Simone Fatichi

Biography

Simone Fatichi received his BSc and MSc (cum laude) in Environmental Engineering at the University of Firenze (Italy). In 2010, he obtained an International PhD title (outstanding evaluation) jointly between the T.U. Braunschweig (Germany) and the University of Firenze (Italy). Subsequently, he was a researcher and lecturer at ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Institute of Environmental Engineering, before starting as an associate professor at the National University of Singapore in 2020. In 2024, he was promoted to full professor. He was a recipient of the prestigious Antonio Feltrinelli Giovani Prize in 2019, the Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2020, the NUS College of Design and Engineering Young Researcher Award in 2023, and the 2026 Paul A. Witherspoon Lecture from AGU. He is mainly working on hydrology, biogeosciences, and climate change-related topics addressing questions associated with global change and its impacts on vegetation functioning, water and soil resources, carbon cycle, and ecosystem services in natural and urban environments.

Qualifications

Positions

September 2026 – ongoing Adjunct Full Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (Singapore) and Full Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria.
July 2024 – September 2026 Full Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (Singapore).
March 2020 – June 2024 Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (Singapore).
March 2011 – February 2020 Research Associate and Lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich (Switzerland).
May 2010 – February 2011 Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Firenze (Italy).

Education

2010: International Doctorate Course (PhD) on “Mitigation of Risk due to Natural Hazards on Structures and Infrastructures” (Civil and Environmental Engineering) joint between the University of Firenze (Italy) and T.U. Braunschweig (Germany), outstanding evaluation.
2006: Master of Science in Environmental and Earth Protection Engineering at the University of Firenze (Italy), cum laude.
2004: Bachelor in Environmental and Earth Engineering at the University of Firenze (Italy), cum laude.

Honours & Awards

- - 2026. PAUL A. WITHERSPOON LECTURE awarded by “American Geophysical Union” in recognition of significant and innovative contributions by mid-career scientists to the hydrologic sciences through research aimed at socially important problems and through mentoring of young scientists.
  - 2023, National University of Singapore. College of Design and Engineering. YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD.
  - Jan 2023 – Jul 2024. DEAN’S CHAIR at the National University of Singapore. College of Design and Engineering.
  - 2020, HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES EARLY CAREER AWARD awarded by the “American Geophysical Union” in recognition of outstanding contributions to hydrology through research, education, or societal impact.
  - 2020, Institute of Physics (IOP) trusted reviewer status in recognition of an exceptionally high level of peer review competency.
  - 2019, PRIZE “ANTONIO FELTRINELLI GIOVANI” in Engineering of Complex Systems awarded by “Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei”. Highest Italian scientific recognition in a given area for young (less than 40 years old) scientists.
  - 2016, Editors’ Citation for EXCELLENCE IN REFEREEING for Geophysical Research Letters.
  - 2014, Biennial PRIZE EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI, awarded to the best young (less than 34 years old) Italian researcher in the field of Hydraulic, Hydrology and Hydraulic structure.
  - 2013, Editors’ Citation for EXCELLENCE IN REFEREEING for Water Resources Research.
  - More than 80 invited talks in various universities, research institutes, and international conferences (e.g., in Italy, China, Luxembourg, Switzerland, USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Germany, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Israel, New Zealand, India, Republic of Korea)

Professional Activities

Convener and Chairman for several years at the EGU General Assembly, at the AGU Fall Meeting, and the conferences Computational Methods in Water Resources, and Frontiers in Hydrology.
Editor for Water Resources Research (December 2022 – Ongoing).
Reviewer for more than 50 journals and for more than 10 funding agencies.
Main developer of the stochastic weather generators, AWE-GEN and co-developer of AWE-GEN2d
Main developer of the mechanistic distributed ecohydrological/ecosystem model Tethys-Chloris (T&C).
Co-developer of the mechanistic urban ecohydrological model Urban Tethys-Chloris (UT&C).

Teaching Areas

Water Resources Engineering
Hydrology
Climate Science for Engineers
Ecohydrology
Earth System Modelling
Coastal Processes and Blue Carbon

Research Interests

Distributed hydrological modelling and hydrological transport processes
Terrestrial ecohydrology and carbon cycle modelling
Plant physiology and tree-leaf hydraulic modelling
Modelling of soil biogeochemistry and soil physics
Urban ecohydrology and urban climate modelling
Stochastic weather and rainfall generators
Downscaling and climate change impacts on hydrology
Hydro-geomorphology in a changing climate

Publications (selected and recent)

Please find a full and updated list of publications at the following link:

https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=J1Mbr7UAAAAJ&hl=en

Zhuang Q., N. Peleg, A. F. Prein, V. Babovic, S. Fatichi (2026). Equatorial extreme convective storms are expanding and becoming more persistent. AGU Advances, 7, e2026AV002370, doi.org/10.1029/2026AV002370
Lin Xu Y., N. Meili, M. Chen, J. Ren, S.S. Mahto, S. Galelli, G. Manoli, A. Paschalis, S. Fatichi (2026). Singapore Water Budget: the Past, the Present and the Future. Water Resources Research, 62, e2025WR041411, doi:10.1029/2025WR041411
Luo Z., J. Ren, S. Fatichi (2026). Air and soil warming have different effects on soil organic carbon storage. Communications Earth & Environment, 7:394, doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03367-5
Zhao J., A. Paschalis, P. Gentine, Z. Feng, S. Fatichi (2026). Limited capability of current satellite SIF reconstructions to capture stomatal responses to environmental stresses. Communications Earth & Environment, 7:9, doi:10.1038/s43247-025-03035-0
Chen M., S. S. Mahto, X. He, C. Jun, A. Paschalis, N. Peleg, G. Mascaro, S. Fatichi (2025). Record-Breaking Rainfall: A Stochastic Approach for Its Prediction. npj Natural Hazards, 2, 98, doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00148-6
Meili N., X. Zheng, Y. Takane, K. Nakajima, K. Yamaguchi, D. Chi, Y. Zhu, J. Wang, Y. Qiu, A. Paschalis, G. Manoli, P. Burlando, P. Y. Tan, S. Fatichi (2025). Modeling the effect of trees on energy demand for indoor cooling and dehumidification across cities and climates. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 17, e2024MS004590, doi:10.1029/2024MS004590
Chen L., P. Brun, P. Buri, S. Fatichi, A. Gessler, M.J. McCarthy, F. Pellicciotti, B. Stocker, D. Karger, (2025). Global increase in the occurrence and impact of multi-year droughts. Science 387(6731), 278-284, doi: 10.1126/science.ado4245
Luo Z., J. Ren, S. Manzoni, S. Fatichi (2024). Temperature Controls the Relation between Soil Organic Carbon and Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency. Global Change Biology, 30(9), e17492, doi:10.1111/gcb.17492
Bassani F., S. Fatichi, A. Rinaldo, S. Bonetti (2024). Towards a metabolic theory of catchments: scaling of water and carbon fluxes with size. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 121(42), e241073612, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410736121
Paschalis A., M. De Kauwe, M. Sabot, S. Fatichi (2024). When do plant hydraulics matter in terrestrial biosphere modelling? Global Change Biology, 30, e17022, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17022
Meili N., J. Beringer, J. Zhao, S. Fatichi (2024). Aerodynamic effects cause higher forest evapotranspiration and water yield reductions after wildfires in tall forests. Global Change Biology, 30, e16995. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16995
Huang W. T. K., P. Masselot, E. Bou-Zeid, S. Fatichi, A. Paschalis, T. Sun, A. Gasparrini, G. Manoli (2023) Economic valuation of temperature-related mortality attributed to urban heat islands in European cities. Nature Communications 14, 7438, doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43135-z
Wang Y., N. Meili, S. Fatichi (2023) Evidence and Controls of the Acceleration of the Hydrological Cycle over Land. Water Resources Research 59(8), e2022WR033970, doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033970
Yang, Y., M. Roderick, H. Guo, D. Mirallas, L. Zhang, S. Fatichi, X. Luo, Y. Zhang, T. McVicar, Z. Tu, T. Keenan, J. Fisher, R. Gan, X. Zhang, S. Piao, B. Zhang, D. Yang (2023). Evapotranspiration on a greening Earth. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 4 626-641, doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00464-3
Zhao J., X. Zhao, D. Wu, S. Liang, T. Zhou, N. Meili, H. Wang, N. Liu, S. Zhao, and S. Fatichi (2023). Satellite-based evidence highlights a considerable increase in urban tree cooling benefits from 2000 to 2015. Global Change Biology 29(11), 3085-3097, doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667
Zhao J., N. Meili, X. Zhao, and S. Fatichi (2023). Urban vegetation’s cooling potential during heatwaves depends on the background climate. Environmental Research Letters 18, 014035, doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acaf0f
Fatichi S., A. Paschalis, S. Bonetti, G. Manoli, C. Pappas (2023). Water Use Efficiency: A review of spatial and temporal variability. Chapter in the Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment, Second Edition, 5, 527-542. Editor(s): Michael J. Goss, Margaret Oliver, Oxford: Elsevier., https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822974-3.00166-X
Paschalis A., S. Bonetti, Y. Guo, S. Fatichi (2022). On the Uncertainty Induced by Pedotransfer Functions in Terrestrial Biosphere Modeling. Water Resources Research, 58(9), e2021WR031871, doi:10.1029/2021WR031871
Zhang Z., A. Paschalis, A. Mijic, N. Meili, G. Manoli, M. van Reeuwijk, S. Fatichi (2022). A mechanistic assessment of urban heat island intensities and drivers across climates. Urban Climate 44, 101215, doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101215
Meili N., A. Paschalis, G. Manoli, and S. Fatichi (2022). Diurnal and Seasonal Patterns of Global Urban Dry Islands. Environmental Research Letters, 17, 054044 doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac68f8
Fatichi S., N. Peleg, T. Mastrotheodoros, C. Pappas, G. Manoli (2021). An ecohydrological journey of 4500 years reveals a stable but threatened precipitation-groundwater recharge relation around Jerusalem. Science Advances, 7 (37), eabe6303, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe6303.
Paschalis A., TC Chakraborty, S. Fatichi, N. Meili, and G. Manoli (2021). Urban forests as the main regulator of the evaporative cooling effect in cities. AGU Advances 2(2) e2020AV000303, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020AV000303,
Meili N., J. A. Acero, N. Peleg, G. Manoli, P. Burlando, and S. Fatichi (2021). Vegetation cover and plant-trait effects on outdoor thermal comfort in a tropical city. Building and Environment 195, 107733, doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107733
Botter M., M. Zeeman, P. Burlando, S. Fatichi (2021). Impacts of fertilization on grassland productivity and water quality across the European Alps under current and warming climate: insights from a mechanistic model. Biogeosciences 18, 1917-1939, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-294
Meili N., G. Manoli, P. Burlando, J. Carmeliet, W. Chow, A. Coutts, M. Roth, E. Velasco, E. Vivoni, and S. Fatichi (2021). Tree effects on urban microclimate: diurnal, seasonal, and climatic temperature differences explained by separating radiation, evapotranspiration, and roughness effects. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 58, 126970, doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126970
Botter M., L. Li, J. Hartmann, P. Burlando, S. Fatichi (2020). Depth of solute generation is a dominant control on concentration-discharge relations. Water Resources Research 56(8) e2019WR026695, doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026695
Manoli G., S. Fatichi, E. Bou-Zeid, and G. G. Katul (2020). Seasonal hysteresis of urban heat islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 117(13) 7082-7089, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917554117
Fatichi S., D. Or, R. Walko, H. Vereecken, M. H. Young, T. Ghezzehei, T. Hengl, S. Kollet, N. Agam, R. Avissar (2020). Soil structure – an important omission in Earth System Models. Nature Communications 11, 522, doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z.
Mastrotheodoros T., C. Pappas, P. Molnar, P. Burlando, G. Manoli, J. Parajka, R. Rigon, B. Szeles, M. Bottazzi, P. Hadjidoukas, and S. Fatichi (2020). More green and less blue water in the Alps during warmer summers. Nature Climate Change 10 155-161, doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5
Meili N., G. Manoli, P. Burlando, E. Bou-Zeid, W. T. L. Chow, A. M. Coutts, E. Daly, K. A. Nice, M. Roth, N. J. Tapper, E. Velasco, E. R. Vivoni, and S. Fatichi (2020). An urban ecohydrological model to quantify the effect of vegetation on urban climate and hydrology (UT&C v1.0). Geoscientific Model Development, 13, 335–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-335-2020
Manoli G., S. Fatichi, M. Schläpfer, K. Yu, T. W. Crowther, N. Meili, P. Burlando, G. G. Katul, and E. Bou-Zeid (2019). Magnitude of urban heat islands largely explained by climate and population. Nature 573 55–60, doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1512-9
Fatichi S., Manzoni, D. Or, A. Paschalis (2019). A mechanistic model of microbially mediated soil biogeochemical processes – a reality check. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 33(6), 620-648, doi.org/10.1029/2018GB006077
Fatichi S., C. Pappas, S. Leuzinger, J. Zscheischler (2019). Modelling carbon sources and sinks in terrestrial ecosystems. New Phytologist, 221:652–668, doi:10.1111/nph.15451

Adjunct Professor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering