Curriculum Vitae
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). My research interests center on 1) hydroclimatology with a focus on drought mechanisms and predictability, 2) disaster informatics, particularly social response to water-related disasters from the lens of Big Data such as Google Trends, Twitter, and other socioeconomic data, 3) hybrid (AI-deterministic) hydrologic and water use modeling, including anthropogenic processes, at multi-scales. During my Ph.D. study at Princeton University (2010-2015), I investigated the risk and predictability of U.S. drought at multi-scales using observational data, reanalysis products, climate model forecasts and projections. During my postdoc at GFDL/NOAA (2015-2017), I conducted a rapid event assessment of detection and attribution of recent climatic extremes using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Models. After joining the University of Alabama as a faculty member in 2017, I was interested in understanding of how the U.S. society responds change at the state- and national-levels during the emergence of a drought via social big monitoring data, such as Twitter/X and Google Trends. After moving to Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea in 2020, I have been interested in application of AI to investigate hidden patterns of social behavior in big data. Recently, I have investigated sentimental alterations in Alabamians' reports of water pollution complaints using over 10,000 of citizen's complaints over 2012-2021 and time-varying impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on online search activities relating to shopping items in South Korea. My past transdisciplinary research experience reinforced my interest into the coupled dynamics of physical-social systems.
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
C. HONORS AND AWARDS
2024: Outstanding Paper Award (Oral), The 20204 Korean Water Resources Association Conference
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):
2024: Eunmi Lee (PhD candidate): A Recipient of the Outstanding Presentation Award (Oral), The 2024 Korean Water Resources Association Conference
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)
Advisory Panel: Environmental Research Letters (2024-2025)
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: Science, 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