After a few years spent at an Earth Science department researching social inequalities and hydrological extremes — i.e. floods and droughts — I have often been asked these rhetorical questions: “Isn’t it obvious that the weakest individuals or social groups suffer the most in case of extreme hydrological events? So, why should we study these inequalities?” Driven by these questions, and the years ...[Read More]
The Water Researchers of Color (WaterPOC) database is a resource that aims to add to numerous efforts in the last year to raise awareness of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC*) in science, in this case specifically multiple disciplines intersecting with water. This resource mirrors many others, such as 500 Queer Scientists and 500 Women Scientists and numerous other databases [1], whic ...[Read More]
The EGU 2020 Henry Darcy Medal of the EGU Division on Hydrological Sciences was awarded to Xavier Sánchez-Vila in recognition of his innovative theoretical work and practical solutions regarding aquifer characterisation, subsurface solute transport processes and managed aquifer recharge. Given the online EGU 2020 GA, the medal lecture was however postponed to 2021. We then invited Xavi to write so ...[Read More]
The EGU 2020 John Dalton Medal of the EGU Division on Hydrological Sciences was awarded to Amilcare Porporato for his contributions to the field of ecohydrology and for developing new theories for the analysis of soil-plant-atmosphere systems across scales. Given the online EGU 2020 GA, the medal lecture is postponed to 2021. In April, Amilcare wrote the post below to the HS community. I’m very ha ...[Read More]
In reaction to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Tayloy and too many others, we, early career scientists of the Young Hydrologic Society, are taking a stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We pledge to take actionable steps to amplify the voices of Black hydrologists in particular, and our Researchers of Colour colleagues in general, while fighting racial disc ...[Read More]
Andreas Hartmann makes a point to attend Hofer Filmtage – or the Hof International Film Festival – every year to keep up a tradition he started when he was 12. As a professor, he sets down research to make the yearly pilgrimage to his German hometown to visit with his best friends and family. This year, he couldn’t completely separate from work. After getting out of a film, he got a note saying th ...[Read More]
Autumn had finally arrived – the weather had cooled down enough to start rock climbing outside again in southern Arizona. I was working on scaling a mountain’s cliff face tall enough to be a skyscraper with nearly 15 fellow scientists climbing routes around me. My palms were sweaty with nerves and my muscles were starting to get tired. I questioned what possessed me to climb this huge rock. ...[Read More]
In a powerful sign of solidarity, adults from across an estimated 185 countries took to the streets to join last Friday’s youth-led Global Climate Strike, the largest climate protest in history. Among those in attendance were hydrologists from around the world, who stood shoulder to shoulder with young people to support their calls for immediate climate action. As a hydrologist who participa ...[Read More]
Gender balance in the HS division- some personal thoughts On 14 June 2019, there was the Swiss nationwide women strike day, with the main topic of equal pay for equal work (see e.g. here). A good opportunity to share some thoughts about gender balance in the HS division. If you have a look on the HS division composition today, you will see that we have a female president and a female deputy presid ...[Read More]
Quality through Equality – tackling gender issues in hydrology Results of a 1-day workshop organised by the University of Bristol’s Water Engineering Group “Science has a diversity problem” (Nature, 2019), and hydrology and the water sciences are no exception. For example, overall only 36% of all EGU medal awardees are female. With 31% of all nominations going to female researchers (Ka ...[Read More]