Zhiying Li
Assistant Professor
O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University Bloomington
About
Welcome to the Hydroclimatology Group at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington.
We study how climate change is reshaping hydroclimatic extremes and water availability. Our work focuses on two connected questions: how hydroclimatic extremes such as drought, extreme precipitation, flooding, and climate whiplash evolve in a warming climate, and how those changes affect water availability, risk management, and climate adaptation.
We combine Earth system model output, process-based hydrologic models, hydrologic theory, spatiotemporal statistics, machine learning, GIS, and remote sensing. Across these approaches, our goal is to produce science that helps communities, institutions, and decision-makers better understand and manage water risks under climate change.
News
Aug. 2026: Yu Han joins the group as a Ph.D. student! Welcome, Yu!
Jul. 2026: Ph.D. student Tian Yang led a first-authored paper published in Earth’s Future: “Accelerating and intensifying dry-to-wet hydroclimate whiplash across the contiguous United States”. Check it out!
Jul. 2026: Zhiying Li’s co-authored paper is published in iScience: “Hydrological seasonality drives a predictable reversal in anthropogenic pollution dominance in mountain watersheds”. Check it out!
Jul. 2026: Zhiying Li participated in the HeatHack at National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, CO. The hackathon is for early-career researchers across climate science and statistics.
Jun. 2026: Nirav Chauhan joins the group as a graduate research assistant as part of the Faculty Assistance of Data Science Program. Welcome, Nirav!
Apr. 2026: Zhiying Li was named Fischer Faculty Fellow at O’Neill School!
Apr. 2026: Tian Yang won the First Place in Physical & Mathematical Sciences at the 2026 IU Annual Research Poster Competition! Congratulations, Tian!
Feb. 2026: Zhiying Li was appointed as an Associate Deputy Editor at Climatic Change!
Jan. 2026: Zhiying Li’s co-authored paper is published in Annals of the American Association of Geographers: “Elevating the Discipline: Creating Pathways for Geographers as Public Scholars”. Check it out!
Jan. 2026: Zhiying Li contributed to a book chapter about Soil Erosion in Data-Driven Earth Observation for Disaster Management: From Theory to Practical Applications. Check it out!
Jan. 2026: Seth Adelsperger joins the group as Postdoctoral Research Associate! Welcome, Seth!
Dec. 2025: Zhiying Li gave an oral presentation at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The presentation is about “Aridification Distorts Drought Monitoring and Relief Efforts”.
Dec. 2025: Zhiying Li chaired two oral sessions at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. One session is about “Hydrologic Intensification, Aridification, and Compound Extremes” (primary convener); the other is about “Applications of Climate Science in a Nonstationary Climate” (co-convener).
Dec. 2025: Tian Yang gave a poster presentation at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The presentation is about “Climatology and Trends of Abrupt Transition from Dry to Wet Extremes in the Contiguous United States”.
Nov. 2025: Tian Yang gave a poster presentation about abrupt transition from dry to wet extremes at the 19th Annual Graduate Climate Conference in Woods Hole, MA. The presentation is funded by the Graduate Climate Conference (GCC).
Oct. 2025: Zhiying Li served as IU Substitute Representative for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) to attend the Annual Members Meeting at Boulder, CO.
Oct. 2025: Nia Walker joins the group as an Undergraduate Research Assistant! Welcome, Nia!
Aug. 2025: Zhiying Li was selected as a participant for the Faculty Tour of Rural Indiana 2025.
Jul. 2025: Nisha Sarwar, Aaryan Patil, and Kishore Kumar Ramkumar collectively won the Best Overall Presentation Award in the IU Faculty Assistance in Data Science (FADS) Program. Congratulations, Nisha, Aaryan, and Kishore!
Jul. 2025: Zhiying Li was elected as the Honors Director for the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Climate Specialty Group!
Jul. 2025: Zhiying Li served as a faculty mentor for K-12 students, Evelyn Isom and Taylor Tejada, through the Jim Holland Summer Science Research Program.
May 2025: Zhiying Li’s co-authored paper is published in Journal of Climate: “Nonlinear carbon feedbacks in CMIP6 and their impacts on future freshwater availability”. Check it out!
May 2025: Nisha Sarwar, Aaryan Patil, and Kishore Kumar Ramkumar join the group as graduate research assistant as part of the Faculty Assistance of Data Science Program. Welcome, Nisha, Aaryan, and Kishore!
May 2025: Tian Yang is awarded the Sustainability Research Development Grant by IU Integrated Program in the Environment. Congratulations, Tian!
Apr. 2025: Zhiying Li gave an invited talk at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Check out the talk abstract!
Mar. 2025: Tian Yang won the First Place Climate Specialty Group’s Student Paper Competition for the 2025 AAG Annual Meeting! Congratulations, Tian!
Mar. 2025: Zhiying Li gave a lightning talk at the Working Group Meeting on Rethinking Hydropower to Satisfy Energy, Climate, and Biodiversity Goals, Bloomington, IN.
Feb. 2025: Zhiying Li’s 2024 AGU Advances paper won the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Climate Specialty Group Paper of the Year Award. Check it out!
Older updates are available in the News Archive.
Research
Publications
Meet the Team
Zhiying Li
Assistant Professor
Zhiying Li (she/her) is a hydroclimatologist, assistant professor in the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, and PI of the IU Hydroclimatology Group. She works to understand the variability, drivers, and impacts of hydroclimatic extremes, such as drought and flooding, and water availability in a warming climate.
Seth Adelsperger
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Seth Adelsperger (he/his) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Hydroclimatology Group. His research examines hydrological extremes, especially floods and droughts, and works to identify their characteristics, spatial variability, drivers, and impacts. His current research focuses on understanding how historic hydrological intensification has affected water availability across the United States.
Tian Yang
Ph.D. student in Environmental Science
Tian Yang (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Hydroclimatology Group. Her research focuses on the hydrological responses of river basins to climate change, with a particular focus on detection, attribution, and projection. She holds an M.S. from Shandong University and a B.E. from Taiyuan University of Technology.
Yu Han
Ph.D. student in Environmental Science
Yu Han (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Science and a member of the Hydroclimatology Group. Her research focuses on hydroclimatic extremes, particularly the evolution, drivers, and risks of drought and extreme precipitation under climate variability and change. She is also interested in hydrological impacts and quantitative tools for assessment and prediction.
Nia Walker
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Nia Walker (she/her) is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University, double-majoring in Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Political Science. She is part of the Emerging Scholars Research Program in IU's Center of Excellence for Women and Technology.
Former Group Members
Guoqing Gong
Graduate student
Guoqing Gong was a graduate student in the Hydroclimatology Group. His research focused on trends and mechanisms of drought using statistical analysis and machine learning.
Ayesha Tajammul Ahmed Mulla
Research Assistant
Ayesha Tajammul Ahmed Mulla was a graduate research assistant in the Hydroclimatology Group, with interests in data science, machine learning, time series analysis, and spatiotemporal statistical analysis.
Romany Tafid
Research Assistant
Romany Tafid was a graduate research assistant in the Hydroclimatology Group. Trained as an environmental chemist, he is interested in the impact of climate change on water resources and environmental justice.
Sandeep Batta
Summer Intern
Sandeep Batta worked on computational analysis of large-scale geographic and precipitation data for the contiguous United States.
Teaching
Instructor
Environmental Sustainability Science (E555), O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington (Fall 2024, 2025, 2026)
Introduction to Environmental Science (E272), O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington (Spring 2024, 2025, 2026)
Guest Lecturer
Boundary Layer Climate (G5921), The Ohio State University (Feb 2020)
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Extreme Weather and Climate (G1900), The Ohio State University (Spring 2020, Fall 2019; 32 students enrolled in each session, 4 sessions taught)
Climatology (G5900), The Ohio State University (Spring 2019; 34 students enrolled)
Global Climate Change (G3900), The Ohio State University (Fall 2018; 69 students enrolled)
Working with us
Thanks for your interests in the hydroclimatology group @O’NeillIU! Our group strives to advance knowledge in the intersection of water, climate, and people. We value interdisciplinary collaborations and commit to fostering the growth and development of each member.
Feel free to email the PI, Zhiying Li (zl68@iu.edu), if you have ideas/projects open for collaboration. For students who share common research interests with me and would like to join the group, applications are welcome for the O’Neill Ph.D. program, Master program, and undergraduate research assistant opportunities as outlined below.
Ph.D. students:
I am always looking for motivated Ph.D. students. I especially look for students who are interested in addressing interdisciplinary research questions in hydroclimatology using analytical and quantitative skills (e.g., Earth System Models, hydrologic models, and geospatial analysis) to inform climate change decision making. Details about the Ph.D. program in Environmental Science and admission requirements can be found here. Funding is usually through fellowships, research and/or teaching assistantship. An example of the position description can be found here.
Applications usually open September 1 and end on January 1 the following year. The Ph.D. program starts in the Fall; there is no admission for the Spring semester. In other words, if you want to start your PhD in Fall (late August), you will need to apply by Dec of the year before.
You are welcome to reach out to me if you would like to apply. In your email, please briefly state your research background related to climate and hydrology, how your research interests align with mine, your quantitative and programming skills, CV, and TOEFL score if applicable as a non-native English speaker.
Master students (IUB students only):
I am looking forward to working with master students as research assistants. If interested, please send me an email with your CV, a brief summary of your research experiences and quantitative or programming skills.
Undergraduate students (IUB students only):
Undergrad researchers are welcome in my group. Your research could serve as a senior thesis project or provide valuable experience for you, especially if you are considering pursuing graduate studies. If you are a current IUB student, and interested in watershed hydrology, water resources, climate modeling, and climate change, please contact me for potential opportunities. The IUB Undergraduate Research office also provides many great opportunities. I also recommend you keep an eye on the Sustainability Scholars Program and Emerging Scholars Research Experience Program.
Visiting Scholar:
I welcome motivated visiting students/scholars to join my team. While I am unable to provide funding to sponsor visitors, I am more than happy to host you if you can secure funding from your own institutions or other sources. I am able to provide subsidies to help with compensation.
Contact
- zl68@iu.edu
- 702 N. Walnut Grove Ave, Room 418, MSB-II, Bloomington, IN 47405
- DM Me