People of PCHES: Amna Omer

Amna Omer is a second-year PhD student at the University of New Hampshire’s Water Systems Analysis Group, where she works with Dr. Danielle Grogan. Her research sits at the intersection of hydrology, agriculture, economics, and governance, with a focus on irrigation management in the Colorado River Basin, which is facing increasing water scarcity. Her research is centered on alfalfa, a highly water-intensive crop grown extensively in California’s Imperial Valley. For Amna, the PCHES team’s interdisciplinary approach is essential when addressing problems as multifaceted as irrigation and water allocation.

Amna’s PhD work is structured around three interconnected studies. The first uses hydrological modeling to simulate alfalfa irrigation in the Imperial Valley, incorporating uncertainty analysis through a multi-objective modeling framework. To that end Amna is building a Python-based emulator based on the UNH’s Water Balance Model by simplifying its components to better represent field-scale irrigation dynamics for alfalfa. The second study explores economic dimensions of agricultural decision-making using the SIMPLE-G model, while the third examines governance through qualitative analysis of documents and planned interviews with farmers and irrigation stakeholders. A defining feature of Amna’s work is her interest in embedding farmers’ perspectives on irrigation strategies and risk perception directly into research and modeling. Amna is planning interviews and hopes to travel to California to connect directly with farmers and irrigation stakeholders, building on relationships already established through partners in the region.

While Amna’s background is in civil engineering, her perspective has evolved from seeking purely technical solutions for water issues to understanding that governance and stakeholder trust are as vital as infrastructure. Such perspective was shaped growing up in Sudan, where she witnessed a striking contradiction: living beside the River Nile while facing frequent water shortages. This experience drove her curiosity about how water resources are managed and led her to study civil and water resources engineering in Khartoum University, Sudan, followed by a joint master’s degree in integrated water resources management from TH Köln (Cologne University of Applied Sciences), Germany, and the University of Jordan. For her master’s work, she focused on groundwater depletion and artificial recharge in Sudan’s Gash River Basin, designing a decision-support system that prioritized local perspectives. This fieldwork in Sudan required data collection, stakeholder interviews, and relationship-building to earn the trust of local populations who were often skeptical of outside projects.

Rather than moving directly into a PhD program, Amna spent nearly a decade working across Africa and the Middle East to gain hands-on experience in addressing water-related challenges. This included working with the Nile Basin Initiative on World Bank–funded projects, where she helped coordinate regional water projects and programs for young water professionals spanning multiple countries. She valued this approach because it encourages cooperation between countries and equips young professionals to take on future water challenges. Amna has also volunteered extensively as the founder of the Sudan Youth Parliament for Water and co-founder of “Young Water Solutions,” both focused on empowering young people and strengthening water solutions at the local level.

Outside of research, Amna values experiences that expand her worldview. She began traveling at a young age, intentionally stepping outside cultural norms around solo travel for Sudanese women. Since then, she has traveled widely around the world, drawn to new places, different cultures, and the connections she makes with people along the way.