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Dr Lei Gao

Principal Research Scientist

https://people.csiro.au/G/L/Lei-Gao

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Contact details:

LOCKED BAG 2
GLEN OSMOND SA 5064 AUSTRALIA

Biography

Dr Lei Gao is a nationally and internationally recognised researcher with a unique suit of capabilities, including complex systems modelling, which has been successfully applied to addressing a wide range of challenging environmental issues and to informing decision-making on the sustainable management of land and water resources. He has been a thought leader, working across Land & Water Programs, Business Units, and external partners (e.g., Oxford Uni., IIASA, and Chinese Academy of Sciences). He has pioneered new methods and tools in large-scale sustainability modelling and assessment, in artificial intelligence/machine learning (AIML)-based water and landscape predictions, and in adaptive management of water resources under climate extremes.

Dr Gao has a very strong technical background and has worked in industry, university, and CSIRO in a broad range of fields over the past 20 years: e.g., water resources management (groundwater, surface water, and mine water), land systems, Sustainable Development Goals, sustainability assessment, AIML, BECCS, global poverty, fisheries management, urban systems, and complex network systems. He has published over 140 papers, including two papers in Nature. His work has been featured in over 30 news media, including China Daily (China’s largest English language newspaper), ABC Rural, Australian Resources & Investment, the Conversation, Future Earth, PhysOrg, and ECOS.

His research interests and expertise have been developed in the following areas:
(1) complex systems modelling, simulation, and impact assessment
(2) sustainability assessment and trade-off analysis
(3) adaptive management and robust decision-making under uncertainty
(4) sensitivity analysis, uncertainty analysis, and risk assessment
(5) agent-based modelling, multi-objective optimisation, and machine learning
(6) integrated systems modelling and socio-economic analysis
(7) applications of the above expertise in managing complex environmental systems, especially land and water systems

Current Roles

  • Project Leader
    Risk assessment and adaptation strategies for agricultural production in typical basins of China and Australia under future climate change — CAS-CSIRO Joint Project

  • Project Leader
    Identifying Australia’s water banking locations using artificial intelligence — CSIRO Strategic Project

  • CSIRO Delegation Leader
    Next-generation multi-scale technologies for soil carbon sequestration — Australia-China Science & Research Fund Joint Research Centres Project

Achievements and Awards

  • 2022-2022

    CSIRO Recognition Reward for Research Excellence (ACARP, GA, and Interchange Projects)
    CSIRO

  • 2017-2022

    Julius Career Award — the awards are designed to enhance the careers of "exceptional early to mid-career scientists"
    CSIRO

  • 2021-2021

    CSIRO Recognition Reward for Research Excellence (ACARP Project)
    CSIRO

  • 2018-2018

    CSIRO Chairman’s Medal for Science Excellence
    CSIRO

  • 2018-2018

    Impactful Publication Award
    CSIRO Land and Water

  • 2017-2017

    The second Prize of ‘Social Science Outstanding Achievement’, Shandong Province, China
    Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award Selection Committee, Shandong Province

  • 2017-2017

    Publons Peer Review Award — Top reviewers for CSIRO
    Publons

  • 2016-2016

    Lead author of a highly cited paper published in 2016
    Thomson Reuters

  • 2015-2015

    Director Award (Impact Delivery Award)
    CSIRO Agriculture

  • 2015-2015

    Early Career Research Excellence Prize
    Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand

  • 2001-2001

    The First Prize of the 17th Annual International Mathematical Contest in Modeling (Top 5% of 496 participated teams representing 238 institutions from 11 countries)
    Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications

  • 2001-2001

    The Second Prize in National Mathematical Contest in Modeling, Shanghai
    Chinese University Mathematical Contest in Modeling

  • 2000-2000

    The Second Prize in National Mathematical Contest in Modeling, China + The First Prize in National Mathematical Contest in Modeling, Shanghai
    Chinese University Mathematical Contest in Modeling

We have publications by Dr Lei Gao