UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Announce Hiring of New Faculty

UCLA’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability have announced the joint appointment of Alvar Escriva-Bou as an assistant professor. He will join the university in March 2023.

Escriva-Bou’s research explores integrated water, food, energy and environmental resources, with a focus on modeling approaches to improve decision-making and policy in coupled human-natural systems — systems in which human and natural components interact. He has been principal investigator and co-principal investigator on multiple research projects to improve the assessment of droughts risks, unsustainable water use, and climate change impacts in California and other regions. His research links natural processes, infrastructure system planning and management, and individual and collective human decision-making to improve socio-economic and environmental outcomes in cities and agricultural communities.

At UCLA, Escriva-Bou will teach classes and conduct research that examine the intersection of society and environmental systems (both engineered and natural), with a particular focus on water, energy and food systems.

Since 2015, Escriva-Bou has served first as a research fellow and later as a senior fellow at the Water Policy Center of the Public Policy Institute of California, where he has explored groundwater sustainability in the San Joaquin Valley, analyzed California’s water accounting system, studied urban drought resilience, and investigated energy and climate policies related to water use. He also served as a lecturer with UC Davis’ Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Previously, he worked as a civil engineer, managing and developing large infrastructure projects for local and regional governments and consulting firms in Spain.

Escriva-Bou received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, master’s degree in hydraulic and environmental engineering and doctoral degree in water and environmental engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain. He also holds a second master’s degree in agricultural and resource economics from UC Davis.