Sustainable Minerals Institute

Babak Zolghadr-Asli

PhD Candidate
CWiMI
Babak is undertaking his PhD remotely from Exeter
Babak Zolghadr-Asli

Maximising the benefits of desalinated seawater supply networks for agricultural sustainability

Babak Zolghadr-Asli's primary research interest is to incorporate the idea of computational and artificial intelligence (e.g., optimisation, data mining, machine learning, etc.) and decision-making paradigms to tackle the challenges that are acquitted with sustainable management of water resources, such as the potential impacts of climate change. These would help us move toward more robust decision-making frameworks that can address the economic, environmental, and technical aspects of water engineering by shedding light on the energy-water-food nexus role of water.
Babak is a joint-PhD student under the QUEX program working at Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia, and The Centre for Water Systems (CWS), The University of Exeter, UK.

Biography

Babak started his education in water engineering back in 2009 and received his BSc in 2013 from Shiraz University, Iran. He then pursued his education as a water resources engineer and obtained his master's degree from the University of Tehran, Iran in 2017. To this day, he has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in renowned scientific journals including Nature's Scientific Reports. He also co-authored a book entitled "A Handbook on Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Methods." Babak's project entitled "Computational Intelligence for Water and Environmental Sciences" would be published by Springer in mid-2022 where he served as a co-editor of a book series for "Studies in Computational Intelligence."

Babak has received the outstanding researcher award in “the 26th Research Festival”, University of Tehran (2017); Outstanding student award in “the 8th International Festival and Exhibition”, University of Tehran (2018); Outstanding MSc thesis award in “the 5th National Festival of Environment”, Tehran Iran (2018); Winner of the “Prof. Alireza Sepaskhah” 1st Scientific Award in water engineering [Shiraz University] (2019). In addition to these, he has been awarded the Excellent Reviewer, Journal of Hydro Science & Marine Engineering (2020). 

Industry

Babak has helped the Faculty of university of Tehran's water resources engineering department as Research and teaching assistant from September 2016 to March 2021.

Collaborations

As an active researcher in the field of water resources management and hydro informatics, Babak has collaborated with a lot of renowned researchers around the globe, including but not limited to the University of California, Texas A&M University, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, North Dakota State University, Texas State University, University of South Carolina. These research ideas usually centre around the application of computational intelligence, decision-making paradigms, and statistical models to tackle water resources problems such as climate change uncertainty and impacts assessments.

Funding

QUEX

Supervisors

Professor Neil McIntyre, Dr Liliana Pagliero, Raziyeh Farmani (Exeter University); and Slobodan Djordjević (Exeter University).

Publications

Books (2)
Book Chapters (13)
Journal Articles (33)
Conference Paper (1)

Books

Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2023). Computational intelligence-based optimization algorithms: From theory to practice. Boca Raton, FL United States: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/9781003424765
Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Loáiciga, Hugo A. and Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2021). A handbook on multi-attribute decision-making methods. Hoboken, NJ USA: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781119563501

Book Chapters

Ferdowsi, Ahmad, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Mousavi, Sayad-Farhad and Behzadian, Kourosh (2023). Flood risk management through multi-criteria decision-making: a review. Multi-criteria decision analysis: case studies in disaster management. (pp. 43-54) edited by Muhammet Gul, Melih Yucesan and Melike Erdogan. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/9781003212904-4
Yaghoubzadeh-Bavandpour, Arya, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Martínez-Álvarez, Francisco (2022). Deep learning application in water and environmental sciences. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 273-290) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_13
Yaghoubzadeh-Bavandpour, Arya, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Gandomi, Amir H. (2022). Improving approaches for meta-heuristic algorithms: a brief overview. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 35-61) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_2
Enayati, Maedeh, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Pourgholam-Amiji, Masoud, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Tahmasebi Nasab, Mohsen (2022). Decision Tree (DT): a valuable tool for water resources engineering. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 201-223) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature . doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_10
Yaghoubzadeh-Bavandpour, Arya, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Reza Nikoo, Mohammad (2022). Multi-objective optimization application in water and environmental sciences. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 63-83) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature . doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_3
Arefinia, Ali, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Oliazadeh, Arman, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Keller, Arturo A. (2022). Firefly Algorithms (FAs): application in water resource systems. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 103-118) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature . doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_5
Yaghoubzadeh-Bavandpour, Arya, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Singh, Vijay P. (2022). Computational intelligence: an introduction. Computational intelligence for water and environmental sciences. (pp. 411-427) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_19
Arefinia, Ali, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Akhavan, Milad, Baghbani, Ramin, Heidary, Alireza, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Chang, Heejun (2022). Using Support Vector Machine (SVM) in modeling water resources systems. Computational Intelligence for Water and Environmental Sciences. (pp. 179-199) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad and Babak Zolghadr-Asli. Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-2519-1_9
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and van Cauwenbergh, Nora (2021). Multi-attribute decision-making: a view of the world of decision-making. Essential tools for water resources analysis, planning, and management. (pp. 305-322) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad. Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-33-4295-8_12
Jahromi, Mojtaba Naghdyzadegan, Jahromi, Maryam Naghdizadegan, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Pourghasemi, Hamid Reza and Alavipanah, Seyed Kazem (2021). Google Earth Engine and its application in forest sciences. Spatial modeling in forest resources management: rural livelihood and sustainable development. (pp. 629-649) edited by Pravat Kumar Shit, Hamid Reza Pourghasemi, Pulakesh Das and Gouri Sankar Bhunia. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-56542-8_27
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2018). Dragonfly algorithm (DA). Advanced optimization by nature-inspired algorithms. (pp. 151-159) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad. Singapore, Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-5221-7_15
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2018). Krill herd algorithm (KHA). Advanced optimization by nature-inspired algorithms. (pp. 69-79) edited by Omid Bozorg-Haddad. Singapore, Singapore: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-5221-7_8
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2017). Crow Search Algorithm (CSA). Advanced optimization by nature-inspired algorithms. (pp. 143-149) Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-5221-7_14

Journal Articles

Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Ferdowsi, Ahmad and Savic, Dragan (2024). A call for a fundamental shift from model-centric to data-centric approaches in hydroinformatics. Cambridge Prisms: Water, 2 e7, 1-16. doi: 10.1017/wat.2024.5
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, McIntyre, Neil, Djordjevic, Slobodan, Farmani, Raziyeh, Pagliero, Liliana, Martínez-Alvarez, Victoriano and Maestre-Valero, José F. (2023). A review of limitations and potentials of desalination as a sustainable source of water. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30 (56), 118161-118174. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30662-x
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, McIntyre, Neil, Djordjevic, Slobodan, Farmani, Raziyeh and Pagliero, Liliana (2023). The sustainability of desalination as a remedy to the water crisis in the agriculture sector: an analysis from the climate-water-energy-food nexus perspective. Agricultural Water Management, 286 108407, 108407. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108407
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, McIntyre, Neil, Djordjević, Slobodan, Farmani, Raziyeh and Pagliero, Liliana (2023). A closer look at the history of the desalination industry: the evolution of the practice of desalination through the course of time. Water Supply, 23 (6), 2517-2526. doi: 10.2166/ws.2023.135
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Naghdyzadegan Jahromi, Mojtaba, Wan, Xi, Enayati, Maedeh, Naghdizadegan Jahromi, Maryam, Tahmasebi Nasab, Mohsen, Tiefenbacher, John P. and Pourghasemi, Hamid Reza (2023). Uncovering the depletion patterns of inland water bodies via remote sensing, data mining, and statistical analysis. Water, 15 (8) 1508. doi: 10.3390/w15081508
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2023). No-free-lunch-theorem: a page taken from the computational intelligence for water resources planning and management. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30 (20), 57212-57218. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-26300-1
Arefinia, Ali, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Ahmadaali, Khaled, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2022). Cropping patterns based on virtual water content considering water and food security under climate change conditions. Natural Hazards, 114 (2), 1709-1721. doi: 10.1007/s11069-022-05443-3
Yaghoubzadeh-Bavandpour, Arya, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Rajabi, Mohammadreza, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Chu, Xuefeng (2022). Application of swarm intelligence and evolutionary computation algorithms for optimal reservoir operation. Water Resources Management, 36 (7), 2275-2292. doi: 10.1007/s11269-022-03141-0
Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Dehghan, Paniz, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Singh, Vijay P., Chu, Xuefeng and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2022). System dynamics modeling of lake water management under climate change. Scientific Reports, 12 (1) 5828, 5828. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09212-x
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Enayati, Maedeh and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2022). Sensitivity of non-conditional climatic variables to climate-change deep uncertainty using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation. Scientific Reports, 12 (1) 1813, 1813. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05643-8
Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2022). Preface. Studies in Computational Intelligence, 1043, v-vi. doi: 10.2166/9781789062144_xvii
Enayati, Maedeh, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Fallah-Mehdipour, Elahe, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Chu, Xuefeng (2021). A robust multiple-objective decision-making paradigm based on the water–energy–food security nexus under changing climate uncertainties. Scientific Reports, 11 (1) 20927. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99637-7
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Enayati, Maedeh, Pourghasemi, Hamid Reza, Naghdyzadegan Jahromi, Mojtaba and Tiefenbacher, John P. (2021). Application of Granger-causality to study the climate change impacts on depletion patterns of inland water bodies. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 66 (12), 1767-1776. doi: 10.1080/02626667.2021.1944633
Arefinia, Ali, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Ahmadaali, Khaled, Bazrafshan, Javad, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Chu, Xuefeng (2021). Estimation of geographical variations in virtual water content and crop yield under climate change: comparison of three data mining approaches. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24 (6), 8378-8396. doi: 10.1007/s10668-021-01788-0
Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Chu, Xuefeng and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2021). Intense extreme hydro-climatic events take a toll on society. Natural Hazards, 108 (2), 2385-2391. doi: 10.1007/s11069-021-04749-y
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Enayati, Maedeh and Chu, Xuefeng (2021). A review of 20-year applications of multi-attribute decision-making in environmental and water resources planning and management. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23 (10), 14379-14404. doi: 10.1007/s10668-021-01278-3
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Enayati, Maedeh, Pourghasemi, Hamid Reza, Jahromi, Mojtaba Naghdyzadegan and Tiefenbacher, John P. (2021). A linear/non-linear hybrid time-series model to investigate the depletion of inland water bodies. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23 (7), 10727-10742. doi: 10.1007/s10668-020-01081-6
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Enayati, Maedeh and Goharian, Erfan (2020). Developing a robust multi-attribute decision-making framework to evaluate performance of water system design and planning under climate change. Water Resources Management, 35 (1), 279-298. doi: 10.1007/s11269-020-02725-y
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Behrooz-Koohenjani, Siavash (2020). Adverse impacts of climate change in Maharlou Lake Basin, Iran. Hydro Science & Marine Engineering, 2 (1). doi: 10.30564/hsme.v2i1.1507
Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Sarzaeim, Parisa, Aboutalebi, Mahyar, Chu, Xuefeng and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2019). Evaluation of water shortage crisis in the Middle East and possible remedies. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua, 69 (1), 85-98. doi: 10.2166/aqua.2019.049
Sarzaeim, Parisa, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Fallah-Mehdipour, Elahe and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2018). Optimization of Run-of-River Hydropower Plant Design under Climate Change Conditions. Water Resources Management, 32 (12), 3919-3934. doi: 10.1007/s11269-018-2027-0
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2018). Stiffness and sensitivity criteria and their application to water resources assessment. Journal of Hydro-environment Research, 20, 93-100. doi: 10.1016/j.jher.2018.05.005
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid, Sarzaeim, Parisa and Chu, Xuefeng (2018). Investigating the variability of GCMs' simulations using time series analysis. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 10 (3), 449-463. doi: 10.2166/wcc.2018.099
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2018). Discussion of “Design and Evaluation of Irrigation Water Pricing Policies for Enhanced Water Use Efficiency” by Sayed Ali Ohab-Yazdi and Azadeh Ahmadi. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 144 (4), 07018001. doi: 10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000872
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2018). Effects of the uncertainties of climate change on the performance of hydropower systems. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 10 (3), 591-609. doi: 10.2166/wcc.2018.120
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2017). Discussion of “Optimization of Phenol Removal Using Ti/PbO2 Anode with Response Surface Methodology” by C. García-Gómez, J. A. Vidales-Contreras, J. Nápoles-Armenta, and P. Gortáres-Moroyoqui. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 143 (9) 07017001, 1-3. doi: 10.1061/(asce)ee.1943-7870.0001264
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2017). Discussion of "Multiscale assessment of the impacts of climate change on water resources in Tanzania" by Umesh Adhikari, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Matthew R. Herman, and Joseph P. Messina. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 22 (8) 07017010. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001553
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2017). Strategic importance and safety of water resources. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 143 (7) 02517001. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001181
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Chu, Xuefeng (2017). Brief chronicle of water wars: search for global peace. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 143 (7) 02517002. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001186
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2017). Discussion of "Conjunctive management of surface and ground water resources using conflict resolution approach" by Hamid R. Safavi, Milad Mehrparvar, and Ferenc Szidarovszky. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 143 (5) 07017001. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001164
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2017). Unionism and water resources management. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 143 (4) 02516003. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001151
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, Bozorg-Haddad, Omid and Loáiciga, Hugo A. (2016). Time-based vulnerability: a step forward to operate water resources systems. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 142 (11) 02516001. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001098
Zolghadr-Asli, Babak (2016). Discussion of "Investigation of reservoir qualitative behavior resulting from sudden entry of biological pollutant" by Omid Bozorg-Haddad, Parisa-Sadat Ashofteh, Mohsen Ali-Hamzeh, and Miguel A. Mariño. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 142 (7) 07016003. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001056

Conference Paper

Zolghadr-Asli, Babak, McIntyre, Neil, Djordjevic, Slobodan, Farmani, Raziyeh, Pagliero, Liliana and Aitken, Douglas (2023). Discourse over the sustainability of irrigation with desalinated water in light of the water-energy-food nexus. Managing Water-Energy-Land-Food under Climatic, Environmental and Social Instability, Thessaloniki, Greece, 27 June-1 July 2023. Athens, Greece: European Water Resources Association.