The Chair of the Election Committee, Dogan Altinbilek, is pleased to announce, after an intense and highly participatory elections process, that a new IWRA Executive Board has been elected.
Get to know the newly elected Board members below:
President
Country of Origin: China
Country of Residence: China
BIO
Prof. Yuanyuan Li has rich experience in water resources management, human activities-water resources interaction, water resources system analysis, planning and management, water ecology and environment protection, etc. He has led many nationwide water resources surveys, strategy studies, integrated water resources planning, major water projects study, planning and design, policies formulation on water resources regulation and management in China as well as international programs and cooperation. He has widely published books and papers about water related topics. His research results have been awarded numerous state science and technology awards. Prof. Yuanyuan Li has been closely engaging in IWRA’s activities for nearly 30 years and has witnessed the important and leading role that IWRA has played in international water resources agenda. He joined IWRA Board since 2013 and has made outstanding contributions to the growth and development of the Association. He is now serving as a Vice President for the 2019-2021 period.
Motivation Statement
Water is of fundamentally importance for life and human activity. Drinking water, food production, healthy ecosystems, energy supply, industrial growth, social and economic development are heavily dependent on water resources. As an international well-recognized organization with multidisciplinary professionals on water resources, IWRA has an increasingly vital role in leading the work of disseminating water science and knowledge, promoting water resources planning and management, bridging the interface of science and policy for the sustainable use and management of the world’s water resources.
As time marches on, I truly believe that IWRA will have determined exploration with a pioneering spirit to blaze a great path to develop more professional and technical water-related knowledge and activities. I hope IWRA will become the leading global platform and community of researchers, scientists, educators, policy-influencers, decision makers and managers. IWRA will consistently attach great attention to attract more people who span a range of professions and academic disciplines to join IWRA community, to keep and encourage IWRA members work in a collaborative way for water resources protection, management, utilization and development, and to strive for positive outcomes through great endeavor.
I find IWRA jobs to be fulfilling and I really enjoy working with IWRA family. I take this election opportunity to show my deep interest in contributing my experience, network and efforts to boost IWRA growth. I have good faith in IWRA’s future development and I strongly believe IWRA will strive for faster and greater progress in dominating the international water agenda. I sincerely hope we can inject fresh impetus and hold an unremitting effort to shape a brighter shared future for IWRA.
Past President
Vice-Presidents
Country of Origin: Australia/Denmark
Country of Residence: Australia
BIO
Henning Bjornlund is a Research Professor in Water Policy and Management at University of South Australia. From 2005 to 2015 he simultaneously held a Canada Research Chair in Water Policy and Management and shared his time between South Australia and Alberta. Since 2013 he has worked on a Research for Development project funded by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Research: Transforming Small-scale Irrigation in Southern Africa. Prior to joining academic, he worked as a manager/director in many fields such as education, development aid, and tropical farming. Since 2013 he has served on the board of directors of the International Water Resources Association and is currently the chair of the Science, Technology and Publication Committee.
Motivation Statement
During my time as Chair of the Science, Technology and Publication Committee I have enjoyed to work closely and actively with the members of the Executive Office on all issues related to the associations research and publication activities and collaborations with other organization. For example, I served on the International Scientific Committee for the XVI World Water Congress, on the Bureau of the ISC for the XVII WWC, on the ISC of the 2021 online congress, and as a member of the steering committee of the Smart Water Cities project. I believe I have made a significant contribution to IWRA’s work in these areas. As a Vice President I will look forward to continue to work actively with members of the Executive Office on all projects and activities, especially those related to research and publication.
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Country of Residence: USA
BIO
Dr. Rabi Mohtar is a professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and the Zachary Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is the former Dean (2018-21) of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut. Mohtar’s expertise lies in the interrelationships of the water, energy, food, health Nexus, in developing quantitative tools to assess sustainable resource allocation and tradeoffs to ensure long term resilience and sustainable management of resources by empowering dialogue between stakeholders, policy makers and science. He also works on soil and water processes, modeling and characterization, and long-term impact alternative water on soil and water processes. https://wefnexus.tamu.edu/
Motivation Statement
Mohtar is committed to addressing global resource challenges through research and service that develops Water-Energy-Food Nexus modeling frameworks linking science and policy, thermodynamic characterization of the soil-water medium, efficacy of non-traditional water, and applications for sustainable integrated water management for implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He serves the World Water Council, IWRA’s Executive Board, OCP Policy Center as a Sr. Non-resident Fellow, UN-FAO. Mohtar, as Dean of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut (AUB) and Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, founded A&M’s Water-Energy-Food Nexus Initiative and AUB’s Water-Energy-Food-Heath Nexus Renewable Resources Initiative. At Purdue University Mohtar was inaugural director of Global Engineering Programs and introduced the concept of Global Design Teams: real-world, full-cycle design experiences that help raise global awareness. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and an AUB Distinguished Alumnus.
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Country of Residence: Netherlands
BIO
Lesha is founding and Steering Committee member of Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), advocacy lead. She serves as steering committee member of the European Pact for Water, the Butterfly Effect NGO coalition, AGWA and #ClimateIsWater campaign. She is a (alternate) permanent representative to the UN (HLPF, UNESCO, UNEP/ UNEA, UNCTAD, UNECE, UN Water, etc.) on behalf of Business and Professional Women international and WfWP and also representative to the EU Parliament. She chairs the VAM foundation; is a former vice-chair of the Hydropower Sustainability Governance committee and the social chamber. She is a former chair of the sustainable development committee of the Netherlands women’s council, the standing committee of IFBPW on sustainable development and a former advisor of the Netherlands to the commission on sustainable development. She is a strategic group / member of the World Water Quality alliance (hosted by UNEP) and core member of the stakeholder Engagement Platform working group and a member of the UNESCO WWAP water and gender working group. Since 1991 she works as independent senior advisor and facilitator (interalia for WWF). Her expertise: empowerment, equity, equality and participation (strategies), human resources, project-and process management; Sustainable Development policies; vocational training and mentoring, water stewardship, water diplomacy, water governance and management, advocacy, and capacity development. She holds degrees in Human Resource and General Management (Sittard & Nijenrode), studied western sociology (Erasmus) and (international and labor) law (University of Amsterdam). She was recently one of the moderators for the IWRA conference “One Water, One Health: Water, Food and Public Health in a Changing World”. And contributed to several other webinars of IWRA in the last two years.
Motivation Statement
Do I need another voluntary job? Not really – as you can see from my CV. Why do I want to do this notwithstanding? I strongly believe we need to be multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder to get our messages across when it comes to water and sanitation and accelerate the SDG6+ agenda. So that’s why I support IWRA because I believe that’s at least one positive way to go to bring this about. I believe I can contribute to the process bringing the social dimensions and make the connection between research / academics and the need on the ground. I can function as a “translator” and “broker”. I have build-up a huge network over the years from wonderful people from different walks of life and with different backgrounds. I do have numerous friends and allies within IWRA and like to support what they are trying to convey and do.
Treasurer
Country of Origin: USA
Country of Residence: USA
BIO
Renée Martin-Nagle, PhD is President and CEO of A Ripple Effect, Special Counsel at Eckert Seamans, and a Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute. She received a PhD in 2019 from the University of Strathclyde; her doctoral thesis, “Governance of Offshore Freshwater Resources”, was published by Brill Nijhoff in January 2020. For more than twenty years prior to joining the water community, she was the chief legal counsel for Airbus Americas, retiring in 2011 as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Head of Environmental Affairs, Corporate Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors. Renee earned an LL.M from George Washington University Law School (with highest honors), a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, a Bachelor of Arts from St. Francis University and an Associate of Arts from Mount Aloysius College. Her research interests include groundwater, unconventional water resources, contaminants of emerging concern and water resiliency.
Motivation Statement
For the past six years, through two full terms, I have had the honor and privilege of serving as IWRA’s Treasurer, working closely with IWRA staff, our bank, our accounting firm and our tax preparer to ensure that IWRA’s financial accounts and statements accurately reflect its operations and financial condition. Since IWRA is a US corporation that files its tax return in the US, the bylaws require that the Treasurer have “adequate legal standing” in the US. As a US citizen living in the US with a background in accounting and experience as the treasurer of multiple non-profit organizations, I would very much like to continue serving as IWRA’s Treasurer through another term. Working with IWRA to bridge science and policy in the water community has been a highlight of my career, and I ask the IWRA membership to elect me once again as its Treasurer
Secretary General
Country of Origin: France
Country of Residence: France
BIO
Eric Tardieu is the Permanent Technical Secretary of the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), and director general of the International Office for Water (OiEau) since 2017. He’s an Environmental Engineering, graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, prestigious post-graduate multidisciplinary engineering French school, with a PhD in membrane filtration applied to urban wastewater treatment. He served for French Ministries of Agriculture and Environment as a water policy officer, applying and managing national and European regulations. He then held successive responsible positions in the public sector for national (Ministry of Industry), regional (Normandy region) and local authorities (Toulouse), implementing policy regulations, designing multistakeholders strategies and plans of measures. He has been engaged not only in the field of water resources management and environmental protection, but also public policies for innovation, research and attractivity, public private partnerships or European and international cooperations.
Motivation Statement
INBO “partnership” with IWRA shall contribute to raise the profile of water resources management in the global events, initiatives or debates. I wish in particular to promote the following priorities: 1/ acceleration of the dissemination of scientific knowledge and its operational implementation (“science to policy” activities); 2/education and vocational training as key supports to long-lasting effects for many infrastructures or initiatives, that can not completely achieve their objectives due to insufficient efforts devoted to the establishment and training of human skills, both in emerging or developing countries and in developed countries (in the field of ecological engineering or digitalization for example); 3/strengthening dialogue tools and shared governance between different territorial levels of responsibility, obviously between national institutions and transboundary basins organizations, but also for example between basin governance and city levels.
Chair of the Awards Committee
Country of Origin: China
Country of Residence: China
BIO
Lili Yu is a Professor Level Senior Engineer in the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design at the Ministry of Water Resources of China. She has a PhD in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Florida (US). Her fields of expertise include groundwater planning, assessment, policies studies, etc. As a technical leader, she has completed a number of national and regional level projects in China, including National Groundwater Utilization and Protection planning, National Groundwater Resources Assessment, the Act of Groundwater Overexploitation Control in the North China, etc. Furthermore, she has also gained a lot of international cooperation skills through cooperative projects with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, World Wild Fund for Nature, World Resources Institute, etc. She is an active participant in international water resources community, serving as a committee member of IWRA，and deputy secretary-general of China chapter of IWRA.
Motivation Statement
It is my honor to run for the Awards Chair of IWRA 2022-2024 Board. In recent years, as deputy secretary general of China chapter, bureau member of groundwater task force, and member of membership committee of IWRA, I have been involved in many IWRA activities. I have seen how IWRA keeps trying comprehensive, active and innovative ways to promote the research, education, academic exchange in the field of water resources at global level. The awards of IWRA, including the Crystal Drop Award, Water Drop Award, etc. have been recognized as very important awards in the field of water resources. I would like to further promote IWRA’s awards, for example, by setting more awards for individuals, institutions and organizations, as well as projects, to create more opportunities for affirming the achievements in the field of water resources, and also further strengthen IWRA’s influence in the international academic field of water resources
Chair of the Membership Committee
Country of Origin: South Korea
Country of Residence: South Korea
BIO
Jun-Haeng Heo, with a Ph.D. from Colorado State University (1990), is currently a Professor of School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Yonsei University (Seoul) and a senior member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea. He had served as Deans of Engineering Graduate School, Institute of Disaster Resilience & Safety, and Engineering Research Park at Yonsei University. He also served as ISC and ISC Bureau member of the 7th World Water Forum in 2015 and has served as Board Member of IWRA since 2016. He cohosted the 17th World Water Congress when he was the President of Korea Water Resources Association (KWRA) and now Chairperson of National Organization Committee of IWRA 17th World Water Congress, Daegu in Korea. He is now the Chairpersons of International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management (i-WSSM) under the auspices of UNESCO since 2017 and Korea Institute of Hydrological Survey. He is the author of more than 180 peer reviewed papers and more than 580 conference papers focused on the statistical hydrology, water resources system, and climate change.
Motivation Statement
IWRA recently set up the new membership system. However, I think that there are still small number of members although IWRA has long history and good reputation in water related fields in the world. I will try to increase the number of IWRA membership including new Geographic Chapters and try to find how to activate Geographic Chapters.
Chair of the Scientific, Technical & Publications Committee
Country of Origin: France/USA
Country of Residence: USA
BIO
As Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg, France, Expert-Consultant at the European Commission in Brussels and President of the European Institute for Water, he directed multidisciplinary and multicultural professional groups of scientists, policymakers and planners, administrators and their technical staff, to prepare the scientific background of water/groundwater legislation in the EU. He directed water governance capacity-building programs of the EU in the Middle East, South America, the United States, the European Union and most of its member states, Canada, Russia and Siberia, Uzbekistan, South Africa. As Senior Consultant, he was involved in the UNESCO program on Transboundary Hydro-Governance Education. At the University of California, Irvine, he has been teaching “Groundwater Policy and Governance” and has been organizing a series of international periodic workshops on California groundwater policy, governance, management and resilience. He has published more than 150 articles in international journals and conferences and is the author/co-author/co-editor of several books and chapters in books or conference proceedings.
Motivation Statement
Fully involved in multidisciplinary projects with a background between theory and practice during my whole professional life as an educator and a researcher, having traveled from mathematical modeling and pure science to policy and governance, with a great experience of international settings, coping with different cultural approaches, I think I can really be useful to our Association as the Chair of the Scientific, Technical and Publications Committee.
Directors
Country of Origin: France
Country of Residence: France
BIO
Guy Fradin is currently retired from the French ministry of agriculture where his last appointment was President of the forestry, water and rural areas department in the minister of agriculture advisory council (2013/2016). He previously was Director general of the Seine-Normandie water agency (2004/2011). Member of the French Academy of Agriculture, adviser of the President of the World water council, he also chairs the environmental observatory of the Canal Seine/nord-Europe society. He served IWRA as Secretary general for the past six years. He worked first as a forester within the French national office for forestry (1976/1980), then in the forestry department of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 1980/1982) and in the International Department of the Ministry of Agriculture (1982/1989). Subsequently, he was in charge of the economic issues of the Ministry (1989/1992) and was appointed Deputy Director for rural areas and forestry and various other responsibilities (1992/2002). He served as Director of nature and landscapes in the Ministry of ecology (2003) and Director of the office of the minister of ecology (2003/2004). Guy Fradin participated actively in the organization of the 6th World water forum as Vice-President , was member of the 7th Forum International steering committee and is member of the international steering committee of the 9th WWF of Dakar.
Motivation Statement
I am an engineer in water and forestry and my whole carreer within the french administration was devoted to these issues and more widely to environment. Also, since the beginning, I had the oportunity to deal with international issues serving in bilateral and multilateral departments. More particularly, since 2004, I could get into the national and international issues of water as general director of the Seine-Normandie water agency and as governor of the World Water Council in which I had responsibilities in the organisation of World water forums 6th and 7th and now within the ISC of the 9th of Dakar. I served also as Treasurer of this organisation. Today I am member of the French Academy of Agriculture, advisor of the Prseident of the World water Council and I stay very much involved to promoting the cause of water and sanitation and fighting for the preservation of water resource. Six years ago I joined IWRA as Secretary general and I think that my expérience was useful to the organization. Notwithstanding my retirement position I hope that I could be useful during the next three years as it is my sincere wish.
Country of Origin: Australia
Country of Residence: Australia
BIO
Gary has a 35 year professional history across water science, policy and management. After completing his B.Sc.(Hons) and PhD, he was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT USA and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne UK. He later joined CSIRO Australia, where he built an international reputation studying toxic cyanobacteria. Gary was appointed CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology in 2002, and in 2005 led the establishment of eWater CRC, later guiding its successful transition to a not-for-profit water science & technology company. Since developing and heading the Australian Water Partnership through 2015-16, Gary has had concurrent roles as: Adjunct Professor, University of Canberra; Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne; Director of the Alliance for Water Stewardship Asia-Pacific (retired 2020); Director of Coliban Water Authority (since 2019); and Board Member of IWRA, including chairing the International Scientific Committee for IWRA’s XVII World Water Congress.
Motivation Statement
I have had a long career in water research & management and have always been motivated by the need for water policy to be informed by the best available science. Consequently, I strongly support IWRA’s mission to build a global network of science and policy professionals who share knowledge and experiences across the poorest and richest countries. This is critical as we strive to use scare water resources wisely and fairly through a period of unprecedented social, economic and environmental change, and when the need for scientific rigour and integrity is constantly being challenged, but has never been so great.
I have been a Director of IWRA since 2016 and I am very keen to continue as an effective and fully-committed board member. My board experiences include: as current Chair of the International Scientific Committee for the XVII World Water Congress; as a current member of the Finance Committee; and as former Chair of the Membership Committee. As a board member, I also encourage and support the participation and leadership of women and young water professionals across all IWRA roles and activities.
Country of Origin: Slovakia/USA
Country of Residence: USA
BIO
As an international environmental lawyer, Ms. Krchnak has worked to improve policies and procedures related to environmental management and resource conservation worldwide for over 25 years. She has spent the last 15 years in leadership positions around improving water resource management. This has included managing initiatives focused on advancing corporate water stewardship, water security, and building better governance through increased transparency, rule of law and institutional strengthening. She currently leads the 2030 Water Resources Group, hosted by the World Bank Group. Ms. Krchnak received her B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. She has published extensively in international environmental policy and sustainable development, particularly on freshwater issues.
Motivation Statement
I welcome the opportunity to serve on IWRA’s Board for a second term. This past term, I chaired the External and Public Relations Committee, working with the Executive Office Team and fellow Board members to strengthen IWRA’s collaboration and partnerships with like-minded organizations. IWRA is on a solid footing, demonstrating its value to the water community through education, research, and knowledge exchange. As the world is unfortunately not on track to meet SDG 6 or the water-related targets of the other SDG goals, the role of IWRA becomes even more important for academicians, practitioners, and policy makers to work together in overcoming the obstacles to achievement of the SDGs, including the emerging water-related issues related to the pandemic. I applaud IWRA for its willingness to take on such tough topics as groundwater management. IWRA’s new membership structure offers a pathway to engage more people, particularly younger individuals, in thinking outside the box. I am particularly excited about IWRA’s XVII World Water Congress and the contribution this will make to new approaches to improve water management. If I am elected, I will continue to support IWRA’s evolution through its next phase to help ensure good theories move beyond paper and are put into practice.
Country of Origin: Sweden
Country of Residence: Sweden
BIO
Birgitta Liss Lymer is Director of the Water Resources Department at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). SIWI’s Water Resources Department develops and applies research-based tools and methodologies, provides technical support to low- and middle-income countries for improved governance of water resources and contributes to international policy. In 2014, Birgitta Liss Lymer initiated the establishment of the SIWI-led Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management (S2S Platform) that now gathers many of the main global and regional organisations working to strengthen the links between water, coastal and marine management. She has authored several reports and peer-reviewed papers on the topic. She also leads the UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility – a collaboration between SIWI and UNDP on knowledge and capacity development in the areas of water resources management, transboundary waters and WASH. Prior to joining SIWI in 2011, Birgitta spent a decade working for different UN agencies in Asia and Africa with intergovernmental cooperation, policy development and implementation in the areas of water and sanitation, coastal and marine environmental protection and marine fisheries. Birgitta has a Master of Science in Aquatic and Environmental Engineering from Uppsala University, Sweden.
Motivation Statement
I am proud to be nominated to continue another term on IWRA’s Executive Board. This provides an excellent opportunity to continue strengthening the links between research, policy and practice in the area of water governance, while building upon the relationship between IWRA and SIWI through the opportunities provided by, for example, the Stockholm World Water Week.
A central challenge in the effort to achieve a sustainable development concerns balancing competing uses of water in an equitable manner while building resilience to climate change, maintaining water quality and ensuring healthy and diverse ecosystems and from “source” to “sea”. To achieve this, the importance of solid water governance mechanisms, able to ensure participatory and transparent processes and adapt to change, cannot be underestimated. I am looking forward to working with IWRA and its members to continue knowledge generation, exchange and influence on policy and practice in these areas
Country of Origin: Zimbabwe
Country of Residence: Zimbabwe
BIO
Trevor I Magwaza is a registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe (ECZ) and a Corporate Member of Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers (ZIE). A certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by Project Management Institute (PMI) USA and a professional member of PMI. Trevor is a holder of Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Civil and Water Engineering from the National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe and currently in my final semester for a Master’s in Water Resources Engineering and Management at the University of Zimbabwe. I have more than 16 years’ experience practicing as a Water and Sanitation Engineer. Currently am employed by the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) a Development Finance Institution as a Chief Technical Officer responsible for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene projects. I have vast experiencE in the designing and implementation of water and sanitation projects within the SADC region. I sat in the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers (ZIE) Board as a committee member for the period 10 September 2018 to 31 March 2021, I also sit in Chinhoyi University Council / Board where we foster research in the water and sanitation amongst other research areas. I am confident with my experience and keenness will contribute meaningfully to water issues in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Motivation Statement
I am writing to express my interest to be appointed as a Board Member for the International Water Resources Association – IWRA as it has always been my endeavor to be associated with such an International Water Board. I am actively involved in the development and monitoring of national water projects. I sit in a number of boards and direct water management among other projects at the country’s largest infrastructure projects financier, the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe. For Zimbabwe, water resources management falls among top priorities as the country is faced with water scarcity mainly due to climate change. It is my interest to be representing water issues for the African Region especially considering that water is now becoming a scarce resource with potential for conflicts amongst riparian states. There is need for
advancing development of close cooperation for judicious, sustainable and coordinated utilization of resources of the shared water resources within the Region. Promoting and facilitating the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals especially SDG 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” is a milestone as the Board of Director will seek to achieve within the Region. I am confident if appointed a Board Member l will be able to promote and facilitate in the development, utilization and management of water resources through engaging stakeholders within the region to ensure legislation, policies and institutions advance the efficient, equitable and environmentally sustainable utilization of the scarce water resources. I will also advance the harmonisation and monitoring of legislation and policies for planning, development, conservation, protection of shared watercourses, and allocation of the resources thereof; and Protocols on Shared Water resources (shared watercourses and aquifers).
Country of Origin: India
Country of Residence: Thailand
BIO
Ganesh Pangare is recognized as a leader in the area of environment, water resources,
agriculture, green infrastructure, climate and sustainability, with experience spanning over 30 years, largely across Asia-Pacific but also Africa and the South Americas. He has worked with international organisations in senior positions such as the Regional Director, International Water Association (IWA), Asia-Pacific, the World Bank, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Department for International Development (DFID UK) etc. He has published more than 15 books on water, ecosystems and biodiversity. He has been quoted in Time magazine, written for Nature and has publications with the IFPRI, FAO, UNESCO, the World Bank, ADB and other international organizations.
Ganesh has been a part of expeditions to Antarctica, the Arctic, the Amazon Forest, National Parks in Africa and Asia, across the Himalayas and to the Everest Base Camp. His work and personal zeal for adventure has taken him to each of the seven continents, spanning more than a hundred countries.
Motivation statement
It’s my pleasure and honor to stand for elections to be on the executive board of IWRA. I have participated in most of the landmark water meetings in the past two decades, including the World Water Forums, the UN Bonn Conference and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, to being a representative of the Government of India to UNFCC meetings. Been on the organizing committee of various international water weeks like the
SIWW, KIWW etc. If elected to the board of IWRA I would like to increase the visibility and increase membership of IWRA in the South and South Asia Region. See more youth and academic, research, private institutions and universities from South and South East Region get engaged and involved with IWRA. IWRA has achieved a lot in the last few years internally but much more can be done specifically in the Region I would represent. I hope you support me.
Country of Origin: Egypt
Country of Residence: Kuwait
BIO
Dahlia Sabri is an expert in water resources engineering with over 18 years of experience in water-related projects in the private sector, the UN, and other international organizations. She began her professional career as a water engineer and contributed to several interdisciplinary international projects. As such, she is familiar with the water resources sector in Egypt, Sweden, Germany, and Kuwait. Currently, She is currently working on her Ph.D. on developing novel techniques for water reuse and she serves on the IWRA Water Security Task Force. Her experience includes project management of multi-disciplinary projects, hydrological and environmental investigations and monitoring, water and wastewater systems, stormwater drainage assessments, design and management, irrigation networks design, and climate change adaptation in the water resources sectors. She is very familiar with hydrologic and hydraulic modeling and analysis as well as the interpretation of water quality data modeling with an in-depth knowledge of current hydrology and hydraulics techniques and software, e.g., WaterGems, SewerGems, StormCad, HYDRUS, Global Mapper, and application of GIS in Water Resources. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, and a Master of Science in Water Resources Engineering from Lund University, Sweden. She is currently based in Kuwait and has her roots in Egypt. She’s lived for several years in Lund, Sweden, and in Bonn, Germany, where she pursued her postgraduate degrees. She is used to working internationally and worked for several months in Germany in the capacity of a Consultant for the UNFCCC and has participated in several international and UN-financed projects. Having lived and worked in several countries, She can speak Arabic, English, French, and to an extent, can also use Swedish and German.
Motivation statement
It would be an absolute honour to serve on the IWRA Executive Board. In my candidacy to the director position, I aspire to use my 18 years of work experience in the water resources field and my engineering background to support the IWRA Executive Board decision-making, which is to the benefit of the Association and water resources community at large. I am mainly an expert in water resources engineering and hydraulic modelling. I had the privilege to provide expert advocacy to several UN organizations and professional work with the private sector; and as a result, my expertise is as much practical, as academic and research-based.
Given my background and achievements, I believe I can make a significant contribution to the coming board. I am grateful for this nomination which will allow me to play a role in bringing the water stakeholders and water community together through IWRA to support the activities of IWRA and advocate its priority themes in the MENA region. I am ready to invest time and effort to fulfil my duties as a Board director.
Country of Origin: Australia/France
Country of Residence: Spain
BIO
Tom is an executive and consultant in the water sector. He has been Executive Director of IWRA and the World Water Council and also has a background in consulting to international institutions, public authorities, academia, as well as private industry. Tom’s current focus areas include institutional arrangements, strengthening the link between knowledge generation and policy making; hydro-environment engineering and research; water quality; building networks between private industry, research and government stakeholders; as well as strategy and technical consulting in the sector of water and natural resources. Over the years, Tom has participated in numerous international committees and task forces. He holds a research masters degree in geography; and also has a degree in computer systems engineering (electrical). He currently heads up the International Association of Hydro-Environmental Engineering and Research; is a founding member of the Water Policy Group; a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership; as well as chairs the International Advisory Committee of the UNSW Global Water Institute, and the Membership Committee (2019-2021) of the IWRA.
Motivation Statement
I would like to bring a broad knowledge of the water sector, long experience with associations and global water stakeholders, and knowledge of extensive networks to help the IWRA to continue its amazing growth and contributions.
Country of Origin: Brazil
Country of Residence: Brazil
BIO
Born in the recharge area of the Guarani Aquifer in Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, Pilar has been a Professor in the Sea Institute (Santos, SP) at the Federal University of São Paulo since 2013. She is a lawyer with a master and PhD in Environmental Sciences and a Postdoctoral degree in Sedimentary and Environmental Geology from the University of São Paulo. She teaches Environmental Law and Water Resources Management, and her research focuses on multilevel governance of groundwater, especially the Guarani Aquifer, and transboundary governance of the La Plata River Basin. She has coordinated and taught in several courses about water in Brazil and South America promoted by PHI-UNESCO and the Brazilian National Water and Sanitation Agency, as well has publish articles and developed teaching materials on transboundary water governance and water law. Pilar also acted as a Legal Component consultant for the Framework program of the La Plata River Basin.
Motivation Statement
Forced home-office work has imposed on me a new water management challenge, which is to ensure the sustainable use of the garden hose by my two-year-old son. Seeing him playing makes me realize that since childhood water brings joy and there is a tendency to overuse this resource, causing the complexity of water governance. The IWRA develops an incredible work on education, research, and information exchange among countries and across disciplines to overcome this governance challenge. However, the socio-environmental diversity of South America must be better embraced and explored. This region is the most diverse continent in terms of water resources and has an incredible socio-cultural richness concerning water visions. Despite this, the area is understudied, and great national researchers are left out of this global network of knowledge. Due to my previous experience, I think I can contribute to this mission with my knowledge of regional strengths and weakness as well as my professional networks.
Country of Origin: UK
Country of Residence: India
BIO
Tom is Director for Nature Action & Water for WBCSD, working with leading multinational companies on their nature targets and actions. He has worked in both developed and developing countries, with experience collaborating with a range of stakeholders including utilities, government, research institutes, businesses, donor agencies, UN agencies and NGOs. Before joining WBCSD, Tom was interim Executive Director for the International Water Association.
Motivation Statement
water is an increasingly important risk for business and over the coming years will be a central component of the Science Based Targets for Nature and Task force for Nature related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) recommendations. More than ever, business will be looking to the water community for science, evidence and technical know-how to ensure their water stewardship approaches stand up to scrutiny. I would like to play a role in bringing the business community and water community together through IWRA. From a personal perspective, I’ve worked in the international water sector for over 15 years and previously been a member of the IWA Board. Whilst appreciating the priorities and trends in the water space, I also understand the important role of professional member associations and hope to help identify innovative ways in which IWRA can respond to member needs and continue to amplify IWRA’s voice.
