Dr. Chennat Gopalakrishnan
By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– Dr. Chennat Gopalakrishnan, an emeritus professor in UH Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), will be presented with the Distinguished Scholar Award at the Western Agricultural Economics Association (WAEA) meeting in Colorado Springs in June. The award grants the highest recognition to WAEA members making an enduring contribution over their careers to agricultural or other applied, resource or environmental economics in the Western states and to the WAEA.
Nominees must have demonstrated excellence in two or more of the following areas of performance: basic and applied economics research; integration of knowledge (textbook writing or synthetic reviews); service or outreach drawing on economic expertise; teaching; and administration or service.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan has spent more than 40 years with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at CTAHR. His research has been primarily in natural resource economics and policy, with a significant emphasis on water resources.
In his distinguished career at CTAHR, Dr. Gopalakrishnan has published seven books and numerous journal articles, book chapters and reviews, proceedings papers and research reports, and also presented major conference papers. In recognition of his record of scholarship in the water resources field and his sustained contributions to the water resources profession, he was named a Fellow of the International Water Resources Association in 2008 and a Fellow of the American Water Resources Association in 2003.
He was honored in 2009 with the CTAHR Excellence in Research Award, and in 2003 with the CTAHR Ka Pouhana (Mentor) Award. His courses included resource and environmental policy, the economics of land, water resources, energy and developing areas, and research methodology. He chaired and served as a member for numerous PhD and Master’s committees. In his many years at Mānoa, he served on various administrative committees, including tenure and personnel, graduate program, library, program review, and resource economics committees.
Beyond the university, he has been selected as a delegate for national and international conferences on topics ranging from disaster reduction to oil and gas education, agricultural ethics to marine resources development. He has also been a delegate to the University Council on Water Resources. Professor Gopalakrishnan has also served as a member of the prestigious Scientific Advisory Committee for international conferences on integrated disaster management.
In retirement, the Honolulu (Date Street) resident continues to be active in his field. He is the editor for the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research. In his most recent project, Water Policy and Management Challenges in the West, he looked to develop farm-level water management strategies and examine the relationship between water issues and energy, environmental policy, and climate change. Currently, he is at work on two books, one on “institutional entropy” and the second on the theory and empirics of water disaster management policies.