About Me

Here you will find information also found on my curriculum vitae. A copy can be downloaded by clicking the pdf icon in the upper right hand corner of this website.

Education

PhD in Civil Engineering

University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas, USA | 2022 - 2025

  • Dissertation: Description, Prediction, & Prescription of Compounding Hazards on Society
  • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua

Master of Science in Environmental & Water Resources Engineering

University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas, USA | 2018 - 2021

  • Thesis: Intersecting near real-time fluvial and pluvial inundation estimates with sociodemographic vulnerability to quantify a household flood impact index
  • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua

Master of Public Affairs

University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas, USA | 2018 - 2021

  • Thesis: Intersecting near real-time fluvial and pluvial inundation estimates with sociodemographic vulnerability to quantify a household flood impact index
  • Advisor: Dr. R. Patrick Bixler

Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering, Ecological Engineering Concentration

Auburn Univeristy | Auburn, Alabama, USA | 2014 - 2018

  • 2018 Alabama Society of Professional Engineers Outstanding Student of the Year
  • 2018 Auburn University Biosystems Engineering Outstanding Student of the Year
  • Minors: Sustainability Studies and German
  • Thesis: Anaerobic digestion of food waste and poultry litter for bigas production
  • Advisor: Dr. Brendan Higgins

Professional Appointments

Postdoctoral Researcher

ETH Zürich | Zürich, Switzerland | 2025 - Present
Institute for Environmental Engineering

  • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua, Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas, USA | 2018 - 2025
Masseh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

  • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua
  • committee: Dr. R. Patrick Bixler, Dr. Matt Bartos, & Dr. Stephen Boyles
  • Primary Funding: NSF GRFP, NASA FINESST
  • Research Collaborations: DoE SETx-IUFL, PlanetTexas2050, & NASA ATX Climate Atlas

GIS Research Analyst

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | Huntsville, Alabama, USA | 2018
NASA DEVELOP Program

  • Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Luvall & Dr. Robert Griffin
  • Project: Assessing Water Quality in Thailand's Chao Phraya Watershed by Modeling Sediment Concentrations

Undergraduate Research Fellow

Auburn University | Auburn, Alabama, USA | 2017 - 2018
Department of Biosystems Engineering

  • Advisor: Dr. Brendan Higgins
  • Project: Waste products for algae and biogas and sustainable energy production
  • Primary Funding: Auburn University Honors College

Publications

Under Review / In Preparation

  1. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. (2026). Socio-Hydrology Modeling Captures How Inequalities Impact Community Flood Resilience. Water Resources Research. (Under Review)
  2. Rosenheim, N., Mezei, L., Preisser, M., Brelsford, C., Bixler, R. P., Meyer, F., Passalacqua, P. (2026). Social Vulnerability Indices: Exploring Assumptions and Limitations. Global Environmental Change. (Under Review)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  1. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. (2025). Remote Sensing Improves Multi-Hazard Flooding and Extreme Heat Detection by Fivefold Over Current Estimates. AGU Advances, 6(2), AV001667. DOI: 10.1029/2025AV001667
  2. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, R. P., Boyles, S. (2023). A Network-Based Analysis of Critical Resource Accessibility during Floods. Frontiers in Water, 5. DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2023.1278205
  3. Bixler, R. P., Paul, S., Bhakta, D., Farchy, T., Olson, J., Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. (2023). Adaptive Governance for Disaster Risk Reduction. In Handbook on Adaptive Governance (pp. 233--251). Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: 10.4337/9781800888241.00026
  4. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, R. P., Hofmann, J. (2022). Intersecting Near-Real Time Fluvial and Pluvial Inundation Estimates with Sociodemographic Vulnerability to Quantify a Household Flood Impact Index. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(15), 3941--3964. DOI: 10.5194/hess-26-3941-2022
  5. Bixler, R. P., Paul, S., Jones, J., Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. (2021). Unpacking Adaptive Capacity to Flooding in Urban Environments: {{Social. Frontiers in Water, 3. DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2021.728730
  6. Chaump, K., Preisser, M., Shanmugam, S. R., Prasad, R., Adhikari, S., Higgins, B. (2019). Leaching and Anaerobic Digestion of Poultry Litter for Biogas Production and Nutrient Transformation. Waste Management, 84, 413--422. DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2018.11.024

Software Packages

pygeoflood

Contributor | 2018 - Present
Near-real-time compound flooding Python package for mapping compounding fluvial, pluvial, and coastal flooding.
GitHub Repository | Documentation

SVInsight

Lead Developer | 2024 - Present
Social Vulnerability Index Python package - Census derived index for estimating socio-demographic based vulnerability.
GitHub Repository | Documentation

SocioWaterPy

Lead Developer | 2026 - Present
Socio-hydrology dynamical systems modeling package. Currently under development to be released in early 2026.

Grants & Fellowships

Total Grants and Fellowships Received (2018 - Present): $274,750

  1. Hydroinformatics Fellow - Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrological Science
    • Title: Building out a near-real-time compound inundation python package
    • Team: Dr. Paola Passalacqua and Mark Wang
    • Obligated Funding: $5,000 total, $2,500 to Preisser
    • Period: April 2024 - February 2025
  2. Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellow - NASA
    • Title: Application of Earth Observation Data in Multi-Layer Network Analysis of Flood Hazards, Social Vulnerability, and Risk
    • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua
    • Obligated Funding: $100,000
    • Period: August 2022 - September 2024
  3. Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) Fellow - National Science Foundation and United States Geological Survey
    • Role: USGS National Land Imaging Program Public Affairs and Science Communication Internship
    • Mentor: Timothy Stryker
    • Obligated Funding: $5,000
    • Period: May 2020 - August 2020
  4. Graduate Research Fellow Program - National Science Foundation
    • Title: Incorporating flood mapping with social disparities to identify at risk communities during extreme weather events
    • Advisor: Dr. Paola Passalacqua
    • Obligated Funding: $150,000
    • Period: May 2020 - August 2020
  5. Brumley Next Generation Fellowship - LBJ School Strauss Center
    • Title: Visualizing climate change threats in relationship to power generation capabilities in India
    • Mentor: Dr. Joshua Busby
    • Obligated Funding:
    • Period: September 2019 - May 2020
  6. Supplemental Professional Development and Travel Grants - University of Texas at Austin
    • UT Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Kolodzey Travel Grant (2023): $1,000
    • UT Division of Diversity and Engagement Professional Development Award (2023): $250
    • UT Dean's Prestigious Supplemental Fellowship (2019-2023): $11,000 total
  7. Pre-2018 Academic Scholarships - Auburn University
    • Birdsong Endowed Engineering Scholarship (2017)
    • Fred A. Kummer Endowed Scholarship (2015)
    • Hop King Endowed Scholarship (2015)
    • Auburn University Presidental Academic Scholarship (2014-2018)

Professional Service and Volunteering

Peer Review

    Frontiers in Water, Hydrological Processes, International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, International Journal of Digital Earth, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Risk Analysis.

AGU Outstanding Presenters Advisory Group

    Representative, advisory group for student and early career presenter award program | 2026 - Present

AGU Council

    Elected representative, advising leadership committee on scientifc affairs | 2023 - Present

AGU Hydrology Section Student Subcommittee (H3S)

    Treasurer and Co-Chair of the Meetings Subcommittee | 2022 - 2024

AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellowship

    Coordianted a team of volunteers to address flood and lead related issues | 2021 - 2022

NASA DEVELOP Ambassador

    Program ambassador corps representative | 2018 - 2019

Mentoring Experience

Graduate Students

  • Alessandro Derighetti - Master's Thesis, Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2026 - Present
    • Research Topic: Understanding the role of spatial rainfall patterns on streamflow generation in the Swiss Alps
    • Co-Advisor: Dr. Harsh Beria

Undergraduate Students

  • Thomas Rüegg - Bachelors of Civil Engineering, Bachelor's Thesis, ETH Zürich, February 2026 - Present
  • Sahara Tassin - Bachelors of Science Urban Public Health, UT Austin Environmental Science Institute Research Experience for Undergraduates, May 2024 - August 2024
  • Bailley Hardage - Bachelors of Civil Engineering, NASA ATX Climate Atlas Program UT Austin, September 2023 - May 2024

Presentations and Convened Sessions

Invited Presentations

  1. Passalacqua, P., Preisser, M., Wang, M. "Acute on Chronic Stressors in Communities: When Flooding Is Not the Only Issue" – AGU Annual Meeting, NH23A-2272, December 2024. (Oral)
  2. Passalacqua, P., Preisser, M., Wang, M., Bixler, P., Hooks, A., Hofmann, J., Haselbach, L., Moftakhari, H., Evans, H., Thies, C., Maidment, D. "Preparing for Future Floods: Leveraging Remotely Sensed Data, Modeling, and Social Science Information in a Multilayer Network Approach" – AGU Annual Meeting, H46D-01, December 2022. (Oral)

Conference Presentations

  1. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. "Remote sensing improves multi‐hazard flooding and extreme heat detection by fivefold over current estimates" – AGU Annual Meeting, NH011, December 2025. (Oral)
  2. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. "Adaptive Capacity Disparities: Capturing Resiliency Inequalities in Socio-Hydrological Systems" – AGU Annual Meeting, GC079, December 2025. (Poster)
  3. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. "The Compounding Impacts of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards on Society" – ZHydro, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, November 2025. (Oral)
  4. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. "Missing Hazards: Improving detection and delineation methods of multi-hazard events and assessing their impact on vulnerable populations" – AGU Annual Meeting, GC31V-0118, December 2024. (Poster)
  5. Wang, M. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P. "Near Real-Time Compound Flood Inundation Python Package" – AGU Annual Meeting, NH41D-2342, December 2024. (Poster)
  6. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, P., Kamath, H., Niyogi D. "Multiple hazards from multiple satellites: Analyzing exposure to cascading hazards using daily Earth observation data from the past decade" – AGU Annual Meeting, NH33D-0822, December 2023. (Poster)
  7. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, P. "A network-based disaster resilience metric for estimating individuals' loss of access to critical resources during flooding" – EGU Annual Meeting, Veinna, Austria, April 2023. (Oral)
  8. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, P. "Helping Those Who Need It Most: Open Access Tool for Modeling Flood Hazards and Community Adaptive Capacity in Near-Real Time" – AGU Annual Meeting, H55M-0745, December 2022. (Poster)
  9. Karimaghaei, S., Passalacqua, P., Preisser, M., Bixler, P. "Identifying Morphological Hot Spots and Social Vulnerabilities along the Gulf Coast using Remote Sensing" – AGU Annual Meeting, EP15B-1087, December 2022. (Poster)
  10. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, P. "Interconnecting Networks of Social Vulnerability, Resource Access, and High-Resolution Inundation to Quantify Household Flood Impact" – AGU Annual Meeting, H55V-0993, December 2021. (Poster)
  11. Preisser, M., Passalacqua, P., Bixler, P. "A Multiplex approach to integrate social vulnerability into urban flood mapping" – AGU Annual Meeting, H139-0015A, December 2020. (Poster)
  12. Preisser, M., Moler, N., Benedict, K., Shapiro, C., Straub, C., Stryker, T. "Expanding the Societal Benefits of Earth Observations through Leading Practices for Public Private Partnerships" – AGU Annual Meeting, SY003-0002, December 2020. (Poster)
  13. Newman, T., Wu, Z., Reed, B., Stryker, T., Preisser, M. "Assessing COVID-19 environmental impacts through remote sensing" – AGU Annual Meeting, U012-05, December 2020. (Oral)
  14. Garcia, K., Preisser, M., Nauman, C. "Assessing Water Quality in Thailand's Chao Phraya Watershed by Modeling Sediment Concentration and Urban Footprint" – AAG Annual Meeting, Washington DC, April 2019. (Poster)
  15. Garcia, K., Preisser, M., Nauman, C. "Assessing Water Quality in Thailand's Chao Phraya Watershed by Modeling Sediment Concentration and Urban Footprint" – Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium, University of Huntsville, April 2019. (Poster)
  16. Preisser, M., Higgins, B. "Anaerobic digestion of poultry litter and food waste for biogas production" – National Conference of Undergraduate Research, University of Oklahoma, April 2019. (Poster)

Convened Sessions

  • Hydrology Student, Postdoc, and Early Career Flash Talk Geoburst Session – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, H12I, 2025
    • Co-Conveners: Preisser, M., Miralha, L.
  • Epic Fails and Bumpy Trails: Owning and Learning from the Messy Side of Geoscience – Conference Name, H12I, 2025
    • Co-Conveners: Patterson, E., Akerele, A., Fields, M., Ellis, E., Roy, T., Preisser, M.
  • Intersections in Science Roundtable: Building Cross-Disciplinary Connections for Early Career Researchers – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, AGU Learning Session, 2024
    • Co-Conveners: Miralha, L., Peterson, D., Preisser, M., Akerele, A., Che, Y., Lerbeck, J.
  • Communicating Science Beyond the Paper: Thinking Outside the Boxplot – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, INV13A, 2023
    • Co-Conveners: Ellis, E., Becker, P., Price, A., Preisser, M.
  • Where and How Can AGU Assist? Discussion About the Future of Early-Career and Student Members Within AGU – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, TH33G, 2023
    • Co-Conveners: Peterson, D., Miralha, L., Lerbeck, J., Preisser, M., Allen, J.
  • Building Your Network: Sharpening the Soft Skills of Science – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, TH43B, 2023
    • Co-Conveners: Preisser, M., Jha, A., Ali, J., Sui, X., Adelsperger, S.
  • Building Your Network: AGU-H3S Networking – American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, TH13D, 2022
    • Co-Conveners: Patterson, J., Miralha, L., Preisser, M.

Honors and Awards

  • Civil Engineering Symposium 2nd Place Poster - University of Texas at Austin, 2021
  • Sustainability Case Competition International Top 10 Finalist - Patagonia, 2019
  • Outstanding Student of the Year - Auburn University Biosystems Engineering, 2018
  • Outstanding Student of the Year - Alabama Society of Professional Engineers, 2018
  • Phi Beta Kappa Induction - 2018
  • Mark A. Spencer Creative Mentorship Award - Auburn University, 2018
  • Semi-Finalist - Fulbright Scholarship, 2018
  • Best Overall Research Poster - ReNUWIt, 2017
  • Nominated for Truman Scholarship - 2017
  • Nominated for Udall Scholarship - 2017
  • Tau Beta Pi Induction - 2016

Additional Work Experience

GIS Analyst Intern

HDR Engineering | Austin, Texas, USA | March 2019 - August 2019

Sustainability Senior Student Associate

University of Texas at Austin Office of Sustainability | Austin, Texas, USA | August 2018 - May 2019

ReNEWIT REU Program

Colorado School of Mines: Advised by Dr. Tzahi Cath | Golden, Colorado, USA | May 2017 - July 2017

Department of Energy Science Undergradaute Laboratory Internship

Energy and Environmental Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Lab | Seattle, Washington, USA | May 2016 - July 2016

Engagement and Outreach Intern

Auburn University Office of Sustainability | Auburn, Alabama, USA | August 2015 - May 2018