Debjani Singh applies her knowledge in Earth science and hydrology along with expertise in data science and management to her work leading HydroSource, a digital one-stop resource that supports and enables hydropower research and development.
Tell us about your research and its impacts on hydropower.
I'm the principal investigator of a project called HydroSource, which is funded by the Water Power Technologies Office. HydroSource is a unique and comprehensive water-energy digital platform that helps the hydropower community to make data-driven decisions.
My work results in new datasets, new analysis, new tools, and models that help the hydropower community in making data-driven decisions, not only at the smallest plant-level scales, but also for policymakers at the regional and national scales.
What keeps you motivated?
New challenges and problems almost every day or every week, that's the motivation. It's not a traditional, okay, you do an experiment, and then this is a result. It's not like that. For me, it's kind of experimenting constantly and sometimes improvising on the fly. Most of the time I don't know what the experiment might result in. It can be any insight, both good or bad and that unknown keeps me motivated.
What does it mean to you to be a female in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)?
I have been a lone female in STEM for a while since I was in my undergraduate days and through some of my postgraduate studies. I look back and think I may have broken some societal stereotypes that people might have thought that a girl doesn't have much opportunities or girls are not interested or suitable to study Earth sciences. But I did great. That's a big fulfillment. Now, when I think back, what I get out of this is I did great in a so-called male dominated field or world. Now that I see more women in my field, it just gives me that satisfaction that I may have unknowingly been one of the role models.
What would you tell a female student considering a career in water power research and development?
If you are passionate about the environment and sustainability, give it a try. A research and development career with water power is multi-disciplinary. It involves a diverse set of activities ranging from field work to applying data science and machine learning. As a result, it is very exciting and fulfilling, and I can assure you of that because I have been doing that for a while and thoroughly enjoy it.
This research is supported by the Water Power Technologies Office in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.