We’re pleased to welcome the following AIH members who’ve chosen to take the next step in their hydrology career with an AIH certification!
Hydrologist-In-Training
Professional Hydrologist – Surface Water
March 2024
The AIH Continuing Education Center gives its members, other hydrologists, and students access to live presentations and on demand recordings with content focused on important hydrology topics. Presented by experts, these programs offer timely and valuable insights that keep you up-to-date and qualify for PDH/PDC hours for professional hydrologists.
Each viewing (live or recording) is free for AIH members and qualifies as credits toward maintaining your AIH certification.
Browse the new Continuing Education Center offerings today!
Earth Day 2024 | April 22 | Planet vs. Plastics
Be a part of AIH’s Story Week!
EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. It is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries.
AIH wants to showcase members’ Earth Day activities to help educate others about the importance of our environment.
Be a part of the AIH story week and tell us how you, your company, and/or your community, are actively participating in an Earth Day activity.
In addition to supporting EARTHDAY.ORG’s 2024 goal to demand a 60% reduction in the production of ALL plastics by 2040, there are lots of ways you can take part. Example activities might include:
To participate in our story week, please email admin@ahydrology.org the following by Friday, April 12:
We’ll highlight your work during our story week between April 17-22, 2024! Thank you for being a part of this important initiative that is so impactful for our hydrology community.
The organization seeks candidates for three open positions. Nominations are due March 1, 2024.
Candidate Eligibility:
In order to be eligible for this position, the candidate must be an AIH member in good standing, and must be either a P.H. or a Hydrologic Technician Level III.
Responsibilities:
The Director of Academic Affairs shall have general responsibility for the certification program of the Institute; oversee student membership; and, in coordination with the Director of Institute Development, establish collaborative relationships with academic institutions to support the mission of the Institute.
Candidate Eligibility:
In order to be eligible for this position, the candidate must be an AIH member in good standing, and must be either a P.H. or a Hydrologic Technician Level III.
Responsibilities:
The Director of Communication shall have the responsibility for review of correspondence to members and prospective members; assist the President with strategic planning; provide guidance to the newsletter and website committees; and generally, explore and present to the Board of Directors potential opportunities that increase the visibility of the Institute.
Director of International Affairs
Candidate Eligibility:
In order to be eligible for this position, the candidate must be an AIH member in good standing, and must be either a P.H. or a Hydrologic Technician Level III.
Responsibilities:
The Director of International Affairs shall promote the Institute internationally through collaboration with organizations supporting the mission of the Institute, represent international members of the Institute, and assist in the planning for international activities.
The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) recognizes individuals for outstanding accomplishments in the fields of groundwater, surface water, water quality, and institute development. These awards are named after prominent hydrologists, who have made numerous lasting contributions to the hydrologic sciences.
The Call for Award Nominations is now open! Nominations can be self-made or for someone else. AIH membership is not required.
To make a nomination, email a separate nomination packet for each nominee by February 29 to admin@aihydrology.org. Each packet must contain the following:
Click here to review the award categories, candidate criteria, and more details.
The organization seeks candidates for the position of Treasurer. Nominations are due February 9, 2024.
Candidate Eligibility:
In order to be eligible for the Treasurer position, the candidate must be an AIH member in good standing, and must be either a P.H. or a Hydrologic Technician Level III.
Treasurer Responsibilities:
The Treasurer will work with the future AIH Executive Director, AIH President and hired accountant to prepare and submit to the Board of Directors an annual budget and annual financial report, secure audits of Institute financial records, work with the accountant to prepare and file all documents required by the Internal Revenue Service and other state and federal agencies, actively seek gifts and grants for the Institute and generally manage financial affairs and resources of the Institute as directed by the Board of Directors.
Position Terms:
The terms for the position will begin as soon as elected. The term of the elected position is for four years.
Nomination Process:
AIH invites and encourages its members to consider applying for this position. You may nominate yourself or another eligible member. To be considered, please submit your nomination to admin@aihydrology.org by Friday, February 9, 2024.
A complete submission must include:
AIH appreciates your interest. If you have any questions, please contact the AIH Board Office at (540) 500-1933 or admin@aihydrology.org.
Julé Rizzardo, PH, AIH President, 2023-2024
The change of seasons is upon us, and with that, I’d like to announce some changes in our management team. We are grateful to Smith Moore and Associates for three years of management services as we transitioned our organization headquarters to Sacramento, published our first digital newsletter, and launched our webinar series. Now, we are poised to continue growing our organization and connecting with members with the help of a new management team. The new team is handling all aspects of administering AIH, including membership, certification, exams, marketing and financial services.
Please meet the team!
Ginger Tinsley, Membership and Certification Database Manager
Ginger brings extensive association management and business development experience to AIH. She has managed associations for medical professionals for over a decade, including member engagement, board facilitation, database management, strategic planning, and legislative initiatives.
Megan Balkovic, MHB Services, Owner
Megan is the owner of MHB Services, a consulting company for small nonprofits, and provides digital marketing and communication expertise for AIH. She manages our social media platforms, and develops digital content to market our newsletter, webinars and member communications.
Angie Agrey, Lethert, Skwira, Schultz and Co. LLP, Partner
Angie provides financial and accounting services for AIH, including monthly financial reports, accounts receivable and payable, and will be assisting us with separating and tracking funds for the upcoming DEI Scholarship Program.
Upcoming Exam Schedule
February 2, 2024: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM PST, Fundamentals Exam (Hydrologist in Training )
March 15, 2024: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM PST, Professional Hydrologist Exam
Annual Membership Renewal
We are grateful to have you as a part of the AIH community and recognize that your commitment to us has been instrumental in shaping who the organization is today. We are ready to assist you in renewing your membership for the year ahead!
Our goal is to provide you with excellence in member services, impactful educational offerings, timely and applicable communications, and opportunities to connect and network with others in hydrology. That’s why now is the best time to renew your membership and keep your certification active. Renew now before it expires on January 15, 2024 – it only takes a few minutes!
AIH offers you numerous reasons to continue to keep your membership current:
Our dedication and commitment to you and the hydrology industry is unprecedented – you won’t want to miss what’s next!
We’re improving our database operations in an effort to make renewing your membership easier and more accessible. To get started online:
If you are still unable to renew your membership, then you can renew on our website and select your membership type:
Call for Committee Volunteers!
AIH needs you to support a variety of AIH’s volunteer committees. Read below for more information on how to get involved.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
If you are interested in joining the DEI Committee and helping launch our very first DEI scholarship program in 2024, please contact co-chair John Ramirez-Avila (jramirez@cee.msstate.edu) or Matt Naftaly (mnaftaly@dudek.com). The Committee is finalizing scholarship application criteria and planning to make the first scholarships available for application in late 2024.
Communications Committee
This committee helps the Director of Communications with reviewing the technical articles for the AIH Bulletin. If you’re interested in joining, please contact the Director, Communications, Brennon Schaefer (brennon.schaefer@state.mn.us).
Dr. Richard Koehler, PH, Ph.D., CEO (Visual Data Analytics, LLC)
The American Institute of Hydrology is pleased to share news of the publication of Dr. Richard Koehler’s article titled “Quantifying Streamflow Properties using a Calculus-Based Differential Approach” in the journal Ecohydrology (October 2023). Dr. Koehler’s paper introduces an innovative approach to quantify streamflow temporal configuration using the lag(1) temporal autocorrelation signature of stream flow. His novel approach allows us to visualize, identify and quantify hydrologic alteration, which is a significant improvement over prevailing methods that relies on statistical-based index parameters.
We also thank Dr. Koehler’s past contributions to AIH. On June 16, 2022, he presented a webinar for AIH, titled “A Novel Approach to Quantify Streamflow Properties” where he included an overview on the autocorrelation method. He also published two articles for the AIH Bulletin: “A Climate Condition Analysis Using Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index (PHDI) Values”, June 2023 and “The Lag-1 Hydrograph – An Alternate Way to Plot Streamflow Time-Series Data”, September 2022.
Professor John Nieber, PH, PE, Ph.D., Professor (University of Minnesota)
The American Institute of Hydrology would like to congratulate Professor Nieber on receiving the prestigious Dave Ford Award in 2023 by the Water Resources Conference planning committee. The award is for professional and other related disciplines working in water resources. It honors a person for significant long-term achievement or public service in water resources management who exhibits the collaborative leadership style of Dave Ford.
Dr. Nieber has a record of outstanding achievements in the management of water resources. This record includes significant contributions in teaching, research, and public service. As a professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Nieber has served as teacher and mentor for hundreds of students. His pedagogical approach blends theoretical rigor with the realities of complex watersheds. Dr. Nieber has provided invaluable leadership in the Water Resources Science graduate program serving as the Director of Graduate Studies. The breadth of his research is amazing, with projects ranging from the determination of water storage volume across Minnesota landscapes to the rigorous analysis of “fingering” caused by instabilities in unsaturated flows. Dr. Nieber has been a leader in establishing professional registration for hydrologists. He has served on the Executive Committee and as President of the American Institute of Hydrology. His collaborative leadership has resulted in strong working relationships with professionals working in academe, governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and consulting firms. He has inspired us to reach higher and work smarter.
AIH Awards at the AWRA 2023 Annual Water Resources Conference
Dr. Zhong Zhang represented the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) this year at the Annual AWRA Conference in Raleigh, November 6-8, 2023. The conference included plenary and concurrent sessions featuring dynamic keynote speakers, panel discussions, technical sessions and short workshops.
During the award ceremony, which took place on November 8th, Dr. Zhang presented three AIH awards for outstanding hydrologists in the areas of groundwater, surface water and Founders Award for Institute Development. The Charles V. Theis award for groundwater was presented to Dr. Ken Howard. The Ray K. Linsley award for surface water was presented to Dr. Jeff McDonnel. The Founders Award for Institute Development was presented to Dr. John Nieber, who was the past AIH President (2019 to 2020). During the award ceremony, Dr. Zhang provided an overview about AIH and presented notes on behalf of the awardees, who could not be present at the conference.
Dr. Zhang also gave a workshop about the Hydrologist-In-Training (HIT) examination to interested attendees. In addition, Dr. Zhang gave a presentation titled “Evaluating Carbon and Nitrogen Discharged from the South Fork of the Iowa River and the Relation of these Discharges to Agricultural Conservation Practices”.
In our last webinar, Dr. Dan Wright described exciting new techniques for climate-informed design rainfall and floods in large river basins. The feedback from that webinar was extremely positive, and we loved the members’ engagement. A few members requested that we go further into the application of such methods; and we listened. On our next webinar, to be held on January 11, 2024 at 9:00 AM PST, we are thrilled to have Greg Karlovits, Acting Chief of the Hydrology and Statistics Division at the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), presenting some new features within the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS). HEC-HMS was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is largely used by the hydrology community to simulate and model the rainfall-runoff processes in a watershed. One of the new features that will be discussed during the webinar is the capability of implementing storm shifting within HEC-HMS.
We’re committed to providing valuable insights and resources to help you succeed and stay informed. We plan our webinars with our members in mind. In the coming year, we are considering a large list of hot topics in hydrology, including climate change, water quality, sustainability, dam safety, forecast-informed reservoir operations, and much more. If you have any recommendations, or requests, for a future webinar, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Luciana Kindl da Cunha at lcunha@westconsultants.com.