Josué Medellín-Azuara is an associate professor of environmental engineering at the University of California, Merced. He is also an associate director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center and an adjunct research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. His areas of expertise include the development of large-scale hydro-economic models for water supply; the economics of agricultural, environmental and urban water uses; adaptation to climate change; integrated water management; and consumptive water use. He has a special interest in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and other areas of California.
Medellín-Azuara’s expertise also includes economic impact studies with an emphasis on the agriculture-related sector. He has experience working for industry and as a consultant for government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), industry and academia including the Natural Heritage Institute, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the World Bank, the Catholic University of Chile and the University of Rio Grande do Sul. He has served as an official for the California Water and Environmental Modeling Forum since 2013.
Medellín-Azuara has degrees in engineering, business and economics, and he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, with a dissertation on managing water in the Colorado River.
Research interests: optimization, agricultural economics, water systems management, water allocation, hydro-economic modeling