How important is it to plant the right tree species in the right place to water balance components with a catchment?
After completing my bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, I was very keen to understand how human beings can deal with water scarcity issues have arisen from either anthropogenic activities or climate change. This curiosity along with the massive water shortages my country was facing motivated me to study towards a Water Engineering degree for my master studies. I focused on the efficiency of the trade balance within Iran in terms of Virtual Water Trade, i.e., evaluating the current trading pattern within the country to see whether it is sustainable in a social, economic, and environmental point of view. I employed the widely used Input-output economic technique to do so. As it was a very data-intensive topic, I had the chance to travel all around the country, meeting with prominent authorities within Agricultural and Industrial organisations, trying to collect all the data that was required to develop the model. For my PhD studies, though I decided to focus more on hydrological aspect of water resource management. Forestry is a very important sector in New Zealand (third export earner) and has plans to plant more trees in the next few years trying to be a carbon-neutral country. It seems very satisfying to me to see how planting large number of trees is going to affect our precious water supplies. Of course no one want to see the rivers completely dried up as a result of planting a bunch of trees upstream.
Personal interests:
I like running and playing volleyball. In my spare time I try to find a way to enjoy the fantastic landscape of New Zealand and the South Island through joining hiking activities.
Publications:
Qasemipour, E.; Tarahomi, F.; Pahlow, M.; Malek Sadati, S.S.; Abbasi, A. Assessment of Virtual Water Flows in Iran Using a Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7424. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187424
Qasemipour, E.; Abbasi, A.; Tarahomi, F. Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran. Sustainability 2020, 12, 818. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030818
Qasemipour, E.; Abbasi, A. Virtual Water Flow and Water Footprint Assessment of an Arid Region: A Case Study of South Khorasan Province, Iran. Water 2019, 11, 1755. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091755
Qasemipour, E., Abbasi, A., 2019. Assessment of Agricultural Water Resources Sustainability in Arid Regions Using Virtual Water Concept: Case of South Khorasan Province, Iran. Water 11, 449. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030449
Supervisors:
- Markus Pahlow
- Tom Cochrane
- Clemens Altaner (School of Forestry)
