Gabriela Gesualdo

Dr. Gabriela Gesualdo is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Penn State University, where she studies the intersection of hydroclimatic extremes and water security. Her work investigates how flash droughts and other compound events disrupt water systems and how science can better inform decision-making for resilience. She recently developed the first comprehensive database of flash drought events across U.S. catchments, advancing the understanding of these rapidly emerging hazards. Beyond drought monitoring, her research explores adaptation strategies such as risk pooling networks and index-based insurance to buffer communities and utilities from the financial impacts of extreme events. She also leverages data-driven approaches to assess climate impact drivers for water and food security. At the core of her research is the goal of anticipating risks before they escalate into crises. She is particularly interested in how spatial and temporal compounding events challenge traditional water management frameworks. Looking ahead, her work integrates natural language processing to extract impact information from media reports, building new pathways to validate hazard databases. She also investigates the role of social-hydrological interactions in shaping long-term water balance and adaptation strategies. Altogether, her research contributes to more robust, equitable, and actionable approaches to managing water under a changing climate.