• Hometown: Ardahan, Turkey
• Faculty mentor/advisor: Ibrahim Demir, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• What is your degree program and expected graduate date? Informatics PhD Program, May 2022
• Please describe your research: My research focuses on employing artificial intelligence practices to understand and augment environmental imagery and datasets. I develop artificial neural network models for knowledge extraction from environmental imagery. Also, I utilize AI for spatial and temporal interpolation of environmental datasets as well as using AI-enhanced datasets in forecasting floods and rainfall.
• In simple terms, why does this research matter? Environmental datasets vary by their temporal and spatial resolutions. Most of the time due to costly acquisition processes, these datasets lack the quality needed for efficient disaster monitoring, recovery and response. My research aims to make better forecasting models powered by AI while making physical modeling more efficient by providing better datasets. Using better datasets and forecasting models will result in more effective disaster management.
• How soon after starting at the University of Iowa were you able to participate in research? I started participating in research as an undergraduate research intern before I was a student at the University of Iowa.
• How has being involved in research made you more successful at the University of Iowa? Being involved in many novel research projects with social impacts provided me with knowledge of new fields and new experiences that I could take advantage of throughout my studies at the University of Iowa. Consequently, I was able to serve both community of Iowa City and scientific community.
• What are your career goals and/or plans after graduation? After graduation, I hope to continue doing research in the field of AI and be a professor of the field.

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