Anna Costa

  • Research Assistant Professor
  • Water and Environmental Research Center (WERC)
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • PO Box 755910
  • Fairbanks, AK 99775-5910
  • JUB 358
  • acosta2@alaska.edu
Research
Education
Experience
Outreach

My expertise focuses on hydrology and fluvial geomorphology in different climates and across multiple scales. My main research interest is understanding the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on water and sediment fluxes at the catchment scale. I am interested in present and future extreme climatic events and their propagation into the catchment response. I combine field observations and stochastic weather generation/downscaling of climate models with basin-scale spatially distributed hydrological and sediment transport modeling.

  • 2018 Ph.D. Hydrology and Water Resources Management, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 
    Basin-scale sediment dynamics of an alpine catchment: understanding the impacts of hydroclimatic forcing and hydropower
  • 2012 Master of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Water Resources, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 
    Application of two dimensional hydraulic modelling: evaluation of a river restoration project
  • 2006 M.Sc. Environmental Engineering, University of Trento (Italy) 
    Experimental characterization of spatial scales and braided rivers morphology

Professional experience

  • 2024 - present Research Assistant Professor, Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK, USA)
  • 2021 - 2024 Senior Researcher and Lecturer, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
  • 2019 Research Assistant, Alaska Climate Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK, USA)
  • 2014 - 2018 PhD candidate, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
  • 2012 - 2013 MAS ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
  • 2008 - 2012 Structural Engineer, Canove (Italy)
  • 2006 - 2012 Assistant Manager water treatment systems, environmental services, relation with stakeholders, ETRA S.P.A. (Italy)

Teaching experience

  • 2023 Guest Lecturer, Watershed Modelling, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich
  • 2022 - 2023 Lecturer, Water Resources Management Laboratory, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich
  • 2022 Guest Lecturer, Water Resources Seminars, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich
  • 2018 Teaching Assistant, Wasserhaushalt and Watershed Modelling, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich
  • 2016 Organizer of the Summer School on Fluvial Geomorphology, ETH Zurich and EPFL
  • 2016 Teaching Assistant and Guest Lecturer, Water Resources Management, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich
  • 2015 Guest Lecturer, Fluvial System, Master of Environmental Engineering ETH Zurich

Co-supervision of M.Sc. students

  • 2024 Danielle Mayer, Msc Thesis ETH Zurich, Assessing the impact of climate change on flood hazard in the Zambezi river basin
  • 2023 Luca Franzetti, Msc Thesis ETH Zurich, Stochastic downscaling of future climate projections in the Como basin in Italy
  • 2023 Tina Sturzinger, Msc Thesis ETH Zurich, From peaks to valleys: how does climate change a ect the water balance
  • 2023 Yixuan Zhou, Msc Thesis University of Zurich, Exploring the impact of landuse change on suspended sediment transport in a large river in Southeast Asia, the Red River Basin
  • 2023 Tina Sturzinger, Msc Project ETH Zurich, Hydrological modelling of the Dudh Koshi river basin in Nepal
  • 2017 Mayumi Hamada, MSc Project ETH Zurich, Application of a DEM based sediment connectivity index in the Alpine Rhone basin
  • 2016 Frederic Rufenacht, Msc Project ETH Zurich, Estimating the Sediment Trapping Efficiency for Large Reservoirs in the Swiss Rhone Valley
  • 2016 Adrian Mehl, Msc Project ETH Zurich, Developing a river network model for sediment transfer in the Rhone Basin
  • 2016 Florian Textor, Msc Thesis ETH Zurich, Grain size distribution analysis in the upper Rhone basin by drone-based sampling
  • 2014 Angelika Hess, Msc Project ETH Zurich, Analysis of the effect of river regulation on potential sediment mobilization and transport
  • 2021 Outreach activities for high school students about Climate Change, Istituto Superiore Mario Rigoni Stern, Asiago (Italy)
  • 2019 Outreach activities for seniors about Arctic Climate Change, Alaska Climate Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK, USA)
  • 2018 Outreach activities for primary schools, Museum of the North, University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK, USA)