Fatemeh Yavari Completes the Prestigious Water Prediction Innovators Summer Institute Internship

CREST congratulates its doctoral student, Ms. Fatemeh Yavari (Civil Engineering), for successfully completing the prestigious Water Prediction Innovators Summer Institute internship on July 25, 2025. The institute, jointly organized by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) and the University of Alabama, is a highly competitive program that brings together graduate students, faculty, and professionals from across the country to advance water prediction and flood forecasting research. The program commenced on June 9, 2025.

During the program, Ms. Yavari collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners. She described the most rewarding part of the experience as the chance to engage in open discussions about water prediction challenges and potential innovations, which broadened her perspective and strengthened her research skills. Her project introduced a deep learning framework for predicting surface runoff across distributed catchments.

Reflecting on her journey, Ms. Yavari highlighted three major takeaways: gaining deeper insight into cutting-edge methods in water prediction and climate adaptation, strengthening her skills in collaborative research including coding, model evaluation, and interdisciplinary communication, and building a professional network with mentors and peers. The program concluded with a symposium where Ms. Yavari and her research group presented their findings to mentors, fellow participants, and scientists. 

Ms. Yavari is thankful to her advisor, Dr. Naresh Devineni, for his invaluable guidance and support throughout the process. She also acknowledged her project teammates for their creativity and collaboration along with the mentors from the Water Institute at the University of Alabama, CUAHSI, and CIROH for their continuous feedback. “Balancing the steep learning curve of new tools with tight timelines was a key challenge, but overcoming it became one of the program’s most valuable milestones for my academic and personal growth,” Ms. Yavari expressed.

 Ms. Yavari’s achievement reflects CREST’s commitment to nurturing outstanding doctoral talent and advancing impactful research for society.