Rate My Professor Ali Sarhadi

Ali Sarhadi is an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, holding a courtesy appointment in the School of Interactive Computing. He directs the Climate Risk & Extreme Dynamics Lab, where his research applies artificial intelligence to climate science, with a particular emphasis on tropical cyclones and climate-resilient infrastructure. Sarhadi obtained his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2017. Before joining Georgia Tech, he completed postdoctoral positions at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His career trajectory reflects a commitment to advancing the understanding of dynamic climate risks through interdisciplinary approaches combining engineering, physics-based modeling, and machine learning.

Sarhadi's research specializations encompass hurricane dynamics and risk assessment, climate risk and resiliency, compound and cascading dynamics, tropical hydrometeorology, and machine learning and manifold learning techniques. His influential publications demonstrate substantial impact in the field. Notable works include "Climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme autumn wildfire conditions across California" published in Environmental Research Letters in 2020, "Multidimensional risk in a nonstationary climate: Joint probability of increasingly severe warm and dry conditions" in Science Advances in 2018, "Rainfall trends analysis of Iran in the last half of the twentieth century" in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres in 2009, "Time-varying extreme rainfall intensity-duration-frequency curves in a changing climate" in Geophysical Research Letters in 2017, and "Probabilistic flood inundation mapping of ungauged rivers: Linking GIS techniques and frequency analysis" in Journal of Hydrology in 2012. These contributions address critical issues such as extreme weather events, nonstationary climate risks, and flood and drought analysis. Sarhadi has received the Seed Grant Challenge for Climate Solutions award in 2024 and was appointed a Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems Faculty Fellow in 2025. His work enhances Georgia Tech's leadership in climate research and resilience strategies.