Janez Susnik PhD

Biography

My main research interests involve using systems thinking and modelling to explore water balance projections and scenarios under an uncertain global future. I have recently extended the use of this tool to link these projections directly to impacts in food and economic sectors and also for assessing reservoir resilience (see publications below). I am currently exploring ways to expand the scope and scale of my previous work to include seamless global water-energy-food assessment in order to explore the viabiltiy of these systems under global development.

A second interest is in exploring the future urban water demand, attempting to model this into the future, and investigating technical and social ways for reducing this demand. A particular interest is investigating the extent to which cities can be 'self-reliant' on local water resources by increasing supply (especially through alternative measures), reducing demand, and becoming more water-efficient.

I also have experience with (pluvial) flood risk assessment, and have recently explored a novel method to estimate flood damages from pluvial flood events. I also undertake hydrological analysis of river flow data, particularly exploring the use of statistical methods to derive environmental flows.

As a consultant, I was involved in the mapping of the entire length of the Danube for flood risk, as well as three cities in the Czech Republic. I was involved in a national scale flood risk mapping project covering the whole of France. These projects were carried out for private clients.

As a result of my broad background in the environmental earth sciences, I have additional expertise in geomorphology, sedimentology and volcanology.

Before joining UNESCO-IHE, I was Research Fellow at the Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter, working on two EU FP7 funded projects (WASSERMed and PREPARED). Before that I was with JBA Consulting (UK). I completed my PhD at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, and gained my BSc from Lancaster University.

Publications

Susnik J. 2015. Economic metrics to estimate current and future resource use, with a focus on water withdrawals. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2: 109-127. DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2015.05.003

Mereu S., Susnik J., Trabucco A., Daccache A., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Renoldi S., Virdis A., Savic D.A., Assimacopoulos D. 2015. Operational resilience of reservoirs to climate change, agricultural demand, and tourism: a case study from Sardinia. Science of the Total Environment. DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.066

Susnik J., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Baumert N., Kloos J., Renaud F.G., La Jeunesse I., Mabrouk B., Savic D.A., Kapelan Z., Ludwig R., Fischer G., Roson R., Zografos C. 2015. Interdisciplinary assessment of sea-level rise and climate change impacts on the lower Nile delta, Egypt. Science of the Total Environment. 503-504: 279-288. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.111

Susnik J., Strehl, C., Postmes, L.A., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Malzer, H-J., Savic D.A., Kapelan Z., 2015, Assessing financial loss due to pluvial flooding and the efficacy of risk-reduction measures in the residential property sector. Water Resources Management. 29(1): 161-179. DOI: 10.1007/s11269-014-0833-6

Susnik J., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Savic D.A., Kapelan Z., 2013. Integrated modelling of the water-agricultural system in the Rosetta region, Nile delta, Egypt, using system dynamics. Journal of Water and Climate Change. 4(3): 209-231. DOI: 10.2166/wcc.2013.069

Susnik J., Molina J-L., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Savic D.A., Kapelan Z., 2013. Comparative analysis of System Dynamics and Object-Oriented Bayesian Networks modelling for water systems management. Water Resources Management. 27(3): 819-841. DOI: 10.1007/s11269-012-0217-8.

Susnik J., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.S., Savic D.A., Kapelan Z., 2012, Integrated System Dynamics Modelling for water scarcity assessment: Case study of the Kairouan region. Science of the Total Environment. 440: 290-306. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.050.085.

Alexander J., Barclay J., Susnik J., Loughlin S. C., Herd R. A., Darnell A. and Crosweller S., 2010, Sediment-charged flash floods on Montserrat: The influence of synchronous tephra fall and varying extent of vegetation damage, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 194: 127-138.

Barclay J., Alexander J., and Susnik J., 2007, Rainfall-induced lahars in the Belham Valley, Montserrat, West Indies, Journal of the Geological Society, 164: 815-827.