NIBS – Scientific Resolution Panel Applicants

Hydrologists and Hydrologic Technicians:

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is seeking scientific and technical experts to help review and resolve flood map challenges.

To serve on the Scientific Resolution Panel you must:

  •  Have a minimum of 10 years of proven experience with expertise in one of the following:
    • surface water hydrology
    • hydraulics
    • coastal engineering
    • other relevant engineering and scientific fields or a related field:
      • Coastal storm and hydraulic engineering
      • Coastal geotechnical engineering
      • Water resource engineering (surface water hydrology, open-channel flow hydraulics, hydrologic engineering)
      • Geotechnical engineering
      • Alluvial fan engineering
      • Levee analysis and mapping
      • FEMA guidelines and standards for flood risk analysis and mapping
  • They also must have expertise with riverine, lacustrine, coastal flood hazard, surveying, topographic information, hydrologic analysis, hydraulic analysis, coastal analysis or other pertinent experience applicable to the development of flood elevations and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).

To become a member of the panel or learn more about the scientific panel resolution initiative, or fill out an application: visit www.floodsrp.org/apply.

What Happens Next:

If approved, SRP Cadre members may be called to serve on one to three SRPs per year, averaging the equivalent of two to five days’ effort spread over three months.

Panels will be conducted virtually, with no travel involved. Panel members will be compensated for their services under contract with NIBS.

If you know anyone within your network who is also an expert and would be interested in participating, feel free to forward this information to them.

United States Department of Labor O*Net Data Collection Program

Hydrologists and Hydrologic Technicians:

You have the opportunity to participate in this important initiative and your input will help ensure that the complexities of your profession are described accurately in the O*NET database for the American public.

You are considered an Occupation Expert if you: 

  • Fit the Department of Labor occupation description for Hydrologists: “Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, movement through the earth, and return to the ocean and atmosphere.” 
  • Hydrologic Technicians: “Collect and organize data concerning the distribution and circulation of ground and surface water, and data on its physical, chemical, and biological properties. Measure and report on flow rates and ground water levels, maintain field equipment, collect water samples, install and collect sampling equipment, and process samples for shipment to testing laboratories. May collect data on behalf of hydrologists, engineers, developers, government agencies, or agriculture.” 
  • Have at least one year of professional experience working in the occupation. 
  • Have a minimum of five years combined professional experience practicing, training, teaching, and/or supervising others who perform in the occupation. 
  • Are currently actively involved in the field and based in the United States

How to Participate: If you meet these criteria, please contact Jahmilah Rodgers at RTI International, the O*NET Data Collection Contractor, at jrodgers@onet.rti.org or 919-926-6634. 

Please provide the following in your email: 

  • Full Name and Job Title 
  • Years of experience in occupation 
  • Indicate which occupation (Hydrologists or Hydrologic Technicians)
  • Mailing Address with City, State and Zip Code 
  • Daytime Phone Number 
  • Email Address

Process and Participation Incentive: A random sample of experts responding to this request will be invited to complete a set of questionnaires. Experts who are selected and agree to participate will receive $40.00 VISA gift code and an oak-framed certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Department of Labor. We encourage you to consider helping to keep information about your profession accurate and current for the benefit of our colleagues and the nation.

Thank you for your support. If you know anyone within your network who is also an expert and would be interested in participating, feel free to forward this information to them.

Frequently Asked Questions | O*NET Brochure

2021 World Rivers Day

World Rivers Day takes place on the fourth Sunday of September. While it is important to take that day and celebrate local rivers, it is also important to work for their protection throughout the year.

Waterkeeper Alliance: Get involved with your local waterkeeper organization, or streamkeeper group, to protect your stream or river (https://waterkeeper.org/get-involved/). If none are in your area, please consider starting your own group. Look at ways you can clean up the river channel, plant vegetation to secure eroded banks, and work with local government to protect and preserve streams in your area.

Storm Drains: Most storm drains are linked to local waterways and so it is important to avoid washing your car near these drains and to avoid putting any kind of chemical, soap or other pollutant in the drains.

#WorldRiversDay

AIH Call for Articles

The next issue of the AIH Bulletin is scheduled to be published in the winter of 2021, for which the editorial team invites contributions from members.

Original articles on any aspect of hydrology (e.g., administrative, technical, socioeconomic) will be considered for publication. It is not required that the article be based on academic or scientific work; however, it should not be published elsewhere. Book reviews may also be submitted under this category.

  • Please provide an un-formatted word document of your story without embedded images. You can signify where you’d like a submitted image using brackets.
  • Images you wish to be included with your article must not be embedded in the Word document; send them separately and labeled with names corresponding to where you’d like them used in the Word document.
  • Articles must have a brief title and a byline.
  • Supply a high-resolution head-shot of the author.
  • Article length must be between 500 – 1000 words.
  • Please include an “About the Author” post script, to provide our audience with the context of your perspectives. Include how you would like your name and title to be presented.
  • Avoid using too many bulleted lists, diagrams or graphs in your article.

Beside original articles, members may also submit leads to items of interest to the hydrologists’ community. Such items may include news related to the field of hydrology, conferences, new publications, etc.

If you are interested in contributing, please send articles or other items of interest via the Dropbox link below by Friday, October 15, 2021. Please ensure submissions are identified properly (example: TitleofArticle-FirstLastName.doc) and that supporting graphics/images are of the highest possible quality. Be sure to include your contact information within your submission as well.

Submit Your Article Today!

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our office at admin@aihydrology.org.

AIH Executive Committee Elections!

Please cast your vote online by September 24, 2021.

AIH is pleased to present the ballot to fill the Vice President for Policy and Advocacy and Secretary-Membership Liaison positions on the AIH Executive Committee. Please check your email for a link to cast your vote by September 24, 2021!

AIH appreciates your participation in this important process. If you have any questions, please contact the AIH Executive Office at (916) 231-2149 or admin@aihydrology.org.

Call for Volunteers - Board of Examinations and Board of Registration

AIH is seeking volunteers in AIH’s four specialty certification areas (groundwater, hydrologic technician, surface water, or water quality) for positions on the Board of Registration (BOR) and the Board of Examinations (BOE). Volunteer positions on the BOR or BOE are not elected positions. Certified members are selected by the Executive Committee to join the BOR and BOE. Members on either the BOR or BOE are requested to serve terms of no less than three years.

Members of the Board of Examinations, under the leadership of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, support updates to AIH certification examinations, along with study guides and reference materials for certification examinations.

Members of the Board of Registration, under the leadership of the Chairman, evaluate membership and examination application packages for AIH.

If you are interested in volunteering for the BOR or BOE please email admin@aihydrology.org. In the subject line indicate: “AIH Volunteer Position – (BOR or BOE)”. In your submission, please include a statement of interest (maximum 150 words), contact info, your specialty area, and a professional biography (maximum 150 words).

AIH President’s Message

Your AIH leadership team and member volunteers are working hard on exciting initiatives for AIH. Thank you to all who have stepped forward to take on roles to help advance the mission of AIH. We rely on our members’ participation, and we are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Even if not interested in taking on a leadership role for AIH or getting involved in various subcommittees or groups, we request all our members to be ambassadors for AIH and its certified members. Please contact me or others on our leadership team to get involved.

We are approaching an important pivot point for the focus of AIH’s leadership team. Much energy has been dedicated to improving fundamental processes for AIH over the past few years. While we continue our work to address challenges, changes are underway that we are confident will improve our processes. Examples include rollout of new online member application and database system, and upcoming solicitation for examination support services. Concurrently, we are advancing initiatives related to member engagement, along with collaboration and engagement with other organizations (e.g., American Water Resources Association (AWRA); Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI); etc.).

Noted in my previous message, we established a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee along with a new Webinars Subcommittee. Kudos to: Ed Baquerizo, PH; Megan Gehrke, PH; Ramanitharan Kandiah, PH; Amesha Morris, Matt Naftaly, PH; John Ramirez Avila, PH; and Michelle Woolfolk, PH, and along with AIH leadership team members (Sarah Erck, CMP; Salam Murtada, PH; and Julé Rizzardo, PH) for stepping up to lead AIH’s DEI initiatives. Our Webinars Subcommittee members include member volunteer, Mike Talbot, HIT, and AIH leadership team members (Sarah Erck; Yige Gao, PH; Salam Murtada, PH; and Brennon Schaefer, PH). We’re excited for the rollout of actions from these two groups over the next few months.

On a matter related to inclusion, our Executive Committee (EC) advanced an action earlier this year to eliminate the constraint of nominations for serving on AIH’s EC to only certified Professional Hydrologists (PH)–all certified members (PHs, Hydrologists-in-Training (HITs), and Hydrologic Technicians (HTs) may be nominated to serve for positions on the EC. Subsequently, Chance Fulk, HT III, was appointed as Treasurer, the first HT to serve on AIH’s EC.

Please look for upcoming announcements regarding membership engagement. We’re planning a virtual “meet and greet” event during September and, if all goes well, an in-person social event in Sacramento, California to ring in the New Water Year on September 30. I’m very excited for these events!

 

PS: Note deliberate effort to include AIH certified members’ acronyms with names. I’m calling on all AIH certified members, as ambassadors of AIH, to take pride and flaunt your AIH acronym. Be HIT-, HT-, and PH-proud!

Sincerely,

Jamil S. Ibrahim PH, PMP, ENV SP
AIH President, 2021-2022

Congratulations to New Members

Congratulations to those who have been recently certified as Professional members of the American Institute of Hydrology!

Matthew Burnette – PH Surface Water

David Ho – PH Surface Water

Bill Szafranski – PH Surface Water

Megan Gehrke – PH Water Quality

Ji Qi – PH Surface Water

Vignon Houenou – PH Surface Water

Justin Coffman – PH Surface Water

Andrew Earles – PH Surface Water

Robert Parrish – PH Surface Water

Sarah Harris – PH Surface Water

Sean Aucion – Hydrologic Technician I

Nikolaos Apsilidis – PH Surface Water

John Ramirez-Avila – PH Surface Water 

Call for Photos

Our industry-diverse membership often finds themselves in a variety of interesting locations either performing research, working on a project, or attending a conference. And, with some of us now working from home our additional ‘hydro-office’ serves as another “interesting” location to add to the collection.

We want to broadcast the diversity of the hydrology industry and specifically showcase our AIH certified members. Take a moment to snap a few photos of your surroundings so we can paint a clearer picture of what hydrology really looks like. Are your cats or family part of your work from home life? Include them! Do you spend time surrounded by nature and breathtaking environments? We want to see it all!

Upload your photos to this link [https://www.dropbox.com/request/jLQB3udMBGFaAJLw0LEB] and label the file with your name, the location, and your agency.

Thank you for assisting us as we enhance and strengthen the standing of hydrology as a science and profession.

AIH Meet & Greet Event

AIH is planning a Meet and Greet interactive virtual event on September 9, 2021 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM (PDT). The event is designed for AIH’s members to meet and interact with AIH’s Executive Committee, Executive Director, and management office. We will feature opening remarks by AIH President, Jamil Ibrahim, and Executive Director, Sarah Erck, and introductions of AIH’s Executive Committee members. The agenda will also include an overview of AIH’s current initiatives and future activities. We look forward to meeting you and hearing your feedback!

2021 AIH Membership Report

By: Jolyne Lea, Acting Secretary

The 2021 American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) currently has 410 members. An overwhelming majority of the members specialize in surface water hydrology, which is nearly an equal mix of longtime members (who have been certified for over 20 years) and newer members. AIH currently has 15 Hydrologist-in-Training members. There are currently 14 Certified Hydrologic Technician members. Additionally, there are 23 Emeritus members who support the Institute and their profession. Figure 1 shows the Professional, student, and emeritus members by certification identification.

[Figure 1. AIH members by membership category.]

It is also interesting to look at the longevity of our members. The AIH certification identification can be determined when each person was originally certified by AIH. Members range from those who were founding members at the forming of AIH in 1982, to new members. Figure 2 shows current members’ length of membership. There has been a steady influx of new members since 2005, where over ten new members, per year, were certified.

[Figure 2. AIH membership year of certification.]

In figure 3, the membership is grouped in ten-year increments. Over half of the current members (233) have joined within the last twenty years. Long time members of 20-40 years of membership number 151. In the last ten years, AIH has added 112 new members.

[Figure 3. AIH membership grouped by length of membership.]

Lastly, AIH membership is widely distributed across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The largest number of members are located in California, Colorado and Texas. In addition, the Institute has ten international members: three from Mexico and seven from Canada.  Figure 4 shows the members by state/country.

[Figure 4. AIH member location]

In summary, based on a review of membership in 2021 compared to historical numbers, the AIH membership numbers appear to be strong and continue to expand with new certified members. The AIH Executive Committee is committed to improving the membership certification process, increasing membership benefits, and expanding student membership to keep the Institute strong for the future. But, we urge our members to contact the AIH Executive Committee regarding input on how AIH membership can continue to be improved and to be active by volunteering for roles where you can.