Archita Bhattacharyya is an Environmental Scientist and a research and development fellow at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs, England. For 2026, she is the Early Career Scientist Representative for the Hydrological Sciences division. Can you tell us about the focus of your research? In my PhD, I focused on groundwater microbiology, especially …[Read More]
Every year on 21 June, the global scientific community celebrates World Hydrology Day to highlight the importance of water sciences play in sustainable resource management and natural hazard mitigation. Historically, human efforts to protect and manage freshwater have suffered from a blind spot. While we can easily measure a river’s flow at a specific gauging …[Read More]
The journey to a Ph.D. is never smooth sailing, plenty who have dared to tackle it will agree. But what if this strenuous, maybe even torturous, endeavor is the easiest part of your life? Welcome to my journey, which I am calling “Transitioning during your PhD”. Let’s start with a quick backstory. My doctoral journey …[Read More]
A little over a decade ago, a group of us argued that “it takes a village to raise a hydrologist”. The skills and knowledge any hydrologist should be exposed to during their training goes far beyond what a single person can do and know. Even more, the experience of how water shapes and interacts with …[Read More]
I thought a lot about how to write this piece because it is not easy to think of myself as an ally to my queer friends. This is only because it is, to me, completely unfathomable that we, in this century, in 2026, still need to be allies. Honestly, there is convenience in moving on …[Read More]
Introduction Despite advances in our understanding of rock mechanics, the frictional behavior of rocks, and the physics of instability in geological materials, the coexistence of slow and fast earthquakes, as well as various types of fault-zone seismic radiation such as tremor, remains enigmatic. Can fault mechanics and friction laws reproduce the full spectrum of observed …[Read More]
As we left EGU26 behind with record participation, it was amazing to see increased interest in science-policy sessions from the scientific community. Thanks to all panellists who contributed to the stimulating discussions, and to all participants for igniting them! Below is a look into some of the key themes emerged from the #science4policy sessions at EGU26. Innovation and emerging …[Read More]
So far, our reading adventures have kept us close to reality with Blue Machine by Helen Czerski and Below the Edge of Darkness by Edith Widder. Now, we are turning to a work of fiction. The author did plenty of research and spoke with scientists, who even appear as characters in the book, resulting in the science-fiction eco-thriller The …[Read More]
This interview is part of an ongoing series exploring the evolving role of interdisciplinarity across the geosciences. As environmental challenges grow more complex, addressing them requires not only disciplinary expertise but also meaningful collaboration and innovation across fields, methodologies, and communities. In each conversation, I ask Division Presidents to reflect on how cross-divisional work is …[Read More]
There is a quiet contradiction at the heart of natural hazard science. The regions most exposed to multi-hazard events are precisely the regions where we know the least. The Global South (comprising lower- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean) is disproportionately affected by climate-related natural hazards, yet it is largely …[Read More]
