NISCHAL KAFLE

Ph.D. Candidate in Civil Engineering | University of Memphis University of Memphis logo

🌧️ Water Resource Engineering | 🧠 Hydrologist | 🐍 Pythonista

From the high mountains of Nepal 🇳🇵

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About Me

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of Memphis, specializing in stochastic hydrology, meteorology, and engineering applications. My research improves modeling of short-duration extreme rainfall for urban infrastructure design, climate resilience, and flood risk management.

Advisor: Dr. Claudio Meier

Descriptive text
"Science, to me, is a process of decoding the unseen, especially where water and uncertainty meet..."

🏞️ Gallery

🏆 Recognitions & Awards

  • World-Class Achiever — Honored by the Division of International Affairs, University of Memphis
  • $5000 Dissertation Completion Grant — Awarded for Summer 2025 by the Graduate School
  • Graduate Assistantship — Department of Civil Engineering, University of Memphis (Aug 2021 – Present)
  • Excellence in Engineering — Appreciation Award from the Department of Irrigation, Nepal (2018)
  • Leadership in Public Service — Recognition for conflict resolution as an Election Officer, Sindhupalchowk DAO (2018)
  • Full Merit-Based Scholarship — Secured Rank 26 in national IOE entrance exam among 10,000+ applicants (2010)

Real World Impact

From Nepal to Memphis - Making a difference through research and community engagement

500+
Lives Protected
150+
Infrastructure Projects
60+
US Residents Trained
500+
Nepalese Residents Trained
40+
Students Instructed
10+
International Conferences
1+
Open-source Projects
5+
Events Organized as NSS President

🏙️ Memphis Flood Modeling

Led comprehensive flood modeling for underserved South Memphis communities using PCSWMM. Created critical flood maps and animations that directly informed city planning decisions.

🌍 Infrastructure Development

As a Gazetted Officer in Nepal, managed technical operations for 150+ irrigation and disaster mitigation projects, collaborating with World Bank and ADB.

From Himalayan villages to American cities - water connects us all.

Current Research Areas

Click on any research area to learn more

📦 nsEVDx Python Library...
Open-source Python package for modeling non-stationary extreme value distributions – View on GitHub
📊 Trend detection in extreme rainfall...
Using Bayesian and frequentist approaches for trend detection in rainfall extremes.
🌦️ Remote Sensing + ML...
Integrating Remote Sensing and Transformers for drought and flood prediction.
🔍 Neighborhood-based Trend Detection...
A novel spatial method to enhance our ability to detect trend in extreme rainfall (Submitted)
📈 Effect of Minimum Interevent Time (MIT)...
Evaluating the effect of MIT choices on regional DDF curves (Submitted)
🎯 Extracting Spatially Independent Partial Duration Series...
Using radar reflectivity and simplified storm motion to extract spatially independent rainfall maxima (AGU 2024, manuscript in prep)
⛅ Rainfall Disaggregation with Transformers...
Disaggregating daily rainfall to sub-daily (n-minute) using transformers (In preparation)
🛰️ Impact of Rain-Gauge Network Density on DDFs...
Studying how spatial/temporal resolution of rain-gauge network affect the DDF estimates (AGU & ASCE-EWRI 2024)
🏙️ Urban Flood Modeling – Memphis...
Simulated flood events in the underserved South Memphis neighborhood using PCSWMM ; Created flood maps & animations for city planning.
Participated in community meetings, informing over 60 residents about flood risks and preparedness
📉 GCM Bias Correction & Downscaling...
Compared various statistical methods (e.g., QM, DQM, UQM) in Chilean basins under climate change scenarios
🧘 Non-dualistic Vedanta...
Investigating "Who is the Seer and what is actually Seen?" through personal experiments
Examining and experimenting with the logical frameworks mentioned in the Upanishads

💼 Professional Experience

Gazetted Officer – Water Resources Engineer

Ministry of Irrigation, Department of Irrigation, Nepal | Aug 2015 – Aug 2021

  • Managed technical operations for 150+ irrigation and disaster mitigation projects
  • Led environmental impact assessments, hazard mapping, and community training programs
  • Collaborated with international partners (ADB, World Bank)
  • Conducted groundwater research in Lumbini Province
Consulting Engineer, Project Manager & GIS Expert

Bright Future International Pvt. Ltd. | Dec 2014 – Jul 2015

  • Developed transportation master plans for 5 rural municipalities
  • Facilitated ward committee meetings for inclusive planning

CV

📄 my CV

🌐 Personal Website

💬 Open to research and collaboration opportunities

📚 References

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