Sara Sadri
Canada Research Chairs

Sara Sadri, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing and Water Security

Associate Professor of Climate Change and Adaptation

Cross-appointed to the School of Sustainable Design Engineering

University of Prince Edward Island

About

Sara Sadri is the Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing and Water Security and an Associate Professor of Climate Change and Adaptation at the University of Prince Edward Island, where she is also cross-appointed to the School of Sustainable Design Engineering. She is a statistical data scientist and hydrologist with over a decade of experience in global water-cycle variability, satellite observations, and big data analytics.

Her research focuses on drought, soil moisture, and the integration of environmental and socioeconomic data to support food security, climate resilience, and early warning systems. She develops decision-support tools that translate environmental intelligence into actionable insights for farmers, communities, and policymakers. Her work integrates remote sensing, stochastic modelling, artificial intelligence, and geospatial analytics to produce near–real-time drought monitoring systems, soil moisture indices, and farm-scale irrigation forecasts that support climate risk preparedness and sustainable water management.

Prior to joining UPEI, she was a Senior Research Scientist at the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) at the University of Saskatchewan, where she led projects developing decision-support tools providing 7–14-day lead-time forecasts of crop water stress using hydro-climatic remote sensing data. She also contributed to national drought and early warning system engineering initiatives in collaboration with the Open Geospatial Consortium and Natural Resources Canada.

During her postdoctoral research at Princeton University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, supported by NASA, she developed a global near-real-time agricultural drought index to enhance early warning, climate resilience, and evidence-based policymaking.

Her interdisciplinary work spans research, policy, and public engagement. She has worked on various initiatives within the United Nations system (WMO and UNU), collaborated with national and international partners on geospatial data interoperability, and has engaged policymakers on drought, climate resilience, and food security issues.

In addition to her scientific work, she has a background in science filmmaking and storytelling, strengthening the communication of environmental challenges and solutions across diverse audiences. She is a Professional Engineer (Ontario), and her contributions to water security and environmental intelligence have been featured in Engineering Dimensions, the magazine of Professional Engineers Ontario.

Interests
  • Drought & Water Security
  • Food Security & Climate Resilience
  • Remote Sensing & Earth Observation
  • Environmental Data Science & AI
  • Decision-Support Tools
  • Socio-Environmental Vulnerability & Resilience
  • Climate Adaptation & Nature-Based Solutions
  • Geospatial Platforms & Google Earth Engine
Education Profile

  • Associate Professional Specialist, Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Princeton University

  • Post-doctoral Fellow, Geography

    UCLA

  • Post-doctoral Fellow, Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Princeton University

  • Ph.D. in Civil Engineering

    University of Waterloo

  • M.Sc. in Biosystems Engineering

    University of Manitoba

  • B.Sc. in Agricultural & Irrigation Engineering

    University of Tehran

Funding & Openings

Funding Available for Graduate Students

If you are a serious, passionate, and dedicated prospective graduate student, I welcome you to contact me directly. Please include your CV and, if available, an unofficial transcript.

Location

Master's and Ph.D. students will be hosted by UPEI at the Charlottetown Campus, with some travel to the School of Climate Change and Adaptation in the St. Peter's Bay area, accessible via free daily shuttles. Occasional field trips might be necessary.

Required Skills and Prerequisites

  • Excellent English writing skills, with the ability to learn and communicate ideas clearly
  • Background in hydrology, civil engineering, environmental engineering, computer science, or applied statistics/mathematics
  • Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team environment
  • Strong interest in studying regional and global environmental change, including modeling approaches
  • Proficiency in computer programming (R or Python) and eagerness to expand skills in AI, LaTeX, Bash, and Linux
  • Motivation to contribute to research and publish in peer-reviewed journals

To Apply

Prospective students must fulfill the entry requirements of the Master's or Ph.D. studies at UPEI. Students must apply by the deadline of the term they wish to enter, which is here.

Start dates for both Domestic and International Students are in the Calendar Dates page here.

General inquiries should be addressed to Prof. Sara Sadri at ssadri@upei.ca.

Equity and Diversity

Our group at the University of PEI is a welcoming environment of equal opportunity, respecting everyone from diverse backgrounds, including visible minorities and women, and encouraging them to apply.

For more information about life in PEI, visit this page.

Teaching

  • ACC1040 — Introduction to Climate Change
  • ACC3050 — Renewable Energy, Clean Technology

Selected Publications

From Coarse Resolution to Practical Solution: GRACE as a Science Communication and Policymaking Tool for Sustainable Groundwater Management
L. Xu, D. Ferris, X. Huggins, J. S. Wong, Ch. Mohan, S. Sadri, H. A. Chandanpurkar, P. Sanyal, J. S. Famiglietti (2023) — J. Hydrology, 129845
DOI
FarmCan: a Physical, Statistical, and Machine Learning Model to Forecast Crop Water Deficit for Farms
S. Sadri, J. S. Famiglietti, M. Pan, H. Beck, A. A. Berg, E. F. Wood (2022) — HESS: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(20), 5373–5390
PDF
SET-STAT-MAP: Extending Parallel Sets for Visualizing Mixed Data
Sh. Wang, D. Mondal, S. Sadri, Ch. K. Roy, J. S. Famiglietti, K. A. Schneider (2022) — IEEE 15th Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis), 151–160
Link
Satellite-based Soil Moisture at 30-m Resolution Reveals the Drivers of Spatial Variability Across the U.S.
N. Vergopolan, N. W. Chaney, M. Pan, J. Sheffield, H. Beck, C. Ferguson, L. Torres-Rojas, S. Sadri, E. F. Wood (2021) — Nature Scientific Data, 8(264)
PDF
A Global Near-Real-Time Soil Moisture Index Monitor for Food Security Using Integrated SMOS and SMAP
S. Sadri, M. Pan, Y. Wada, N. Vergopolan, J. Sheffield, J. S. Famiglietti, Y. Kerr, E. F. Wood (2020) — Remote Sensing of Environment, 246, 111864
Link
Developing a Drought Monitoring Index for the Contiguous U.S. Using SMAP
S. Sadri, M. Pan, E. F. Wood (2018) — HESS: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 22(12), 6611–6626
PDF
Nonstationarity of Low Flows and Their Timing in the Eastern United States
S. Sadri, J. Kam, J. Sheffield (2016) — HESS: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(20), 633–649
PDF
A Drought Monitoring and Forecasting System for Sub-Saharan African Water Resources and Food Security
J. Sheffield, E. F. Wood, N. Chaney, K. Guan, S. Sadri, X. Yuan, L. Olang, A. Amani, A. Ali, S. Demuth, L. Ogallo (2014) — Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., Vol. 95(6), 861–882
Link

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