Silvia Artuso

Biography

Silvia Artuso joined IIASA in April 2022. She is a researcher jointly associated with the Water Security and the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation research groups of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program.

Combining her expertise in hydrological modeling with her background in plant biology and ecology, her research focuses on interactions between water, vegetation, and human water use under climatic and socioeconomic change. Her work places particular emphasis on future water availability, agricultural water demand, irrigation expansion, and the representation of vegetation processes in the Community Water Model (CWatM).

Her work includes modeling water resources: 1) in the Danube River Basin as part of the SOS-Water project, which aims to operationalize the concept of a safe operating space for water; and 2) across several European case studies as part of the WATERGRID project to support the implementation of nature based solutions for water. She also works on the Groundwater for Advancing Resilience in Africa (G4DR) project aimed at enhancing water security and resilience in Africa by unlocking the potential of sustainable groundwater development and protection. Across these projects, she combines quantitative modeling with stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and the translation of scientific findings into practical tools and policy-relevant knowledge.

Drawing on her interdisciplinary expertise, she further collaborates with the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group on the CWatM Plant Functional Acclimation and Trait Evolution (Plant-FATE) coupling, as well as the G/ArtenLeben project.

She holds a PhD in Plant Evolutionary Biology from the University of Salzburg, Austria, and a master’s degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Padua, Italy.


Last update: 30 OCT 2026