on investment decisions in Ethiopia, EPT Discussion Paper 150, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): Washington, D.C., 38 pages.

Courses

Summer 2015

• CIVENGR 919 - Seminar-Hydraulic Engineering and Fluid Mechanics

Profile Summary

Our research group creatively addresses critical water resources management challenges in local to international trans-boundary capacities through stakeholder and decision-maker collaborations.  We work at the intersection of engineering and socio-economics to enhance management, adaptation, and sustainability of water resources by leveraging across the sciences.  Our research themes are centered on a systems-based approach, bridging models and methods across climate science, hydrology, management, the environment, economics, and policy.