Ph.D. Researcher · Johns Hopkins University
Using satellite data assimilation and AI/ML to trace how drought and floods move through water, food and health.
~/ tracking soil-moisture drought_
182+
Citations
4
H-Index
7
Countries
6
Publications
About
I am a Ph.D. researcher at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, on the Geography and Environmental Engineering track. My research follows drought as it moves through land, water and people: how soil-moisture drought, from flash events to seasonal ones, drives crop-yield losses and uneven recovery across U.S. counties, how it carries through to air quality and health, and what satellite observations from SMAP and SWOT add when they are assimilated into hydrological and flood-inundation models, from the Mekong River Basin to U.S. rivers.
Before the Ph.D., I spent nearly three years as a coastal and hydroinformatics engineer at Smith Warner International in Jamaica, building shoreline-protection and flood-hazard models for climate-resilience projects valued up to US $3 million, work that protects more than 250,000 Caribbean residents. That engineering practice, and the open tools I maintain for SWAT+ calibration, climate-model downloads and flood mapping, keep my work at the meeting point of computational hydrology, remote sensing and machine learning.
My journey has taken me through 7 countries across 3 continents, from Jamaica to France, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, China, and the United States, giving me a global perspective on water challenges. I am fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese, and my research interests include drought and soil moisture, hydrology, remote sensing, data assimilation, coastal processes, and machine learning.
182+
Google Scholar citations
4
H-Index
3
i10-Index
7
Countries
6
Publications
Licensed P.E.
Professional Engineers Board of Jamaica · PE/01,14/01399
Service
Session Co-Chair, IEEE IGARSS 2026
Agriculture: Precision Agriculture & Crop Metrics II · Washington, D.C.
Licensed Professional Engineer
Professional Engineers Board of Jamaica · Reg# PE/01,14/01399
Expertise
Assimilating satellite observations into hydrological models
SMAP soil moisture, SWOT water surface and river slope
Machine learning for hydrology, crop yield and land cover
Adaptation, projection, and impact assessment
Satellite river slope in operational HAND flood maps
Flash and compound drought, crop and health impacts
Infrastructure adaptation and defense design
Food security, drought, and GHG analysis
Scholarship
SRO Marshall, TND Tran, A Arshad, MM Rahman, V Lakshmi
Earth Systems and Environment 10(1), 553-575
citations
SRO Marshall, TND Tran, V Lakshmi
Journal of Hydrology 666, 134784
citations
GNT Longandjo, V Sridhar, W Moufouma-Okia, V Lakshmi, HL Kim, H Kang, TND Tran, SRO Marshall
Resilience and Sustainability in the Congo Basin, 839-861
citations
SRO Marshall, D Tran, BQ Nguyen, MH Le, B Fang, H Elhaddad, J Eylander, SA Kantoush, JD Bolten, V Lakshmi
Journal of Hydrology, 136599
SRO Marshall, TND Tran, MR Tapas, BQ Nguyen
International Journal of River Basin Management, 1-17
citations
TND Tran, QB Nguyen, ND Vo, R Marshall, P Gourbesville
Advances in Hydroinformatics, 1205-1222
citations
Recognition
Fellowships, scholarships and awards I have received, from undergraduate study in China to doctoral research in the United States.
12
Honors
2014–2026
Years
6
Awards
2
Fellowships
2
Assistantships
2
Scholarships
The University of Alabama & CUAHSI
One of 24 fellows selected nationally for the 2026 cohort; seven-week residential institute (8 June to 22 July 2026) on water prediction, where I joined the flood-inundation-mapping theme
European Union, EuroAquae+ Hydroinformatics & Water Management
Selected 1 of 12 scholars worldwide; full tuition waiver and inter-EU mobility funding
Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering · 2026–2027
Named fellowship awarded following departmental nomination in recognition of academic accomplishments.
The University of Alabama & CUAHSI
One of 24 fellows selected nationally for the 2026 cohort; seven-week residential institute (8 June to 22 July 2026) on water prediction, where I joined the flood-inundation-mapping theme
22nd University of Virginia Engineering Research Symposium
One of four winners across the School of Engineering and Applied Science; presentation "Global Assessment of Compound Meteorological-Soil Moisture Droughts: Trends, Climate Mode Influences, and Human Exposure Uncertainties"
Johns Hopkins University · 2026–present
Full departmental funding for five years, tuition and matriculation fee waived
University of Virginia · 2025–2026
Competitively awarded non-service research assistantship, funded in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
European Union, EuroAquae+ Hydroinformatics & Water Management · 2020–2022
Selected 1 of 12 scholars worldwide; full tuition waiver and inter-EU mobility funding
CHEC (Americas Division) & China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) · 2014–2019
Selected 1 of 15 scholars worldwide; full tuition and accommodation
Hohai University, China
Shengsi Maguan stagnant current and wave breakwater design project
Chinese Government, awarded by Hohai University
Hohai University, China
Hohai University, China
Nanjing Normal University, China
Updates
Talks, programs and announcements about my research, newest first.
I presented "Flash vs. Seasonal Drought: Identifying the Characteristic Timescale of Soil Moisture Stress for Predicting Crop-Specific Yield Anomalies" in session TU2.R14 in Washington, D.C., on 11 August 2026, and co-chaired the session.
ReadI co-authored the poster "High resolution soil moisture based drought assessment: insights from the 2021 Southern La Plata River Basin drought" (TUP1.PM.1) with Bin Fang, Ziyue Zhu, Laila Jover and Venkataraman Lakshmi.
ReadMy Summer Institute team's chapter, "Evaluating the Sensitivity of HAND Flood Inundation Predictions to River Slope Dynamics", compares static and SWOT-derived dynamic river slopes in HAND flood inundation mapping for six areas in the United States.
ReadCUAHSI and the University of Alabama listed me among the graduate student fellows of the 2026 Water Prediction Innovators Summer Institute.
ReadUVA Engineering named me one of the four winners of the 22nd University of Virginia Engineering Research Symposium for "Global Assessment of Compound Meteorological-Soil Moisture Droughts: Trends, Climate Mode Influences, and Human Exposure Uncertainties".
ReadI presented "Global Assessment of Compound Meteorological-Soil Moisture Droughts: Trends and Climate Mode Influences" (H41M-1337) at AGU25 on 18 December 2025.
ReadI presented "Operational Hydrological Modeling in Data-Scarce Regions: Assessing the Impact of Fine-Resolution Soil Moisture Assimilation" (H33N-1460) at AGU25 on 17 December 2025.
ReadTechnical
Journey
2026 – present
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Geography & Environmental Engineering · Hydrology & Water Resources
2025 – 2026
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Began doctoral study · continued at Johns Hopkins
2020 – 2022
EuroAquae+ Erasmus Mundus Joint Master
Nice, France · Newcastle, United Kingdom · Cottbus, Germany
2015 – 2020
Hohai University, Nanjing, China
CHEC Scholar · Full scholarship
2026 – present
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Soil-moisture drought · Crop and health impacts · Satellite data assimilation
2026
The University of Alabama & CUAHSI, Tuscaloosa, AL
SWOT river slope in HAND flood-inundation mapping
2025 – 2026
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Compound drought · Soil-moisture assimilation · Funded in part by USACE
2022 – 2025
Smith Warner International, Jamaica
Coastal resilience · Flood modeling · Climate adaptation
2022
SUEZ, Paris, France
Virtual sectorisation (AQUADVANCED) · Leak detection · Hydraulic modeling
2021
Remote, France
QGIS geospatial analysis · Led five interns across two countries