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.

President’s Corner – Fall 2023

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:

  • Maintain your certification as a professional hydrologist or hydrologic technician
  • Build your career as a hydrologist-in-training or student member
  • Earn continuing education credits with free access to AIH webinars
  • Nominate yourself or colleagues for AIH annual awards
  • Receive recognition by your peers and employer for achieving professional competence in hydrology
  • Contribute to the work of AIH Committees and submit articles for the AIH Bulletin
  • Belong to a community of colleagues with common professional interests and opportunities to collaborate
  • Take leadership roles in the Board of Directors and Board of Registration

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:

  1. Log into Certemy online at https://app.certemy.com/entry/login. You’ll need your email address and password associated with your Certemy account.
  2. Can’t remember your password, click “Forgot Password?”, enter the correct email, and a link to reset your password will be emailed to you.
  3. Can’t remember which email you use for Certemy (hint: it’s the same email that this Bulletin was sent to) or need more assistance? Contact Ginger Tinsley at admin@aihydrology.org or call (540) 500-1933.

If you are still unable to renew your membership, then you can renew on our website and select your membership type:

  • Professional Hydrologist Membership ($150/annually)
  • Hydrologic Technician Membership ($90/annually)
  • Hydrologist-In-Training ($100/annually)
  • Student Membership ($20/annually)
  • Emeritus ($50/annually)

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).

President’s Corner – Summer 2023

The future of the American Institute of Hydrology is bright! We’ve experienced some amazing membership growth in 2023 and now we’re up to nearly 500 members. One of our most promising statistics is our growth in student membership! I can’t wait to engage our students as they explore career options and make sustainable contributions to hydrology, and I look forward to the continued growth of our organization.

In this issue of our Bulletin, you’ll be learning more about our growing webinar series, our first ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship Program, our on-going collaboration with sister organizations like SEDHYD, and some cutting-edge studies conducted by prominent hydrologists.

AIH thrives because of volunteer members like you! Here’s the latest on our committee activities, and some specific ways your participation is critical to our success:

●        Get involved with our DEI Committee and help launch our first AIH Scholarship Program. We need your help developing the scholarship application process and criteria, as well as developing a robust outreach program to students interested in pursuing higher education in hydrology. With so many new student members, the competition will be fierce, but exciting (Contact co-chair Matt Naftaly at mnaftaly@dudek.com to join).

●        On June 29, please attend our 4th webinar of the year, titled “Investing in People to Achieve Clean Water Goals”, by Jenny Seifert! Join the Webinar Committee and help guide the future of our webinar series, including new opportunities to sponsor webinars (Contact Committee Chair Luciana Cunha at lcunha@westconsultants.com to join).

●        Join the Board of Registration and help us administer our certification process (Contact BOR Chair Nick Textor at nick.textor@austin.rr.com to join).

●        Join the Communications Committee and help curate articles for our Bulletin, and content for our website (Contact Brennon Schaefer at brennon.schaefer@state.mn.us to join).

 

Still not sure where to get started or have an idea for a new committee? Drop me a line at president@aihydrology.org. I’d love to hear your ideas on how to make AIH your professional home for hydrology!

President-Elect Update – Spring 2023

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!

President’s Update – Spring 2023

American Institute of Hydrology

March 15, 2023 

President’s Update

I am truly energized about my new leadership role these next few years with AIH. As President, I want to make connections, provide synergy, and fully utilize the strong leadership qualities of our Board members and members at large. I am excited about our committees and initiatives – not only for the resulting benefits, but for the process of getting to know each one of you through your involvement. It is critical that all AIH members get involved, whether it’s helping establish the DEI scholarship, expanding our webinar series, or improving our website for AIH members and the public.

Introducing New Board Members!
Salam Murtada, President Elect 2023-2024

Salam brings a wealth of experience to this position from his two-year tenure as Director of Institute Development and one-year as Treasurer. Salam will be transitioning out of his role as Webinar Committee Chair and into the role of President Elect! Salam will be continuing to engage with members and help improve the recertification process.

Luciana Kindl da Cunha, Director of Institute Development

As Director of Institute Development, Luciana will be taking on the role of Chair of the Webinar Committee. We are very excited to see the webinar series continue to expand under the guidance of this important Committee. If you have ideas for upcoming webinars and how to improve webinar outreach, delivery and access, contact Luciana to join the Webinar Committee! Luciana will also be helping the DEI Committee establish and sustain the AIH’s first DEI Scholarship Program.

 

Membership Renewal

If you haven’t yet renewed your AIH membership, do so today!
Renew Membership Here

 Benefits of AIH membership include:

  • Certification as a professional hydrologist or hydrologic technician
  • Membership as a hydrologist-in-training or student member
  • Free access to our webinar series
  • Eligibility for annual awards
  • Peer and employer recognitions of professional competence in hydrology
  • Opportunity to contribute to AIH Committees and articles in the bulletin  
Recertification Process

In addition to membership renewal, AIH members are required to recertify every five years by submitting 60 hours of Professional Development Credits (PDC). Please refer to the information regarding credits, listed in your AIH membership account. And note that AIH webinars count towards accumulating the required PDC credits. Please note that we are currently in the process of streamlining the recertification process in order to make it easier. If you have any questions regarding your ongoing certification status, please contact Kory Adams at kadams@aihydrology.org.

AIH Committees

AIH has a variety of committees and groups you can get involved in, and we are always looking for AIH members to join committees. Contact the Committee Chair/Co-Chair listed below if you’d like to join. Don’t hesitate to renew your membership today, so you can get involved with important committee work! 

Committee

Description

Committee Chair 

Contact

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

Committee formed in January 2022. Currently focusing on establishing a DEI scholarship program.

John Ramirez-Avila and Matt Naftaly, co-chairs

jramirez@cee.msstate.edu

and

mnaftaly@dudek.com

Webinar Committee

Develop, produce and deliver AIH’s Webinar Series

Luciana Cunha, Chair

lcunha@westconsultants.com

Communication Committee

Develop and publish AIH bulletin, social media posts, and webpage improvements.

Brennon Schaefer, Chair

brennon.schaefer@state.mn.us

Board of Registration

Review and evaluate AIH application and recertification packages for education and experience, and make recommendations to the Board of Directors.

Nick Textor, Chair

nick.textor@austin.rr.com

As we know in our daily practice, the profession of hydrology is critical to water management. The prediction, modeling and management of extreme hydrologic events is taking center stage, across the nation and the globe, and our work is more important than ever. Thank you for your continued engagement with the American Institute of Hydrology, and keeping the profession of hydrology elevated through your work!

 

President’s Message – Winter 2023

GreetingAIHPresident Jamil Ibrahims! This is my last President’s Message, and it comes soon after our Board of Directors convened for our AIH Annual Meeting. During the meeting, our Board of Directors reflected on accomplishments and challenges from the past year and established specific strategies and tactics to achieve goals for 2023. I’m delighted about the continued achievements of AIH during my tenure as President, and I’m excited about the next steps for the organization.

While our activities and initiatives have attracted many new members to AIH, we experienced significant challenges over the past year in maintaining our previous members through membership renewals. Many members have retired from the hydrology industry, but others either have not updated their member contact information or simply decided not to renew their membership. Critical priorities for 2023 include continued emphasis on promoting the branding of our AIH certifications, and demonstrating the benefits of certification and membership to our members.

As we wrap up 2022, I’m pleased to report that we are nearly complete with a comprehensive update to our database of examination questions for our AIH certification exams. The process established by our team was successful and the approach may be applied for continued updates to our examination questions database. We convened a team of experts during the fall to develop new examination questions. Updates will be completed prior to our next round of examinations.

AIH held two Water New Year events in Sacramento, California and St. Paul, Minnesota, where members of our AIH Board welcomed the season of maximum soil moisture recharge with current and prospective AIH members. My hope is that we continue this ritual and encourage expansion across other geographies.

We also continued to engage with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and other affiliate organizations to promote PH certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians. After a two-year hiatus from in-person attendance, we actively participated in the AWRA 2022 Annual Conference. Our involvement in the conference is detailed in a summary provided by AIH Director for Institute Development, Salam Murtada, in this Bulletin. Additionally, led by AIH Past-President, Dr. John Nieber, AIH collaborated with AWRA to produce a special issue of the AWRA publication Water Resources IMPACT, titled “Hot Topics in Hydrology.” This special issue features articles by AIH members on a handful of current topics and on recent advances in hydrology research and professional practice. We will look to share information on how AIH members can access this great publication at a later point.

We had a wonderful year – and the next will surely be awesome under the leadership of Julé Rizzardo. Look for continued initiatives by our Board to connect our AIH community and advance AIH through promoting the benefits of certification.

Lastly, I will close through reiterating important points you have seen before:

  • A call to all AIH certified members, as ambassadors of AIH, to take pride and flaunt your AIH acronym. Be HIT-, HT-, and PH-proud.
  • Member participation is vital to AIH’s success. We are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Please reach out to our Secretary/Membership Liaison, Jolyne Lea, at membership@aihydrology.org, to get involved.

Best wishes for a safe, healthy, and joyful 2023.

Sincerely,

Jamil S. Ibrahim PH, PMP, ENV SP

AIH President, 2021-2022

President’s Message – Fall 2022

AIHPresident Jamil IbrahimThis is an overdue update to our AIH members and community about what your AIH leadership team has been up to this year. I am thrilled to announce completion of critical and timely updates to the governing documents for our organization – our AIH Articles of Incorporation (formerly, Constitution) and AIH Bylaws. We initiated the review and update process in 2016. Over the past six years, past and current AIH leadership team members devoted many, many hours to completing a comprehensive review and developing suggested revisions to these documents. This review and update provided a great opportunity to reflect on how we have operated and how we will function in the future. In the spirit of these changes, Leonardo Da Vinci once remarked (translated to English): “When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.” It is extremely gratifying to see the results of our review/update process in our new governing documents, and I look forward to the next steps.

There are many other great updates to share:

·        Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee – Our DEI Committee developed and prioritized a list of initiatives and solicited feedback/input on implementation through a virtual meeting held in March of 2022. Please reach out to Julé Rizzardo (President-Elect) to join the DEI Committee and learn about these great initiatives.

·        Annual Meeting – Our leadership team held our (delayed) Annual Meeting virtually during March 2022. The meeting was supposed to be held during December 2021, to set our trajectory for 2022, but was delayed due to COVD concerns. In addition to specific tactics associated with strategies and goals that were identified by the Executive Director and members of our Board of Directors, we established three “working groups” to address: (1) Technical Journal/Conference Collaboration; (2) promotions, swag, and marketing; and (3) coordination with affiliate organizations. Contact myself or our management office to learn more and get involved. We are scheduled to get back on track and hold our Annual Meeting in December of 2022 (hopefully, in-person) and set plans for 2023.

·        AIH Webinars – Continued our AIH webinars with great presentations by AIH members Richard Koehler (PhD, PH) and Andrew Cohen( PhD, PH).

·        Engagement with Affiliate Organizations – Continued our engagement with other organizations through promoting PH certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians at the 2022 World Environmental & Water Resources Congress (EWRI); Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting co-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.); and 11th International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge (ISMAR).

·        AIH 2022 Awards – We Issued our distinguished AIH awards to our 2022 award winners: Bruce Wilson, PhD (Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water); Todd Halihan, PhD (Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater); and Vijay P. Singh, PhD, PH (Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality). Note, we will present these awards to our award winners this year at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) 2022 Annual Conference during their Awards Luncheon on November 9, 2022, in Seattle, Washington.

·        Examination Questions Database Update – We have a plan in place and are about to embark on a comprehensive update to our database of examination questions for our AIH certification exams. Updates will be completed prior to our next round of examinations, scheduled for November 2022.

As I’ve stated in each of my messages previously, member participation is vital to AIH’s success. We are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Please reach out to our Secretary/Membership Liaison, Jolyne Lea, at membership@aihydrology.org, to get involved.

Sincerely,

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

President’s Message

AIHPresident Jamil Ibrahim

Greetings! The end of the calendar year is a common period for self-reflection by individuals and organizations. As I look back while concluding the first year of my two-year term as your American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) President, I’m delighted about the accomplishments of your AIH leadership team during 2021. Our achievements this year, however, are not just a function of what we did during 2021 – they consider the steps taken by AIH over the past few years to address challenges and introduce new perspectives, along with the great work of your leadership team.

We did great things in 2021! Thank you to all who contributed. Here’s a snapshot of our accomplishments:

  • Boosted AIH’s membership by 22% compared to 2020 and received 35% more new member applications during 2021 compared to the previous year.
  • Held the Institute’s first virtual meet-and-greet event with AIH members.
  • Connected our AIH community through in-person Water New Year celebrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sacramento, California. One of the three co-founders of AIH, Roman Kanivetsky, joined in the Minneapolis event!
  • Welcomed our first Hydrologic Technician (HT) to serve as a member of AIH’s leadership team on our Executive Committee (EC).
  • Completed a widely popular and informative webinar series on the topic of Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO). Our FIRO series, provided in collaboration with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), featured our nation’s top experts on FIRO, an innovative strategy for water resources management that leverages use of advanced hydrological and meteorological data.
  • Convened a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force composed of AIH members and members from the EC. Stay tuned – you will have an opportunity to learn more and support the important activities our DEI Task Force will be initiating within the next few months.
  • Revamped our membership application and database system. Despite the glitches our administration team encountered after the rollout, we’re confident our modernization changes will improve ease of application development by prospective members, application review and processing by our Board of Registration, and provide enhanced member benefits through access of information and content.
  • Presented to audiences at professional conferences about AIH and the importance of Professional Hydrologist (PH) certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians, including: Groundwater Resources Association of California’s (GRAC) Future of Water Conference; Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science’s (CUAHSI) Biennial Colloquium; AWRA’s 2021 Annual conference; and the University of Minnesota’s 2021 Minnesota Water Resources Conference.
  • Improved social media presence and member connectivity.
  • Coordinated with researchers for the U.S. Department of Labor on development of information on hydrologist and hydrologic technician occupations.

Also, we are nearly complete with revisions and updates to AIH’s Bylaws and a contracting solicitation for AIH examination support services–both scheduled for distribution early in 2022.

Again – Thank you to all who have stepped forward to take on roles to help advance the mission of AIH. Member participation is vital to AIH’s success 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 learn more about how to get involved.

Sincerely,

Jamil S. Ibrahim PH, PMP, ENV SP

AIH President, 2021-2022

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

AIH President’s Message

The past few months have been very productive for the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) and we have a lot to be proud of. Since my last President’s message, AIH:

  • Welcomed Chance Fulk, HT III as our new Treasurer–and first HT to hold a position on the AIH Executive Committee (EC). Chance takes over for Salam Murtada who vacated the Treasurer position after election as AIH’s Vice President for Institute Development.
  • Transitioned Salam Murtada from role as AIH’s Treasure to Vice President for Institute Development.
  • Held our AIH 2021 Annual EC Meeting over the week of March 14 to 21, 2021. EC members reflected on 2020 accomplishments/challenges, and proposed actions/initiatives associated to goals and strategies for 2021.
  • Established AIH’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force, which will be composed of AIH member volunteers, our AIH Executive Director (Sarah Erck), President-Elect (Julé Rizzardo), and me. The DEI Task Force’s kickoff meeting is scheduled Wednesday, May 19, 2021. If interested in joining the DEI Task Force, contact our AIH management office. Stay tuned for more information on DEI Task Force initiatives/activities in the coming months.
  • Implemented membership application and database changes and a complete website redesign. We’re very excited for these changes to improve ease of application development by perspective members, application review and processing by our Board of Registration, and provide enhanced member benefits through access of information and content. A welcome email with access information to this new certification platform will be going out soon.

My goal is for AIH to be the premier certifying organization and “home” for hydrologists and hydrologic technicians across the United States. The above updates help address priorities shared earlier this year to achieve this goal– and we have plenty of items on our to-do list to further address those priorities, along with the goals and objectives established by each of our EC members. We have a great team and I look forward to reporting on our accomplishments to you again soon.

Please do not hesitate to contact me, Sarah, our management office, or either of our EC members if there is anything you need or if you have suggestions– we are here to serve you!

JAMIL S. IBRAHIM
AIH President