r-rajagopal
R Rajagopal, PhD
Professor

  • Departments of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences
    The University of Iowa
    Iowa City, Iowa, USA
    Phone: (319) 335-0160
    E-mail: r-rajagopal@uiowa.edu

     

Education

University of Michigan

1970-73

Water Resources Systems

PhD

(1973/4)

University of Florida

1968-70

Industrial & Systems Engineering

ME

(1969)

University of  Bombay

1964-67

Graduate Program in Statistics

 

None

University of  Bombay

1960-64

Mathematics & Physics

B.Sc.

(1964)

Biography

R. Rajagopal, Professor, Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.

Rajagopal has organized and directed over 150-200 workshops and seminars on topics in environmental science, big data, economics, entrepreneurship, technology, and policy; risk assessment; ground-water protection; information analysis and systems integration; and problem-solving, creativity, and innovation to over 10,000 people in academe, government, non-profit organizations and industry. He has been invited to serve as a nominator for the annual Japan Prize (Japanese equivalent of the Nobel), since its inception in 1985. He is the founding editor of the journal “Environmental Practice” (formerly known as the “The Environmental Professional”) currently published by the Cambridge University Press. He received a PhD inenvironmental systems from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, 1973/74. He has mentored 65+ master’s and PhD students. In August 2014, he has been invited to give the 2014 Keynote address on the “Future of Environmental Monitoring” at the joint meeting of the Laboratory Accreditation and Environmental Monitoring Conferences of the NELAC Institute. The week-long meeting is the only conference that brings laboratories, regulatory agencies, data users, sampling firms, and many other organizations to discuss cutting-edge changes in environmental laboratory accreditation and future directions in policy that will have a national impact. Since 2006, he has created one of the largest transformative study abroad experience in India for over 1,000 students and professors from the University of Iowa.

Research Interest

His current areas of research interests include: Toxicological Profiles and Environmental & Health Risk Assessment, National Environmental Policy Act & the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements, Big Data Analytics, Search and Screening in Environmental Discovery, Optimization of Environmental Monitoring Strategies, Economics of Pollution Control, & Problem Solving, Creativity, and Innovation.

Scientific Activities

Professional and Academic Positions

2006-: Founder/Director, India Winterim Program, International Programs, University of Iowa

2005/6: Fellow, Office of the Provost, University of Iowa.

2001-03: Distinguished Visiting Professor (1 month, 2002-03), Visiting Professor (1 mo, 2001-02), Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, India.

1987-: Professor, Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa.

1996-97: Acting Departmental Executive Officer, Department of Geographical Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa

1993-95: Departmental Executive Officer, Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa

1986-88: Visiting Scientist, Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory,The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, Nevada.

1979-87: Associate Professor, Departments of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering (1983-87), University of Iowa.

1984-85: Visiting Faculty, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, India. 1984 (spring) and 1985 (summer).

1981: Senior Project Coordinator, Office of the Vice President for Educational Development and Research, University of Iowa.

1974-79: Assistant Professor, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Duke University. Assistant Professor, College of Forest Resources and the Center for Quantitative Sciences, University of Washington.

Publications

  1. Raj Rajagopal, Michael Wichman (University of Iowa, USA) Edwin Brands (University of Minnesota, Morris, USA). Water: drinking. The International Encyclopedia of Geography. Edited by Douglas Richardson, Noel Castree, Michael F. Goodchild, Audrey Kobayashi, Weidong Liu, and Richard A. Marston. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0338. 2017
  2. Edwin Brands (University of Minnesota, Morris, USA), Raj Rajagopal (University of Iowa, USA), Usha Eleswarapu (Rutgers University, USA), Peter Li (Tennessee Technological University, USA). Groundwater. The International Encyclopedia of Geography. Edited by Douglas Richardson, Noel Castree, Michael F. Goodchild, Audrey Kobayashi, Weidong Liu, and Richard A. Marston. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg 0677. 2017
  3. Luke Juran, Morgan C. MacDonald, Nandita B. Basu, Shane Hubbard, Raj Rajagopal, Prema Rajagopalan & Ligy Philip (2016): Development and application of a multiscalar, participant-driven water poverty index in post-tsunami India, International Journal of Water Resources Development, DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2016.1253543. 2016
  4. R. Rajagopal. Integration of Water Data for Decision-Making and Research.  Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education. Water Resources Geography: A Research Agenda for the Next Twenty Years. Issue 142: Pages   28-35, August 2009. 
  5. Edwin Brands and R. Rajagopal. Economics of place-based monitoring under the safe drinking water act, part I: spatial and temporal patterns of contaminants, and design of screening strategies. Environ Monit Assess (2008) 143:75–89.
  6. Edwin Brands and R. Rajagopal. Economics of place-based monitoring under the safe drinking water act, part II: Design and development of place-based monitoring strategies. Environ Monit Assess (2008) 143:91–102.
  7. Edwin Brands and R. Rajagopal. Economics of place-based monitoring under the safe drinking water act, part III: performance evaluation of place-based monitoring strategies. Environ Monit Assess (2008) 143:103–120.
  8. Charles W. Emerson and R. Rajagopal.  Measuring Toxic Emissions from Landfills Using Sequential Screening, Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems, 28(2004):  265-284.
  9. R. Kuchibhatla and R. Rajagopal.  A Comparative Analysis of Water Quality Sampling Decisions in Aquifers. The Environmental Professional. 17(4): 316-330. 1995
  10. U. Natarajan and R. Rajagopal. Economics of Screening for Pesticides in Ground Water. Water Resources Bulletin. 30(4):579-588. 1994
  11. R. Rajagopal and P. C. Li. Utility of Screening in Environmental Monitoring.  Part 1: Occurrence and Distribution of VOCs in Ground Water.  American Environmental Laboratory. 6(4):16-19. 1994
  12. P. C. Li and R. Rajagopal. Utility of Screening in Environmental Monitoring.  Part 2: Sequential Screening Methods for Monitoring VOCs at Waste Sites.  American Environmental Laboratory.  6(5):63-66. 1994.
  13. P. C. Li and R. Rajagopal.  Utility of Screening in Environmental Monitoring.  Part 3: Sample Compositing Methods for Monitoring VOCs at Waste Sites.  American Environmental Laboratory.  6(9):37-45. 1994.
  14. U. Natarajan and R. Rajagopal. Pesticides in Water: Surveying the Situation. Part I. Environmental Testing & Analysis.  2(1): 40-50. 1993.
  15. U. Natarajan and R. Rajagopal. Pesticides in Water: Screening with Sequential Analysis. Part II. Environmental Testing & Analysis.  2(2): 60-67. 1993.
  16. U. Natarajan and R. Rajagopal. Pesticides in Water: Sample Compositing. Part III. Environmental Testing & Analysis.  2(3):54-63. 1993.
  17. G. A. Tobin and R. Rajagopal. Groundwater Contamination and Protection Problems in a Small Community. The Social Science Journal.  30(1):113-128. 1993.
  18. R. Rajagopal, U. Natarajan, and J. Wacker.  Information Integration for Environmental Monitoring and Assessment: An Annotated Bibliography.  The Environmental Professional.  14(2): 151-177. 1992.
  19. R. Rajagopal and G. A. Tobin.  Economics of Ground-Water Quality Monitoring: A Survey of Experts.  Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.  22(2): 39-56. 1992.
  20. R. Rajagopal and P. C. Li.  Comparison of Two Screening Methods for the Detection of VOCs in Ground Water. Journal of Chemometrics.  5(3): 321-331.  1991.
  21. R. Rajagopal and G. A. Tobin.  Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Survey of Expert Opinions. Environmental Geochemistry and Health.  13(1): 3-13. 1991.
  22. R. Rajagopal.  Economics of Screening in the Detection of Organics in Ground Water. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems.   9: 261-272.  1990.
  23. R. Rajagopal and G. A. Tobin. Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Expert Opinion and Policy Choices. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. 12(4):267-276.  1990.
  24. G. A. Tobin and R. Rajagopal. The Point-of-Use Water Treatment Industry: Expert Opinion on Regulation. The Environmental Professional.  12(4):298-304.  1990. 
  25. G. A. Tobin and R. Rajagopal. Expert Opinion and Ground-Water Quality: The Case of Agricultural Drainage Wells. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 45(2): 336-341. 1990.
  26. R. Rajagopal and G. A. Tobin.  Expert Opinion and Ground-Water Quality Protection: The Case of Nitrate in Drinking Water.  Ground Water. 27(6): 835-847. 1989.
  27. R. Rajagopal and L.R. Williams.  Economics of Sample Compositing as a Screening Tool in Ground-Water Quality Monitoring.  Ground Water Monitoring Review.  9(1): 186-192.Discussion: Ground Water Monitoring Review.9(3):82-88. 1989.
  28. Y. W. Hsueh and R. Rajagopal.  Modeling Ground-Water Quality Sampling Decisions. Ground Water Monitoring Review.  8(4): 121-134. 1988.
  29. R. Rajagopal.  Influence of Outlying Observations on Selected Estimates of Parameters of Distributions. Ground Water.  26(3): 325-332. 1988.
  30. R. Rajagopal. Large Data Bases and Regional Groundwater Quality Assessments – An Iowa Case Study. Ground Water.  25(4):415-426. 1987.
  31. R. Rajagopal. Conceptual Design for a Groundwater Quality Monitoring Strategy. The Environmental Professional. 8(3):244-64. 1986.
  32. R. Rajagopal. The Effect of Sampling Frequency on Groundwater Quality Characterization. Ground Water Monitoring Review.   6(4):65-73. 1986.
  33. R. Rajagopal.  Optimal Sampling Strategies for Source Identification in Environmental Episodes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 4(1): 1-14. 1984.
  34. R. Rajagopal and C. Carmack. Groundwater Policies in the Agricultural Mid-western United States. Water International. 8(4): 171-179. 1983.
  35. R. Rajagopal.  Environmental Education in the Market-place:  A Decade of U.S. Experience. Environmental Conservation.  10(3):225-230. 1983.
  36. R. Rajagopal and Richard L. Talcott. Patterns in Groundwater Quality: Selected Observations in Iowa. Environmental Management. 7(5):465-474. 1983.
  37. R. Rajagopal and Karin Franklin. Hazardous Waste Management Policy and Law: A State Perspective. The Environmental Professional. 3(1/2):143-153. 1981.
  38. Yakir Hasit, R. Rajagopal, and P.A. Vesilind.  Sludge Management Systems: Optimal Planning. ASCE: Journal of Environmental Engineering Division.  107(3): 493-509. 1981.
  39. R. Rajagopal.  Interdisciplinary Research and Education for Ecosystems Management. International Journal of Urban Systems. 4(1):43-52. 1979.

Editorship

  1. 1979-84 Founding editor of The Environmental Professional, a quarterly journal of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP). As editor, obtained the honorary services of over thirty eminent scholars, researchers, and practicing professionals to meet the stated goals and objectives of the journal and the association. Currently published by the Cambridge University Press under the title “Environmental Practice.”

Edited Journals (Special Volumes)

  1. 1979/84 The Environmental Professional. Edited 6 volumes, comprising 24 quarterly issues. Editor of four Special Issues:
  • Environmental Mediation and Conflict Management. V2 (1):1-134. 1980.
  • Toxic and Hazardous Substances: Science, Technology, and Public Policy.  V3 (1/2):1-192. 1981.
  • Risk Assessment for Ambient Air Pollutants and Other Environmental Hazards. V3 (3/4):193-302. 1981. 
  • Environmental Directions for the Future.  V4 (3):201-322. 1982.

Book

  1. 1980 R. Rajagopal. Editor. Case Studies in Forest Resource Information Analysis. Printed by the U.S. GPO for the USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, and 309 pp.

Environmental and Toxicological Studies-flyer