Professor Chris Perera is an Emeritus Professor of the College of Health, Sport & Engineering. Prior to the Emeritus Professor appointment, he has held several leadership positions in the College and the University, as the Dean of the College of Engineering & Science (2013–2016), as the Associate Dean (Research and Research Training) of the Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science (2008–2012), and the Head of the School of Architectural, Civil and Mechanical Engineering (2002–2008).

Before joining VU in 1992, he spent five years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Monash investigating the flow interaction between rivers and flood plains and optimum operation of multi-reservoir water systems. He also spent five years in the water industry as a hydrologist and a water resources planner both in Australia and overseas. He has also been a visiting research scholar at the International Institute of Applied System Analysis in Austria, the CSIRO and the Indian Institute of Science.

Emeritus Professor Perera has published over 180 refereed research articles with more than 80 journal papers, and has attracted significant research funding, including from the Australian Research Council. He is also the Editor of International Water Association's Journal of Water and Climate Change.

Emeritus Professor Perera has provided training and technical support in the past for the REALM water supply planning and management computer software tool, which is widely used in Australia. He also provides specialised consultancy services to water industry in water resources planning, including specialised workshops and teaching into masters level subjects.

Portfolios

Areas of expertise

  • Urban stormwater management
  • Water resources planning (including impacts of climate change)
  • Hydrological modelling
  • River water quality modelling.

Contact details

[email protected]

Awards

  • Vice-Chancellor’s Peak Award and Citation for Excellence in Research & Research Training 2011 (Research Team Category)
  • Vice-Chancellor’s Peak Award and Citation for Excellence in Research & Research Training 2007 (Research Supervision Category)
  • Medal for Outstanding Service as Head of School (2002-2006) from staff of School of Architectural, Civil and Mechanical Engineering
  • Best Lecturer in Civil Engineering (2006).

Recent publications

Journal articles:

Sachindra, D.A. and B.J.C. Perera (in press), Statistical Downscaling of General Circulation Model Outputs to Precipitation Accounting for Non-Stationarities in Predictor-Predictand Relationships. PLOS ONE.

Yilmaz, A.G., Imteaz, M.A. and Perera, B.J.C. (in press) Investigation of Non-Stationarity of Extreme Rainfalls and Spatial Variability of Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration Relationships: A Case Study of Victoria, Australia, International Journal of Climatology.

Juwana, I, Muttil, N. and Perera, B. J. C. (in press). Application of West Java Water Sustainability Index to Three Water Catchments in West Java, Ecological Indicators.

Ashbolt, S., Maheepala, S. and Perera B.J.C. (in press), Multi-Objective Optimisation to Find Optimal Operating Rules for Short-Term Operational Planning of Water Grids, ASCE Water Resources Planning and Management.

Sutadian, A.D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A. and Perera, B.J.C. (2016) Development of River Water Quality Indices – A Review, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Vol. 188, No. 58, DOI 10.1007/s10661-015-5050-0.

Sachindra, D.A., Ng, A.W.M., Muthukumaran, S. and Perera, B.J.C. (2015) Impact of Climate Change on Urban Heat Island Effect and Extreme Temperatures: A Case Study. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 142, pp. 172-186.

Yilmaz, A.K. and Perera, B.J.C.  (2015) Spatiotemporal Trend Analysis of Extreme Rainfall Events in Victoria, Australia, Water Resources Management, Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 4465-4480.

Yilmaz, A.G., Hossain, I. and Perera, B.J.C. (2014) Effect of Climate Change and Variability on Extreme Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration Relationships: A Case Study of Melbourne, Hydrology Earth System Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 10, 2014, pp. 4065-4076.

Ashbolt, S., Maheepala, S. and Perera B.J.C. (2014), A Framework for Short Term Operational Planning for Water Grids. Water Resources Management, Vol. 28, Issue 8, pp. 2367-2380.

Inamdar, P.M., Cook, S., Sharma, A., Corby, N., O’Connor, J. and Perera, B.J.C. (2013), A GIS based Screening Tool for Locating and Ranking of Suitable Stormwater Harvesting Sites in Urban Areas. Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 128, pp. 363-370.

King, D.M. and Perera, B.J.C. (2013),Morris Method of Sensitivity Analysis Applied to Assess the Importance of Input Variables on Urban Water Supply Yield – A Case Study, Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 477, pp. 17-32.

Postgraduate research supervision

Current supervision: 2 PhD students

Completion: 25 PhD and masters students

Research grants

  • Combined Use of Recycled Water and Stormwater via a Third Pipe System, City West Water
  • Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change, Australian Research Council, Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water
  • Evaluation of Potential Stormwater Harvesting Opportunities and Sites in an Urban Development, CSIRO
  • Research and Development of REALM Software, Department of Environment and Primary Industries.