He worked with Rafael L. Bras and Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe from hydrology[6] and Edward Lorenz and Kerry Emanuel from meteorology to examine predictability of precipitation for his doctoral dissertation.

[17] In his early career, Islam took two complementary areas of geoscience research: scale issues and remote sensing within the context of climate challenges and water-borne diseases to solve scientific problems.

Between 1990 and 2000, he focused on a research strategy that integrated issues of scales with another area: growing availability of multi-sensor data from remote sensing.

To address these persistent water problems, one needs to start by acknowledging the limits of our knowing to act and the contingent nature of our actions.

[26] The 360Info has published Dr. Islam's take on how Bangladesh has shown how the engineering diplomacy framework for managing the 2024 floods crisis could be a pathway to resilience for many global challenges of our time.

Professor Islam's proposed principled pragmatic framework (PPF) suggests the conception, design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions with concrete tasks and activities.

Rather than framing the floods merely as a natural disaster or a political weapon, engineering diplomacy would encourage both nations to explore shared interests.

Islam-Colwell team was awarded the 2016 Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz International Water Prize in Creativity at the UN Headquarter in New York by the UN Secretary General.

This detachment has only grown as technology and social media have made the lifestyles of the elite more visible, amplifying the sense of injustice and inequality.

By carefully examining examples of the two types of democracies in other countries and focusing on actionable, context-specific strategies, Bangladesh can synthesize a governance model that works for its people—Boishamma Birodhee Jonogan (BBJ)—a regime that upholds equity, inclusion, and justice while remaining pragmatic in its implementation.

[32] Dr. Islam provided a nuanced assessment of Chief Adviser Dr. Yunus's national speech on August 25, 2024 in The Daily Star.

He also cautioned that to build and sustain public trust, the government must prioritize meaningful reforms over superficial actions, avoiding the appearance of arbitrary decisions in recent high-profile arrest cases.

Using the journey metaphor, Dr. Islam suggested that building the nation from Tetulia to Teknaf isn't about instant results, but about starting with a strong foundation of principles and pragmatism.

He proposed that this is an opportune time to build on the past, present, culture, and heritage of the nation with a vision that is actionable, adaptive, fair, just, and inclusive.

Engineering diplomacy provides a path forward, not just for managing disasters but for crafting a future where nations work together to tackle shared challenges.