Sahila Beegum joined the Nebraska Water Center as a postdoctoral research associate in September 2020. Her research work is being carried out in collaboration with the Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory, USDA-ARS Maryland. The study primarily focuses on the testing and modification of the existing plant models. She is working on improving mathematical representations of plant processes, numerical analysis, and developing the simulation model using computer programming. The updated/modified plant codes will be further integrated with the existing efficient simulation models for the water, solute, and plant root dynamics in the soil. This would result in developing a comprehensive simulation model for analysing the soil-plant-atmosphere interactions.

Beegun is one of the developers of ‘HYDRUS Package for MODFLOW-version 2018,’ an integrated simulation model for water flow and solute transport in soil and groundwater. She has been involved in several projects related to water resources development and management. Investigation on the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation, analysis of the impact of pore water pressure on the initiation of the landslides, and investigation on the saltwater intrusion to estuaries are some of her works. She is the recipient of Fulbright fellowship, DAAD fellowship, and Berkner Fellowship and served as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Riverside, USA, and Forchenzentrum Jülich, Germany. She received her doctoral degree from Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering Division, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India.