Research Topics

• Irrigation and Drainage
• Soil Hydrology
• Remote Sensing
• Environmental Informatics
• Land use planning

Education

• Doctoral Course, Division of Science and Technology on Regional Environment, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University (2002), Dr. Ag.
• Master Course, Division of Science and Technology on Regional Environment, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University (1997), M. Ag.
  Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University (1995)

Academic and professional experience

• Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Socio-Economics, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University (2008)
• Technical Assistance Staff, Research Promotion Centre, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (2007)
• Research Fellow, Japan Society of Promotion of Science (2004)
• Research Fellow, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (2001)

Memberships in professional societies

• The Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Reclamation Engineering
• Japan Society of Hydorology and Water Resources
• The Association of Rural Planning

I started my academic career as a soil hydrologist, working on soil and water conservation of sloped millet fields in the southwestern Niger, Africa. After getting the phD degree in 2002, I participated in a scientific project, Impact of Climate Changes on Agricultural Production System in Arid Areas, conducted by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan (2002-2007). I started to work on on-farm soil and water management of farmers in large irrigation districts in arid areas. My specific interest was directed towards water use efficiency, governance of water user’s associations, impacts of climate change and salinity management. This project was an inter-disciplinary project and I gainedan experience to collaborate with climatologists, basin hydrologists, plant physsiologists and socio-economists. I conducted field studies mainly in Turkey and China.

Currently I try to analyze sustainability of large irrigation districts. This is the part of the project, Long-term vision for the sustainable use of the world’s freshwater resources (2009-2014). In this project I collaborate with global hydrologists, riparian ecologists and water policy scientists. I try to detect the behavior of large irrigation districts against fluctuation of water resource availability with the use of satellite imagery and try to evaluate the degree of governance within districts to cope with difficulties. I focus on technological and institutional capacity for adaptations. Currently I am trying to develop a database World Atlas of Irrigated Agriculture for Sustainability Science, which would include (propose) sustainability indices of different irrigation districts in the world. I am convinced that such database will contribute to inter-regional comparison of irrigation districts and to enhancement of technology and knowledge transfer for better management.

Publications （Researchmap)

Researchgate