The Grand Challengers Podcast Episode #35

The answers are beyond the “clouds” – the water-energy link for climate adaptation in a world of data ubiquity

Guest: Yannick Back

November 12th, 2024

Episode Teaser

Introduction

“… I’m talking about climate change, I’m talking about global warming and all the effects that we’re facing… and it’s getting clearer what is coming towards us! …”

Yannick Back is a Research Fellow at the unit of Environmental Engineering at Innsbruck University in Austria. As a trained geographer entering the engineering space, Yannick integrates his knowledge in atmospheric sciences and remote sensing with planning cooler cities. His work delves into the links between energy and water cycles and identifies how we can combat urban overheating and declining thermal comfort, especially during heat waves and droughts. He is fond of using an ever increasing volume of spatial data to guide planners towards climate adaptation and mitigation

On today’s show, Yannick and I uncover the links between surface energy and water balances and its implications for climate adaptation and mitigation. We discuss how Yannick’s work involving increasingly available aerial and satellite data sets are enabling opportunities for more widespread and rapid assessment of urban overheating and an alternative perspective that planners can adopt in better understanding and desiging solutions for healthier cities.

Biography

Dr. Yannick Back is a postdoctoral research fellow from the Unit of Environmental Engineering at Innsbruck University. Originally from Luxemburg and passionate about ice hockey, Yannick travelled the world and eventually found his way into Geography and Atmospheric Sciences. He obtained his Bachelor and Masters Degree from Innsbruck University in Geography and Atmospheric Sciences in 2016 and 2018 respectively and then undertook a PhD in Engineering Sciences, which he conferred in 2023. His main research interest lies in the use of remotely sensed data sets and the leveraging the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze how urban spaces can be adapted to the challenges of climate change, in particular, urban heat mitigation through Blue-Green Infrastructures.

Yannick’s research touches both fundamental and applied sciences and he has received numerous prizes for his work, in particular, the VDI Prize in 2023 for extraordinary engineering achievements in a PhD thesis, awarded by the Association of German Engineers. He has also been instrumental in several key projects across Innsbruck such as cool-INN and CONQUAD, which have sought to better adapt the city to climate change and create more sustainable water management. He serves as member and coordinator of several working groups including the Climate Change and Adaptation in Austria group (coordinator for circular water management), the Mission Action Group Waters of the EU Missions of Horizon Europe in Austria, and a member of the International Blue Green Infrastructures Working group of the International Water Association.

Resources Related to the Episode

Episode Chapters

(Chapters are embedded in the episode for quick access, click this to expand and view all chapters and time stamps)
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 1:59 Guest Intro and Ice Hockey
  • 5:16 Austria, not to be confused with Australia
  • 11:46 Getting into urban heat
  • 18:33 How a geographer integrates with engineers
  • 26:41 The rapid fine-scale approach and thermal comfort
  • 35:20 Adding computational fluid dynamics
  • 38:59 Surface energy fluxes – an alternative perspective to heat
  • 45:27 Is there a “magic” number for urban heat mitigation?
  • 50:31 The essential ink between water and energy
  • 54:07 Key future challenges for alpine regions
  • 55:58 The global data availability question
  • 58:37 Yannick’s future research plans
  • 1:00:34 Urban climate models vs. data ubiquity
  • 1:02:51 Q&A Start
  • 1:03:13 What inspires you?
  • 1:05:18 Key event, person, book
  • 1:07:57 If you had a magic wand?
  • 1:11:04 Biggest challenge in career to date
  • 1:14:59 Time management
  • 1:17:08 Advice for young researchers
  • 1:17:52 Where can people reach you?
  • 1:18:58 Final Message
  • 1:21:39 Outro

Connect with Yannick Back

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Credits