Rate My Professor Hajiarab Derkani

Dr. Marzieh Hajiarab Derkani is a Research Fellow at the School of Earth and Oceans, University of Western Australia, and a member of the UWA Oceans Institute within the ARC Research Hub for Transforming Energy Infrastructure through Digital Engineering (TIDE). She earned her PhD in Ocean Engineering and Physical Oceanography from the University of Melbourne, an MSc in Coastal Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, and a BSc in Civil Engineering from K.N. Toosi University of Technology. Before focusing on academia, she accumulated several years of professional experience as a Civil and Coastal Engineer in Australia and overseas, and holds professional membership with Engineers Australia on the National Engineering Register.

Derkani's research specializes in enhancing wave forecasting accuracy through data science methods, particularly data assimilation techniques that integrate spectral wave observations from sources like ship motion and satellite altimetry into numerical models such as WAVEWATCH-III. Her work addresses swell-dominated wave predictions and extreme sea states in regions including the Southern Ocean and Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone, drawing from expeditions like the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition. Notable publications include 'A satellite altimetry data assimilation approach to optimise sea state estimates from vessel motion' (Applied Ocean Research, 2023, with F. Nelli, A. Alberello, A. Toffoli), 'Waves in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone: Observations and Modelling' (2021), 'Wind, waves, and surface currents in the Southern Ocean: observations from the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition' (2021), 'Exploring the coupled ocean and atmosphere system with a data science approach applied to observations from the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition' (2021), and 'Reconstructing Sea-States in the Southern Ocean Using Ship Motion Data' (2021). Her research has accumulated over 270 citations. She has earned awards such as the UWA Research Impact and Innovation Award (2025), UWA Data Institute Travel Grant (2025), Rowden White Scholarship (2020), Melbourne Research Scholarship (2017), and Outstanding Graduate Award (2016). Derkani contributes as a reviewer for Deep-Sea Research Part I and the 42nd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2023), and co-coordinated the 4th Australia and New Zealand Wind Waves Symposium (2025).