Salam Murtada, President-Elect
I am honored to serve the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) in my new role as President-Elect. What a rewarding journey it has been! I have learned so much in these last three years while serving as Treasurer (2020), Director of Institute Development (2021-2022), and now as President-Elect.
As a Professional Hydrologist since 2018, I am proud to be part of our AIH community. I carry that pride in my work at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. A science geek, I am especially interested in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling to protect against flooding, promote better infrastructure designs that maintain natural systems stability, and evaluate best management practices in our watersheds.
It is no secret that the challenges we face today are formidable. The work we do protects communities from flooding, addresses natural system degradation, navigates pollution and cleanup, and expertly manages our dwindling resources. We now have a moral obligation to confront these challenges. Because of this, I am committed to achieving our goals: establishing high standards and transparent procedures to certify hydrologists, maintaining ethical standards to protect our natural resources, and providing education, advice, and training to the public. We will continue to reach out to our professional community to certify hydrologists and welcome you to our organization. We are especially pleased to congratulate our newest member, Rewati Niraula, who successfully completed the certification requirements as a professional hydrologist in the area of surface water.
I am fortunate to collaborate with a wonderful Board of Directors – incredible people who work tirelessly to advance our mission despite having full-time jobs and family commitments. We recently welcomed Dr. Luciana Kindl Da Cunha as our new Director of Institute Development. Dr. Cunha presented an outstanding webinar in March, titled “The Next Generation Water Resources Modeling Framework: What it is, a Proof of Concept, and How to Get Involved.” As chair of the webinar committee, Dr. Cunha will be moderating our next webinar on May 25, featuring AIH co-founder Dr. Roman Kanivetsky, on “Water Resources Sustainability: Toward a New Paradigm.” Our team is actively working to streamline and improve our processes related to membership renewal, exams, recertification, and communication. We anticipate a fruitful year ahead as we collaborate with sister organizations and participate in conferences such as the upcoming SEDHYD conference in St. Louis, Mo and the Annual AWRA Conference in Raleigh, NC.
Your engagement propels the mission of our organization. Please consider contributing to the AIH Bulletin. We ask that you contact admin@aihydrology.org to submit an article for a future issue. You can find additional information about article submissions in the email sent out on March 31 or on the AIH website.
Finally, please ensure that you maintain an active membership status. If you have not done so already, kindly renew through the following link: https://www.aihydrology.org/plans/aih-memberships/
As always, we look forward to your feedback and welcome your suggestions and ideas. We want AIH to be your professional home!