President’s Update: July 2024

Hello from AIH!

I am so proud of our management team, AIH Board of Directors and Board of Registration for their continued dedication to serving the hydrology community, and our membership. The first half of 2024 has been refreshing, as we have focused on membership engagement and providing value to AIH members.

My vision is for AIH to provide its members with not only national recognition, but engagement with the hydrology community throughout the world. Our robust webinar series has been an excellent example of global collaboration.

I am in awe of the progress in 2024 so far, as we continue to grow with more regular certification exams offered, and more candidates passing exams to become hydrologists in training, hydrologic technicians, and professional hydrologists. With a robust leadership team in place and several worthwhile committees available for participation, now is the time for all AIH members to become actively engaged. I encourage each of you to attend a webinar live, access a recorded webinar, or join an AIH committee.

Sincerely,

Julé Rizzardo, PH
AIH President, 2023-2024

AIH COMMITTEES
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
Make a positive impact to young people pursuing education in hydrology, and get involved with launching our very first DEI scholarship program! Contact co-chair (and Director of Academic Affairs) John Ramirez-Avila (jramirez@cee.msstate.edu) or co-chair Matt Naftaly (mnaftaly@dudek.com) to join the DEI Committee. The Committee is finalizing scholarship application criteria and planning for a big announcement about the scholarship program at the next American Water Resources Association Conference!

Communications Committee
This committee helps the Director of Communications with reviewing the technical articles for the AIH Bulletin. If you’re interested in joining, and helping produce our Fall AIH bulletin and beyond, please contact the Director, Communications, Jonathan Quebbeman (jquebbeman@rti.org) by July 31.

Board of Registration
The Board of Registration reviews the applications submitted by professionals to sit for the hydrologist-in-training, hydrologic technician, and professional hydrologist examinations. Current members of the Board of Registration (BOR) include Nick Textor (Chair), Laura Keefer, Rahul Ranade, and Matt Sparacino. If you are interested in serving on the Board of Registration, please contact Nick Textor at nick.textor@austin.rr.com.

WELCOME TO THE NEWEST AIH MEMBERS

AIH is thrilled to announce the new Hydrologists in Training! We congratulate them on taking this next step in their hydrology careers, and look forward to helping them on their journey to become Professional Hydrologists.

Hydrologist-In-Training

  • Cole Blasko
  • Lee Knudtson

We are delighted to announce the following AIH members who have successfully completed the steps to become Professional Hydrologists! With are proud of their career accomplishments and certifications, as they help elevate the profession of hydrology.

Professional Hydrologist – Water Quality

  • Molly Adams

Professional Hydrologists – Surface Water

  • Ghulam Murtaza
  • Andrew Verdin
  • Dillon Vogt

Professional Hydrologist – Groundwater

  • Joe Odencrantz

UPCOMING EXAM SCHEDULE
Don’t forget to complete your application for Professional Hydrologist, Hydrologist in Training, or Hydrologic Technician. To sit for any AIH exam, you must have a completed application. More information can be found here. Here are the upcoming exam dates for 2024:

Professional Hydrologist Exams (Surface Water, Groundwater, and Water Quality)

  • July 12
  • September 13
  • November 1

Hydrologist-in-training and Hydrologic Technician Exam Dates

  • August 2
  • October 4
  • December 6

WEBINAR SERIES & CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTER

We are halfway done with our 2024 webinar series and what great speakers we have hosted!

Register now for our July 18 webinar “Mapping Surface Water Dynamics with Cloud Computing and Open Source Software”, featuring Dr. Qiusheng Wu. Dr. Wu will provide an in-depth look at leveraging open-access satellite data, aerial imagery, cloud computing, and open-source software to map and analyze surface water dynamics. He will demonstrate how to apply these surface water mapping techniques to real-world flood events, such as the 2022 Pakistan floods and 2024 Brazil floods.

In our January webinar, Greg Karlovits shared his work on stochastic storm transposition using HEC-HMS. Greg presented new features within the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS), including the capability to implement storm shifting within HEC-HMS. Access the recording.

In our February webinar, Dr. Guo Yu quantified the role of wildfire in shaping flood frequency. Dr. Yu applied a process-based flood-frequency analysis framework that integrates a stochastic rainfall generator, wildfire simulation, inverse modeling, and a physics-based hydrological model to directly simulate the impacts of wildfire in the upper Arroyo Seco watershed in Southern California. Access the recording.

In our March webinar, Alice Dambroz, PhD student, shared her research on monitoring agricultural watersheds in South Brazil. Her work seeks to quantify and understand the impact of agricultural activities on processes related to surface hydrology and soil erosion. These watersheds represent a variety of scales, geomorphological characteristics, and land uses. Access the recording.

In June, Dr. Ricardo Mantilla gave an entertaining presentation on his research applying machine learning to streamflow and flood forecasting. Dr. Mantilla shared the minimum requirements of data-driven tools to provide acceptable predictions of the hydrological cycle, and how to use numerical experiments to test the capabilities of data driven models for streamflow prediction. Access the recording.

Just a reminder that we launched our Continuing Education portion of our website at https://www.aihydrology.org/continuing-education/. This tool allows AIH members to access any webinars they missed or want to rewatch, and gives non-members the opportunity to download webinars for a nominal fee.

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.

NEWLY ELECTED BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Director of Academic Affairs – John J. Ramirez-Avila
Dr. John J. Ramirez-Avila is the new Director of Academic Affairs. He is an Agricultural Engineer (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) holding a Master’s degree in Soils (University of Puerto Rico) and a PhD in Engineering with an emphasis in Water Resources (Mississippi State University). John is an Associate Professor at the Watersheds and Water Quality Research Lab, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Mississippi State University.

Director of Communications – Jonathan Quebbeman
Dr. Jonathan Quebbeman is the new Director of Communications. He is a hydrologist and water resources engineer with more than 24-years of experience. He is currently the Director of Water Resources, South Asia, in addition to leading the Hydrologic Risk program with RTI International, a non-profit research institute.

FREE FUNDAMENTALS EXAM PREPARATION COURSE AT THE AWRA CONFERENCE!
Dr. Zhang, former Director of Academic Affairs with AIH, has graciously agreed to provide a fundamental exam review workshop during the upcoming 2024 American Water Resources Association (AWRA) conference, September 30th – October 2nd, St. Louis, MO. Passing the fundamentals exam is an important step towards obtaining the Hydrologist-In-Training (HIT) membership. The workshop will also include an overview about the process to apply for the fundamentals exam and become a certified member of AIH. The review course will be offered free of charge to all AWRA conference attendees. Please stay tuned for more details about the exact date and timing, as details are being finalized. We look forward to meeting you there!

The AWRA conference this year will celebrate its 60th Anniversary and will be joined with the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR). AIH is a Gold level sponsor this year.

New Director of Academic Affairs & Director of Communications Join the AIH Board

AIH is happy to announce the Board of Directors is now complete with the election of our last two open director seats for Academic Affairs and Communications.

Director of Academic Affairs – John J. Ramirez-Avila
Dr. John J. Ramirez-Avila is the new Director of Academic Affairs. He is an Agricultural Engineer (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) holding a Master’s degree in Soils (University of Puerto Rico) and a PhD in Engineering with an emphasis in Water Resources (Mississippi State University). John is an Associate Professor at the Watersheds and Water Quality Research Lab, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Mississippi State University.

Director of Communications – Jonathan Quebbeman
Dr. Jonathan Quebbeman is the new Director of Communications. He is a hydrologist and water resources engineer with more than 24-years of experience. He is currently the Director of Water Resources, South Asia, in addition to leading the Hydrologic Risk program with RTI International, a non-profit research institute. 

New Treasurer and Director of International Affairs Join the AIH Board

Treasurer – Dr. James J. Connors
James brings over 39 years of hydrology and geology, university administration, research, and expert witness experience to his position on the Board. As a successful business owner, he has first-hand experience with budgeting and accounting, and in his first month in office he has already coordinated a budget approval meeting!

We also thank Chance Fulk for his service as Treasurer, and for being part of the team that first established the DEI Scholarship Fund.

Director of International Affairs – John R. Gray

John is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientist Emeritus and Principal at GraySedimentology LLC. As the USGS National Sedimentologist for nearly 20 years, he was responsible for national and international coordination of fluvial-sediment monitoring and research.

We thank Yige Gao for her valued service as Director of International Affairs! Yige’s engagement of new AIH members and coordination with international hydrology organizations leaves a lasting legacy.

Welcome to the Newest AIH Members!

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

  • Marcoluis Garcia – February 2024
  • Molly Adams – April 2024

Professional Hydrologist – Surface Water
March 2024

  • Erica Betts
  • Daniel Black
  • Katherine Dunn
  • Euan-Angus MacLeod
  • Kenneth Peterson
  • Ryan Troy

New! AIH Offers Continuing Education Center

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: Be a part of AIH’s story week.

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:

  • Brief description of your activity/event.
  • Event date.
  • Relevant photos.
  • Your social media handles for X (twitter), Facebook, and/or LinkedIn. We’d love to tag you so users can see your good work.

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.

AIH announces a Call for Nominations for its Board of Directors

The organization seeks candidates for three open positions. Nominations are due March 1, 2024.

  1. Director of Academic Affairs
  2. Director of Communications
  3. Director of International Affairs
The terms for each position will begin as soon as elected. The term of the elected position is for four years.
 AIH invites and encourages its members to consider applying for these positions. You may nominate yourself or another eligible member.  Learn more about the materials needed to submit a nomination under each description below.

AIH appreciates your interest. If you have any questions, please contact the AIH Board Office at (540) 500-1933 or admin@aihydrology.org.
Director of Academic 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 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.

Download the announcement & nomination requirements.
Director of Communications

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.

Download the announcement & nominations requirements.

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.

Download the announcement & nomination requirements.

AIH Announces its Call for Award Nominations

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:

  1. A formal nomination letter by the nominator which contains:
    • The name of the award for which the nomination is being made.
    • The first/last name, email address, and phone number of the nominee.
    • The nominee’s education, career, and a record of performance detailing accomplishments and noteworthy impact achieved by the potential candidate.
  2. A current resume of the nominee.
  3. A minimum of two and maximum of four supporting letters with a limit of three pages each.
    • The supporting letters should include a brief statement about how they know the nominee and describe why the nominee is deserving of the award.
    • Award winners will be notified by AIH and the awards will be presented at an upcoming conference to be determined later in the year.

Click here to review the award categories, candidate criteria, and more details.

AIH announces a Call for Nominations for its Board of Directors: Treasurer

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:

  1. Your name, professional title, email address, and preferred phone number.
  2. A statement that you are nominating yourself or another member. If nominating another member, please also provide their name, professional title, email address, and preferred phone number.
  3. The nominee’s statement of interest (maximum 150 words).
  4. The nominee’s professional biography (maximum 150 words).

AIH appreciates your interest. If you have any questions, please contact the AIH Board Office at (540) 500-1933 or admin@aihydrology.org.

Member News

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.