News

--- by Anne Van Loon --- Sir James Bevan, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, in a speech at the Waterwise Conference on 19 March 2019, warned that water demand could surpass water availability in England in 20-25 years (see BBC summary & full speech). In it he warned for complacency and argued for … Continue reading “Jaws of death” or sustainable solutions? About water shortage in England

  -- posted by Anne -- More and more earth scientists, climate scientists, and geographers, are #flyingless. Many believe that in the Anthropocene, with climate change wreaking havoc around the world, it is important to align one's daily life choices with our views and research that require taking responsibility and raising awareness. Actions speak louder than … Continue reading #flyingless

--- by Giuliano Di Baldassarre --- Building dams and reservoirs is one of the most common approaches to cope with drought and water shortage. The aim is straightforward: reservoirs can store water during wet periods, and then release it during dry periods. As such, they can stabilize water availability, thereby satisfying water demand and alleviating … Continue reading Water shortage due to storage? – new paper in Nature Sustainability

--- by Clarissa & Doris --- “Panta Rhei – Everything flows” is the current scientific decade (2013-2022) of the International Association of Hydrological Science (IAHS) that focuses on the interaction between hydrology and society. One of IAHS most active working groups is “Drought in Anthropocene”. Regular meetings are initiated and there is an annual workshop … Continue reading The Birmingham delegation to the Panta Rhei Drought workshop in Utrecht

From 9 to 13 April we will be at the European Geosciences Union Conference in Vienna (Austria) to present our research. Lucinda has made an overview of our presentations, so that you can easily find us (see below). We are looking forward to seeing you in Vienna and discussing our results and further plans! Please … Continue reading Hydrological Extremes research group @ EGU18

A possibility for a PhD project on mangrove hydrology has opened up in our research group at the University of Birmingham. With colleagues Fiona Nunan and Stefan Krause we proposed a PhD project with the title: Mangrove forest conservation and restoration: what are the keys to success? The project focuses on the physical and social factors … Continue reading PhD project on mangrove conservation & restoration

Together with colleagues Rosie Day (University of Birmingham) and Simon Dadson (University of Oxford) Anne Van Loon wrote an opinion piece on the Cape Town water crisis: "Let Cape Town revolutionise the way we think about water". In this article they warn for the Hydro-illogical cycle (see National Drought Mitigation Centre illustration below) and suggest … Continue reading Guardian/Observer opinion piece on Cape Town water crisis

The Drought in the Anthropocene Panta Rhei group have jointly defined a number of MSc and BSc student projects. See the total list via this link: Drought in the Anthropocene_student projects. These student projects can be based at the University of Birmingham or at any of the collaborating institutes with remote supervision by the supervisory team. … Continue reading MSc and BSc student projects available

Looking for an interesting PhD project? Want to join our research group on Hydrological Extremes at the University of Birmingham? We now have two opportunities for UK and EU applicants, funded by CENTA-NERC: Project 1) Drought Sensitivity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Europe and North America Exciting new research field studying both drought sensitivity of river … Continue reading PhD opportunities available!

Anne Van Loon, Sally Rangecroft, and Doris Wendt attanded the Panta Rhei Drought in the Anthropocene working group annual meeting in Freiburg, Germany 8-11 October 2017. The meeting, partly sponsored by EGU and the Baden-Württemberg Water Network, was organised around the topics of drought hazard, impacts, vulnerability and management in a human modified world. The two and … Continue reading Panta Rhei working group meeting

After the successful 2016 edition, a number of GEES colleagues went on writing week in the Peak District last week (6-12 August). A lot of productive writing was done in a very inspiring environment. David, Sophie, Sally, Feng, Mel, Danny, Colin, Doris, Henk and Anne wrote about topics ranging from heatwaves to groundwater, from reservoir … Continue reading Writing week 2017

The EGU annual conference was very special this year. Anne Van Loon received the prestigious Hydrological Sciences Division “Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award 2017”. She gave an interesting and inspirational medal lecture about her research to date encapsulated by the title “Learning from catchments to understanding hydrological drought” on the Tuesday to a very full room. Anne … Continue reading EGU 2017