Short Biography

Dr. Kam is an associate professor (assistant professor: 01/2020-08/2023) in the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). Before joining POSTECH,  he was an assistant professor the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa from August 2017 through December 2019. Before joining the University of Alabama, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, and a visiting scientist at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory from 2015 through 2017. He completed BSE in Civil Engineering at Purdue University in 2010, and completed his Ph.D. study at Princeton University in 2015. The title of his Ph.D. dissertation is "A Multi-Scale Study of U.S. Drought Risk and Predictability." His research interests center on 1) hydroclimatology with a focus on drought mechanisms and predictability, 2) large-scale hydrologic modeling including anthropogenic processes, and 3) hydrologic forecasts over coupled natural and human systems. Recently, he is interested in 4) disaster informatics, particularly social response to water-related disasters from the lens of Big Data such as Google Trends, Twitter, and other socioeconomic data.

A. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

• Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

        Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2015

        M.A., Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2012

• Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

        B.S.E., with honors, Civil Engineering, 2010

​B. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 09/2023 - present : Associate Professor (tenure track), Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, POSTECH, South Korea

• 01/2020 - 08/2023: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, POSTECH, South Korea

• 03/2020-02/2022: Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence, POSTECH, South Korea

• 01/2020-05/2023: Graduate Faculty, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

• 08/2017 - 12/2019: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

• 04/2015 - 08/2017: Visiting Scientist, Climate Impacts and Extremes Group, NOAA GFDL, Princeton, NJ

• 04/2015 - 08/2017: Postdoctoral Research Associate, The AOS Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

• 09/2010 - 03/2015: Graduate Research Assistant, CEE, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

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C. HONORS AND AWARDS

• 2021: Outstanding Paper Award (Oral), The 2020 Korean Society of Environmental Engineering  Conference

• 2020: IOP Outstanding Reviewer Award for Environmental Research Letters for 2019

• 2013: 1st Place Student Poster Presentation Award, 27th Conference on Hydrology at the 93rd AMS Annual Meeting

(with students and researchers)

at POSTECH (since 2020):

• 2023: Yena Kim (MSE/PhD student): A Recipient of the Outstanding Presentation Award (Oral), The 2023 Korean Water Resources Association Conference

• 2022: Anqi Liu (PhD student): A Recipient of the Excellence Award (Oral), the 2022 Smart Water Grid International Conference

• 2022: Dr. Byeong-Hee Kim (Postdoc. Research Associate): A Recipient of the Outstanding Presentation Award (Oral), The 2022 Korean Water Resources Association Conference

• 2022: Eunmi Lee (MSE/PhD student): A Recipient of the Outstanding Presentation Award (Oral), The 2022 Korean Water Resources Association Conference

At the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (08/2017-12/2019):

• 2020: Sungyoon Kim (PhD student): an awardee of the Alabama Graduate Research Scholars Program (GRSP). This award can amount up to $25,000. 

• 2019: Junho Song (PhD student): a winner of the 1st place Graduate Student Poster Competition at the Alabama Water Institute Symposium 2019 (The award prize is $250).

• 2019: Madden Scuibba (MA student):  a recipient of the Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Science, Technology, and Policy Program

• 2018: Jeffrey Edmondson (MA student):  a recipient of the Lifesavers Traffic Safety Scholars during the 2018 Lifesavers Conference

D. RESEARCH SUPPORT

FUNDED:

At POSTECH, Pohang, South Korea (01/2020-present):

• NRF of Korea: Development of medium- to long-range hydrologic forecasting system for Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River basins  (갠지스-브라마푸트라-메그나 강유역 중장기 수문예보 시스템 개발)

  • • Awarded Amount: 0.2 billion Won (150k US dollars) 

    • Role: Lead-PI

    • Proposed Project Period: 2023-2024

• NRF of Korea: Multi-scale assessment of drought mechanisms and predictability  (가뭄의 생성기작과 예측성에 대한 다중규모 분석)

  • • Awarded Amount: 0.6 million US dollars for 4.5 years (2021-2025; $120k per year)

    • Role: Lead-PI (100%; $120k per year)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2021-2025

• NRF of Korea: Impact of the land and terrestrial ecosystem in East Asia on global/local carbon cycle (동아시아 지면 및 지면 생태계가 탄소순환에 미치는 영향 연구)

  • • Awarded Amount: 0.9 million US dollars for 4.5 years (2021-2025; $200k per year)

    • Role: Lead-PI (50%; $100k per year)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2021-2025

• Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion: A Study of Hydrologic Changes  over the Arctic Ocean and in Marine Ecology in Climate Projections (북극해의 수문학적 변화와 해양 생태 미래 전망에 대한 바른 이해)

  • • Awarded Amount: 0.5 million US dollars for 5.5 years (2021-2026; $100k per year)

    • Role: Lead-PI (50%; $50k per year)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2021-2025

• NRF of Korea: Marine Carbon Variability Monitoring Technology Research Team (해양탄소변동 감시기술연구단)

  • • Awarded Amount: 1.5 million US dollars for three years (2020-2023; $500k per year)

    • Role: Co-PI (30%; $125k per year)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2020-2023 

At the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (08/2017-12/2019):

• UCAR: Center for Remote Sensing of Snow and Soil Moisture Measurements

  • • Awarded Amount: $10 Millions

    • Role: Co-PI (4.5%; $450,000)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2018-2020

• NSF P2C2: Collaborative Research: NSF P2C2-Paleo-perspectives of streamflow variability for Southeastern Interstate Rivers 

  • • Awarded Amount: $348,769.00

    • Role: Co-PI (10%: $34,877)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2018-2021

• EPA GMP: Analyzing Past and Future Trends in Streamflow and Extreme events in Coastal Watersheds of Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwest Florida

  • • Awarded Amount: $299,214.00

    • Role: Co-PI (10%: $29,921)

    • Proposed Project Period: 2017-2020

E. TEACHING

At POSTECH

• EVSE593 Introduction to Environment Big Data (Spring 2021/Spring 2022/Spring 2023)

• EVSE592: Hydroclimaotology (Fall 2020/Fall 2021/Fall 2022)

• EVSE680K: Disaster Informatics (Spring 2021)

At the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (08/2017-12/2019):

• CE591-320 Computational Hydrology (Spring 2018/Fall 2019)

• CE475/575 Hydrology (Fall 2017, 2018, 2019/Spring 2019)

F.  PUBLICATIONS (<-click to see the list of publications)

G. PATENTS

Domestic:

• 오염물질 배출 수준 산정 시스템 및 방법 (Pollutant Emission Concentration Prediction System and Method). 10-2023-0021417. Rep. of Korea. 

H. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

• Editorial Board Member:

Associate Editor:  Weather, Climate, and Society (2019-present)

Reviewer Editor: Frontiers in Water- Water and Built-in Environment Section

• Committee Member:

Korean Meteorological Society: International Cooperation Committee Member (since 11/2019)

• Reviewer

Grants: NSF Hydrologic Sciences ad hoc reviewer (2017)

Peer-reviewed Research Article Journals: Nature Communications, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Atmosphere, Environmental Research Letters, Geophysical Research Letters, Hydrological Sciences, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, Hydrology Research, International Journal of Climatology, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Journal of Hydrometeorology, Journal of Hydrology, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Natural Hazards, PLOS ONE, Water, Water Policy