News and Events

• Exciting projects, amazing locations and a company that supports you… let your career take you to Golder in Australia.

  Golder Associates’ Australian arm is experiencing strong growth on the back of a buoyant economy and consistent success at winning challenging large scale projects. Our growth has lead to exciting new engineering roles in a variety of fields in locations across Australia. Take the next step in your career and experience a change in lifestyle with the world-class opportunities we have on offer. Golder is one of the world’s most respected ground engineering and environmental services companies and we are proud to have been delivering technical excellence to our clients for 50 years. We are uniquely employee owned and offer an award winning company culture that recognises excellence and rewards innovation. We support our people’s professional and personal growth every step of the way. Come and see us at the Working in Australia Expos in London and Manchester in March 2010 – we look forward to meeting you. Who are we looking for? • Hydrogeologists • Geotechnical Engineers • Mining Engineers • Contaminated Site Specialists • Energy Specialists • Rock Mechanic Engineers. See us in London: Working In Australia London Expo – March 13th and 14th, 2010; London interviews – March 15th to 18th, 2010. See us in Manchester: Working In Australia Manchester Expo – March 20th and 21st, 2010; Manchester interviews – March 22nd to 25th, 2010.

• Ineson lecture 15 October 2009

  The 2009 Ineson Lecture was organised by the IAH and the Hydrogeological Group of the Geological Society, and held at Burlington House. The 2009 Ineson Lecture by Denis Peach, Chief Scientist at BGS, was entitled "Hydrogeological science over the past thirty five years - Where will the next ten years lead?" The science of modern hydrogeology has developed under the influence of resources and water quality drivers, often enshrined in legislation, since the 1960’s, but do we the hydrogeologists really understand our aquifers well enough to make adequate predictions of the impacts of climate and other environmental changes on the groundwater system. Are our models fit for purpose? Should groundwater specialists be working in other disciplines to make sure the hydrological cycle is properly imbedded in environmental science research, planning and policy? In short what lies ahead for hydrogeologists and research and practice in groundwater science in the next decade. Denis took a stroll through his career in groundwater spanning over 35 years examining the science in UK and internationally and mapping the course it has taken and make some forecasts of where hydrogeologists may need to focus in the next ten years. The supporting speakers were all young researchers who represent the future of hydrogeology: Stefan Krause (Keele University) Hot moments and hot spots of reactive transport and transformation at the aquifer-river interfaces of UK lowland and upland rivers Mark Zeitoun (UEA) Asymmetric Abstractions: The Palestinian-Israeli Water Pumping Record Mohammad Shamsudduha (UCL) The impacts of abstraction and climate change on groundwater resources in Asian Mega-Deltas: evidence from the Bengal Basin Ryan Law (Geothermal Engineering) Geothermal Energy - Recent developments, future opportunities Simon Mathias (University of Durham) Hydrogeological research for carbon capture and storage. The programme and abstracts can be found in the Reports section of this website (http://iah-british.org/reports)

• Call for New British IAH Chapter Committee Members

  The British National Chapter Committee consists of 10 members, each serving the committee for a period of 5 years. Some of the current members are approaching the end of their term and the committee invites all IAH members to consider joining the committee. For further details and nomination submission please contact the Committee Secretary. The Committee meets around four times a year, and will review candidate applications on these occasions.

• John Day Bursary

  The British Chapter of the IAH has set up a bursary to support students in undertaking hydrogeology-related fieldwork outside Great Britain as part of their postgraduate studies. The bursary is open to postgraduate students studying at any university in Great Britain and has a value of £500. Applications for the bursary should comprise a brief (1500 words maximum) description of the proposed project, to include an outline of the overall project plan, location and nature of fieldwork to be carried out, and the objectives of the project. Each university will be limited to one application, which should be submitted via the relevant course director. The successful applicant must become a member of the IAH. Applications should be submitted as a Word document to (mboland@slb.com) by the 1st March 2010. The project submissions will be reviewed by the committee of the IAH British Chapter and the successful applicant will be notified by 15th April 2010. Further details can be found in the Reports section of this website (http://iah-british.org/reports)

• Groundwater & Climate in Africa – conference report

  Groundwater & Climate in Africa, an international conference held in Kampala, Uganda from 24-28 June 2008, is a landmark, the first-ever meeting to discuss the role of groundwater in improving livelihoods in Africa under conditions of rapid development and climate change. Organized by the Ministry of Water & Environment (Uganda), University College London (UK) and the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, the conference brought together more than 300 water scientists, managers and policy makers from 23 countries in Africa and 14 other countries. The conference featured 96 presentations that contributed to 6 strategic themes including the impacts of climate variability and change on groundwater-based livelihoods and groundwater-fed ecosystems, monitoring and modelling of groundwater replenishment and use, estimation of groundwater resources and demand and groundwater management. With over 20 hours of dedicated discussion time, participants were able to translate scientific and policy-related research findings into technical and policy recommendations, summarised in the Kampala Statement, for national governments in Africa, regional, basin-wide and transboundary organisations as well as international fora. See http://www.gwclim.org. Conference papers will be published early in 2009 in an IAHS Red Book with selected papers forming a special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal. RICHARD TAYLOR University College London, UK; E-mail: r.taylor@geog.ucl.ac.uk CALLIST TINDIMUGAYA Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda; E-mail: ctindi.wrmd@dwd.co.ug

• Twinning with new chapters in Malawi and Tanzania

  Under the guidance of Segun Adelana (IAH Vice President for Africa), the British National Chapter is embarking on twinning arrangements with fledgling national chapters in Malawi and Tanzania. Twinning will provide opportunities for sponsorship of new members, and for giving professional, organisational and financial support. As part of this initiative, Mjemah Ibrahimu Chikira from Tanzania and Mcpherson Nkhata from Malawi were sponsored to attend the Kampala conference at the end of June 2008. While at the conference, Richard Boak, John Chilton and Alan McDonald (all from the British NC) met delegates from Tanzania and Malawi to prepare for the twinning.

Drilling a well for refugees in Muglad, Sudan - a UNICEF project