Rate My Professor Harri Koivusalo

Harri Koivusalo is Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering and Vice Head of the Department of Built Environment at Aalto University. He earned his Master's degree in Engineering and Technology from Helsinki University of Technology in 1993, a Licentiate degree in 1997, and a Doctoral degree in 2003 from the same institution. Throughout his career, Koivusalo has held leadership roles within Aalto University, including as Professor in the Department of Built Environment. He serves as head of the Water and Environmental Engineering research group and has contributed to editorial boards, including as editor-in-chief of a journal, and various scientific committees, funding organizations, and advisory panels.

His research focuses on water resources engineering, hydrological modeling, catchment processes, impacts of land use and climate change on hydrology, forests and water interactions, land drainage, and transport of nutrients and solids. Koivusalo's work addresses key UN Sustainable Development Goals such as Clean Water and Sanitation, Climate Action, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Life on Land. He has produced over 220 research outputs, including 129 peer-reviewed articles and 55 conference papers. Key publications include 'How controlled drainage and peat subsidence affect the hydrology of cultivated peatlands under changing climatic conditions' (Agricultural Water Management, 2025), 'Determining trends in occurrence of dry and wet events using gridded precipitation data in Finland' (2025), and contributions to urban stormwater management and solute transport modeling. Koivusalo has delivered invited academic talks and conference presentations, such as on tree stand spatial variability and management impacts on hydrology in boreal forests. His achievements include the Aalto Research Impact Award in 2024 (shared) and the Oskari Vilamo Foundation award for his doctoral thesis in 2004. He chairs the Finnish National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage.