Dr. Manoochehr Shirzaei

My Story

Manoochehr Shirzaei, known as Manoo, is the Founder and CEO of TerraIntel, an environmental intelligence company dedicated to helping governments, industries, and communities anticipate and manage risk on a rapidly changing planet.

At TerraIntel, Manoo leads the development of next-generation intelligence platforms that fuse satellite Earth observation, AI-driven analytics, and physics-based modeling to deliver actionable insights on infrastructure stability, water security, climate hazards, and environmental resilience. His vision is to move decision-makers beyond static maps toward dynamic, predictive intelligence—turning data into foresight and foresight into action.

With over two decades of experience at the intersection of science, technology, and policy, Manoo is internationally recognized for pioneering advances in satellite radar (InSAR), geospatial AI, and large-scale environmental risk assessment. His work has reshaped how organizations monitor land subsidence, vertical land motion, groundwater systems, coastal vulnerability, and climate-driven infrastructure risk at city, regional, and global scales.

Before founding TerraIntel, Manoo held senior scientific and leadership roles across academia and international institutions, including faculty appointments at Virginia Tech and Chief Scientist and Director roles at the United Nations University’s Global Lab for Environmental Intelligence. Across these roles, he led multidisciplinary teams and managed more than $30 million in complex, multi-agency programs supported by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Manoo has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals and regularly advises national governments, international organizations, and critical-infrastructure stakeholders. He also represents the United States in global policy initiatives focused on land subsidence and environmental risk governance.

At TerraIntel, Manoo brings this scientific depth into the private sector, building scalable, trusted intelligence solutions that help societies adapt to climate change, protect critical systems, and make smarter decisions under uncertainty.