Policy note. This handbook is a living document and does not replace official NMSU, College of Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Graduate School, funding-agency, immigration, employment, or university policies. When conflicts arise, official policies and written funding/appointment letters take precedence.
About the Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab
The Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab studies hydrologic systems, water infrastructure, and coupled human-water processes across watershed, regional, and Earth-system scales.
We develop data-driven, physics-informed, and AI-enabled methods for resilient, equitable, and decision-ready water systems. Our work connects hydroclimate extremes, infrastructure operations, Earth observation, lake and reservoir dynamics, water equity, climate adaptation, and Earth-system modeling.
The lab is based at New Mexico State University and works at the boundary between hydrology, civil and environmental engineering, artificial intelligence, infrastructure systems, and decision science.
Our Values
There are a few values that should shape how we work:
- A respectful, constructive, and welcoming research environment where people can ask questions early.
- High standards and kindness at the same time. Students should feel comfortable asking basic questions, challenging assumptions, and admitting uncertainty.
- Research that improves understanding and supports decisions for water systems, communities, and the environment.
- Rigorous science that can be inspected, reproduced, challenged, and improved.
- Slow, careful thinking when the problem requires it, especially when claims affect communities, infrastructure, or policy.
- Open-source software and open research practices where possible.
- Clear documentation, because undocumented knowledge does not transfer well.
- Healthy academic work habits. Urgency happens, but constant urgency is a planning failure.
Your Digital Identity as a Scientist
A modern research profile is partly digital. New members should create or update:
- ORCID profile
- GitHub account
- Google Scholar profile when publications are available
- Professional homepage or institutional profile when appropriate
- LinkedIn profile if it helps with internships, collaborations, or job searches
- A consistent name format for publications and repositories
ORCID is especially important because journals, professional societies, funding agencies, and universities use it to connect researchers with their work.
Our Community
Lab members may engage with different scientific communities depending on their projects. Common communities include:
- American Geophysical Union for hydrology, climate, Earth observation, and water resources.
- American Society of Civil Engineers and EWRI for civil infrastructure, hydrology, hydraulics, and water management.
- Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science for hydrologic data, modeling, and community cyberinfrastructure.
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences for hydrology and global water science.
- American Meteorological Society for hydroclimate, weather, and climate-risk topics.
- INFORMS for optimization, operations research, and decision analytics.
- AI-for-science and machine-learning communities for physics-informed learning, uncertainty, and model diagnostics.
- Local and regional water management communities connected to New Mexico, the Southwest, and partner study regions.
To Do List for New Members
- Read the public lab website and this handbook.
- Create or update your ORCID profile.
- Set up a GitHub account and share your username with the lab.
- Identify one or two professional societies most relevant to your research.
- Read recent lab publications or project notes related to your topic.
- Start a project README early, even if the project is still forming.
- Schedule a short conversation about your research goals, expected outputs, and support needs.