Current Position

Research associate, Doctoral Candidate (PhD)

 

Current Projects

DISTENDER

DISTENDER is an EU-funded project developing strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The DISTENDER consortium consists of 31 partners from 14 European countries. The UoC group in DISTENDER, aims at modelling the impact of different climate and socio-economic scenarios upon water fluxes and water resources focusing particularly on drought and flood effects. The model results will be used to assess trade-offs of mitigation and adaptation strategies in different case studies representing different climate zones and socio-economic situations in order to identify and assess robust strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. We will focus on numerical modeling of hydrological processes particularly with regards to a): Mesoscale modeling of floods and droughts in selected European watersheds using simple hydrological model and b) detailed modeling of water resources and floods using more sophisticated models.

 

 

Previous Projects

• Developing Capacities for Water-Energy-Food Nexus Transition in Sudan (SudaNexT): A bridge between Science, Society and Policy (04/2021 – 10.2023).
• Hydroeconmoic modeling for future water-related developments in the lower Blue Nile Basin (07/2020 – 12/2020).
• Knowledge transfer concept on how to clean the Euphrates and Tigres basin (11/2020 – 2/2021).
• Developing learning units for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) master program in Germany, Sudan, and Costa Rica (05/2018 –12/2021).
• Water Security and Climate Extremes: Building big data into action (WaterSec), a pilot project for developing a water security toolbox in Ethiopia and Sudan (09/2017 – 06/2020).
• Analytical framework for assessing groundwater resources focusing on nature-based solutions as interventions in Mexico and Guatemala (01/2019 – 06/2020).
• Rainwater harvesting as a strategy to increase water availability in water-scarce Eastern Sudan (02/2017 – 02/2018).

 

Research Topics

• Water Resources Planning, Management & Engineering
• Hydrological and water allocation modelling of water systems in the context of climate change at different spatial and temporal scales
• Hydrology and hydraulic structures design.
• Hydrological extremes (Drought and flood characterization and risks)
• Water-Energy-Food Nexus
• Performing watershed management plans.
• Water harvesting and managed aquifer recharge.
• Analysis and interpretation of different remote sensing data and its application on water and land-related topics.

Education

• 2017: M.Sc. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at Technische Hochschule Köln, University of Applied Sciences. Thesis: "Suitability Analysis for Managed Aquifer Recharge through Rainwater Harvesting in Eastern Badia of Jordan".
• 2012: B.Sc (Honors) Civil Engineering at University of Khartoum, Sudan. Thesis: "Redesign of Merowe Dam using Mathcad software".                            

Scientific Employments

• 12/2012– 12/2013: Teaching Assistant at the University of Khartoum, Civil Engineering Department - Khartum, Sudan
• 09/2017 – 10/2022: Research Associate and Teaching Assistant at Cologne University of Applied Science - Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT), Cologne, Germany

 

Publications and Conference talks

Journal Publications

Elagib, N.A, Khalifa, Muhammad, E.Rahma, Abbas, Babker, Zryab, Gamaledin, Suad. (2019). Performance of major mechanized rainfed agricultural production in Sudan: Sorghum vulnerability and resilience to climate since 1970. Agriculture and Forest Metrology. 276-277 (2019) 107640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107640    

Babker, Zryab, Elagib, N.A, Al Zayed, Isalm, Sulieman, Rayyan. (2020). Floodwater harvesting to manage irrigation water and mesquite encroachment in a data-sparse river basin: an eco-hydrological approach. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3703.

Elagib, N.A, Khalifa, Muhammad, Babker, Zryab, Musa, Ammar, Fink, Andreas. (2020). Demarcating the rainfed unproductive zones in the African Sahel and Great Green Wall regions. Land Degradation and Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3793.

Technical Papers:

Dehnavi, Sudeh, Khalifa, Muhammad, Babker, Zryab, Ribbe, Lars. (2020). Streaming tears of the Middle East: How to clean Euphrates and Tigris basins?. Technical paper for elbarlament.org.

Elagib, Nadir, Babker, Zryab. (2021). Adaptation to impacts of changing rainfall in rural Sudan through IWRM approach. Technical paper for The Aqua4Sudan partnership in Sudan.

Conference Papers:

Babker, Zryab, Ribbe, Lars, Alraggad, Marwan. (2018). Suitability analysis for managed aquifer recharge through runoff water harvesting in Eastern Badia of Jorden. Presented at the Water Security and Climate Change Conference, Nairobi.

Ribbe, Lars, Khalifa, Muhammad, Basheer, Mohammed, Ayyad, Saher, Babker, Zryab, Nauditt, Alexandra (2018). Water-Energy-Food-Nexus-Accounting for the Eastern Nile Basin. River Research and Applications. Presented at AGU 2018 Fall meeting. DOI: 10.1002/essoar.10500889.1 

 

Find me also on:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2208-9371

 ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zryab-Babker

 Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZxWLIeYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao