Shahbaz Khan (hydrologist)


Shahbaz Khan is an Australian climatologist and hydrologist, who has worked extensively for UNESCO and also advised governments and universities on issues related to the climate and water management.

Career

Khan has advised the Australian government on water management programs, such as the Prime Minister's 2007 rural water security plan. He coordinated multidisciplinary research programs under the Australian Cooperative Research Centre initiative.
Khan was previously Professor of Hydrology and Director of the International Centre of Water at the Charles Sturt University, Australia, and Research Leader/Director of Irrigated Systems and Rural Water Use areas of CSIRO Australia. He was also part of the team who developed a computer-based early warning system for floods in Pakistan, known as the Flood Early Warning System.
Khan developed the SWAGMAN series of mathematical models of irrigation, drought management, groundwater flow and contaminant transport and surface-groundwater interactions.
He is currently Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Jakarta and the Regional Bureau for Science in Asia and the Pacific, serving as UNESCO Representative to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor Leste. In his previous role at UNESCO he was Chief of Section on Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management at UNESCO in Paris. His work at UNESCO includes the Water Education for Sustainable Development, Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy, Ecohydrology, Water and Ethics, Energy and Food Nexus within the International Hydrological Programme. He advises UN member states on environmental policies, review of curricula, and securing multilateral support for research and education projects especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

Awards and recognition