May 10, 2022
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Thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship, Xixi Wang, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will spend four months in Australia collaborating with researchers from the (CAWS) at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ of Canberra.
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Wang, whose research focuses on hydrology, hydraulics and water resources, had already developed a dryland ecohydrologic model that can simulate water-soil-vegetation interactions as influenced by climate variation and livestock grazing.
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He will work with researchers on the application and refinement of the model based on the Australian dryland ecosystem.
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"Most of the Australian territory consists of drylands with a drying trend resulting from climate change and anthropogenic activity, making it vital to investigate interactive mechanisms of dryland water-soil-vegetation processes and develop a similar model for water resources management decisions," he said.
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Wang notes that dryland ecosystems cover around 45% of the terrestrial land surface and support more than 2.5 billion people.
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"This Fulbright award offers a unique opportunity for me to exchange ideas and thoughts with the peers in Australia, where various types of drylands have a gross area large enough to affect continental or even global climate," Wang said.
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Wang, who came to ODU in 2011, holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from Iowa 91¶ÌÊÓƵ 91¶ÌÊÓƵ and an M.S. in Hydrology and Water Resources from Tsinghua 91¶ÌÊÓƵ.
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