Pooja Preetha

Water Resources & Environmental Engineering
Alabama A&M University

 

Professional Biography

Dr. Pooja P. Preetha serves as Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Alabama A&M University. Her interdisciplinary research integrates hydrological modeling, groundwater sustainability, water quality assessment, remote sensing, GIS, and machine learning to advance resilient water systems and environmental sustainability. She has established a nationally recognized research program supported by NSF, USDA, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and other organizations.

 

Education

Ph.D.– University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), 2019, USA

Master of Science (MS) in civil and environmental engineering. – University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), 2018, USA

Master of Technology (MTech) in Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering – Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM), 2013, India

Bachelor’s in civil engineering (CE) – College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET), 2011, India

 

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor, Alabama A&M University (2026–Present)
Assistant Professor, Alabama A&M University (2020–2025)
Summer Research Faculty, University of Alabama (2021, 2025)
Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant, UAH (2016–2019)
Assistant Project Manager, Jones Lang LaSalle, India (2013–2015)

 

Research Vision

My research aims to advance sustainable water resource management through the integration of remote sensing, hydrologic modeling, surface water - groundwater interaction, and AI-enabled environmental prediction. These efforts provide innovative solutions for improving water security, enhancing climate resilience, and supporting long-term watershed sustainability.

 

Research Areas

• Surface water – groundwater interaction
  • Water Quality Modeling
  • Climate Change Impacts on Watersheds
  • Remote Sensing and GIS Applications
  • Nutrient Transport and Groundwater Quality
  • Machine Learning for Hydrologic Systems
  • Managed Aquifer Recharge
  • Atmospheric Water Generation

 

Funded Research

Highlighted projects include NSF-funded groundwater prediction research, MIT Lincoln Laboratory hydrological sensing initiatives, USDA climate outreach programs, integrated groundwater management studies, and advanced hydrologic model development.

Integration of process models and machine learning algorithms with big hydrological datasets to make robust groundwater predictions. Submitted to NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program (RII) Track-2 Projects and Minority Serving Institutions, June 2021. (PI: Pooja Preetha) ($200,000; 2021–2024; Funded, NSF Award # A20-0472-S006).

Advanced Sensing for Hydrological Metrology – Phase 2, FY24 Climate Initiative Project. Submitted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL), June 2023. (PI: Pooja Preetha) ($73,450; 2023–2024; Funded, FA8702-15-D-0001).

Minimizing climatic impacts through the environmental education and climate outreach initiative. Submitted to 1890 Institution Teaching, Research, and Extension Capacity Building Grants (CBG) Program, Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) & USDA, August 2023. (Co-PI: Pooja Preetha) ($249,999; 2023–2027; Awarded).

Advancing Ground Water Recharge Predictions in the Southeastern Coastal Plains by Integrating Satellite Remote Sensing Data with SWAT Model Predictions. Submitted to IGM summer tenure-track fellowship funded by the NSF RII Track-2 grant titled: “IGM--A Framework for Harnessing Big Hydrological Datasets for Integrated Groundwater Management”, March 2021. (PI: Pooja Preetha) ($21,750; 2021 May–2021 August; Funded).

Exploring Coupling Approaches of SWAT and MODFLOW for the Upper Choctawhatchee River Watershed for Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Modeling. Submitted to Center for Water Quality Research, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, June 2025. (PI: Pooja Preetha) ($10,500; 2025 June–2025 August; Funded).

 

Teaching and Mentorship

Courses taught include EGC 305: Fluid Mechanics (3 credits), EGC 305L: Fluid Mechanics Lab (1 credit), CE 304: Environmental Engineering (3 credits), CE 305: Hydrogeology (3 credits), CE 404: Hydraulic Engineering & Design (3 credits), CE 480: Water Quality Control (3 credits), EGC 104: Computer Programming (3 credits), CE 555: Urban Wastewater Treatment (3 credits), CE 424: Civil Engineering Practice (3 credits), CE 101: Introduction to Civil Engineering (1 credit), CE 470: CE Project (Senior Design) (3 credits), and CE 440: Fundamentals of Engineering (1)

 

Professional Leadership and Service

Faculty Advisor: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), student chapter at AAMU (2021-present)

College Advisor: Sophomore student retention and facilitation (2023-2025)

Faculty Volunteer/Advisor: Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship (2022-present)

Affiliate Member: American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE (2021-present)

Advisory Committee: Ceremonial and Special Events Committee (2024-2026, AAMU)

Panelist Advisory Board: American Association of University Women, AAUW (May 2026–May 2028)

Panelist: American Association of University Women, AAUW International Fellowships Natural & Physical Sciences Panel (2024 to 2026)

Topical Advisory Panel: “Hydrology” under (i) Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Processes and Modelling Section, (ii) Surface Waters and Groundwaters Section, and (iii) Water Resources and Risk Management Section (2024-present)

Guest Editor: Hydrology (2023-present)

Reviewer Panels: National Science Foundation (NSF) - Graduate Research Fellowship Program (2020, 2021), Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ) (2025)

Chair: STEM Day 2024, AAMU

Co-Chair and Committee Member: STEM Day 2023, AAMU

Member: American Association of University Women, AAUW (2024-present); American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE (2016-2021); Women in Water North Alabama Chapter (WIW) (2022-present)

Reviewer for more than 50 scholarly journals including GIScience & Remote Sensing, Hydrogeology Journal, Water Resources Management, Scientific Reports.

 

Selected Publications

• Preetha, P., & Joseph, N. (2025). Evaluating modified soil erodibility factors with the aid of pedotransfer functions and dynamic remote‑sensing data for soil health management. Land, 14(3), Article 657. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14030657
• Preetha, P., Bathi, J. R., Kumar, M., & Kode, V. R. (2025). Predictive tools and advances in sustainable water resources through atmospheric water generation under changing climate: A review. Sustainability, 17(4), Article 1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041462
• Pooja P Preetha and Kayla Maclin. Evaluation of Hydrogeological Models and Big Data for Quantifying Groundwater Use in Regional River Systems. In: Shukla, P., Singh, P., Singh, R.M. (eds) Environmental Processes and Management. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 120. Springer, Cham.
• Preetha, P.P., Al-Hamdan, A.Z. 2022. A Union of Dynamic Hydrological Modeling and Satellite Remotely-Sensed Data for Spatiotemporal Assessment of Sediment Yields. Remote Sensing 14, 400.
• Preetha, P.P., Al‑ Hamdan, A.Z., 2022. Synergy of remotely sensed data in spatiotemporal dynamic modeling of the crop and cover management factor. Pedosphere 32(3): 381-392.
• Joseph, N., Shareef, N., Preetha, P., & Liu, S. 2026. Evaluating long-term water quality variations to climate variability and land use change in California's Sacramento watershed. Science of The Total Environment, 1020, 181597.
• Dasari, Sai Kumar, Pooja Preetha, and Hari Manikanta Ghantasala. "Predictive Analysis of Hydrological Variables in the Cahaba Watershed: Enhancing Forecasting Accuracy for Water Resource Management Using Time-Series and Machine Learning Models." Earth 6.3 (2025): 89.
• Kode, Venkateswara Rao, Pooja Preetha, and Deepa Kodali. "Smart boron nitride nanomaterial systems for wastewater treatment studies." Smart Nanomaterials for Environmental Applications. Elsevier, 2025. 649-676.

 

Invited Presentations             

• Preetha, P.P. (2025) Remote Sensing–Driven Modeling of Crop and Cover Management for Enhanced Soil Erosion Assessment, 2^nd World Summit on Crop Science and Engineering (WSCSE-2026), March 26-28, 2026, Rome, Italy.
• Preetha, P.P. (2025) Advancing Sustainable Land Management Through Remote Sensing Enhanced Soil Erodibility Modeling for Resilient Coastal Watersheds, 3rd Global Webinar on Renewable and Sustainable Energy, June 17-18, 2025.
• Pooja P. Preetha (2022) A Multitude of Environmental Modeling Approaches for Realistic Water Quality Predictions in Regional Watersheds. International Conference on Green Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Seville, Spain.
• Pooja P. Preetha (2023) Application of Soil Moisture Datasets Based Water Sensing in River Basins of Southeastern United States. International Meet on Agricultural Science and Technology AGRIMEET2023, Vancouver, Canada.
• Pooja P. Preetha (2023) Enhancing Groundwater Flux Modeling by Harnessing Data from Remote Sensing and Machine Learning. 12th Southeast Symposium on Contemporary Engineering Topics (SSCET), Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

Certifications & Trainings

• STEM Summer Institute: Instructional Technology Integration, June 9-11, 2025, AAMU
• STEM eLearning Summer Institute, June 8-10, 2026, AAMU
• ACUE-Effective Teaching Practices in Higher Education, Course Completion: Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners, American Council on Education (2026)
• AAMU Time & Efforts Certification for Office of Sponsored Programs (2024-2026)
• AAMU Online Instructor Certification Course for Blackboard (2020-2026)
• Alabama Ethics Law Training, Alabama Ethics Commission (2025)
• Team Based Learning (TBL) training at University of South Alabama (USA) through an NSF I-Corp project (2022)

 

Awards and Recognition

• Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, 2026
• Honored Listee: Marquis Who’s Who (2025-Present), the standard reference for reliable and comprehensive biographical data since 1898
• Elsevier publication Joseph et al., 2021 recognized for addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals between 2020 and 2022, helping to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges
• Featured in “Zippia” a career website as16-person panel of experts (https://www.zippia.com/civil-engineer-jobs/trends/)

 

Research Impact

Dr. Preetha’s work advances groundwater sustainability, watershed resilience, environmental monitoring, climate adaptation, and STEM workforce development while supporting underrepresented student success and interdisciplinary collaboration.

 

Contact

Email: pooja.preetha@aamu.edu

Phone: (256) 372-4148

Dr. Pooja Preetha, LinkedIn