Günter Blöschl
Prof. Günter Blöschl is Head of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at the Vienna University of Technology. He is currently teaching courses on Engineering Hydrology, Risk Assessment, Modelling and Simulation, Water Resources Management and Planning, and Climate Change. His main research interests are in hydrology and water resources management and in particular understanding and predicting floods. An ERC Advanced Grant on ‘Deciphering River Flood Change’ was awarded to him. Using this grant, he demonstrated the role of climate change in increasing flood risk at the European scale which he published in Science (2017) and in Nature (2019 and 2020). He has recently led the HORA project, where flood risk was mapped for 30,000 km of Austrian streams. As the director of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems, funded by the Austrian Science Fund, Blöschl is coordinating interdisciplinary water research. He is also directing the Hydrology Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) where detailed field observations are performed to understand water and matter fluxes in the landscape. Throughout his career, Günter Blöschl has been a strong advocate of bridging the gap between understanding fundamental processes and the practice of water resources management. He has published about 300 peer-reviewed papers and several books. Prof. Blöschl received the Horton Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Wegener Medal from the European Geosciences Union (EGU), and the International Hydrology Prize from IAHS/WMO/UNESCO. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He recently received two honorary doctorates.
Aldo Fiori
Aldo Fiori obtained a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Civil and Hydraulic Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1990 and 1995, respectively. He also did a postdoctoral research at Tel Aviv University in 1995. Principal research interests are the theory of flow and solute transport in heterogeneous porous media, subsurface stochastic hydrology, streamflow generation processes and hillslope hydrology, statistical hydrology, flood modeling, design and verification of hydraulic structures. He has been involved in various editorial and scientific roles, such as the president of the International Committee on Ground Water of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), Co-Editor of Hydrological Sciences Journal, Associate Editor of several journals, such as Water Resources Research and Journal of Hydrology. He is the recipient of the 2023 International Hydrology Prize – Dooge Medal. Aldo Fiori has been a member or a coordinator of various academic and administrative committees.
Hayley J. Fowler
Hayley J. Fowler is Professor of Climate Change Impacts in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. Her research focuses on improved physical understanding of changing precipitation extremes and providing better projections for climate adaptation; winning the EGU’s Sergey Soloviev Medal in 2024. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2018) and was a Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellow (2014-19) for her work on understanding climate change impacts on hydrological risks, from extreme rainfall and flooding to droughts She was a Contributing Author to Chapter 8: Water Cycle and Chapter 11: Extremes for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report WGI. From 2021-2023, she was President of the British Hydrological Society. She advises the UK government on climate risks and resilience through her roles on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division in Scotland and on the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Science Expert Group.
Athanasios Loukas
Athanasios Loukasis a Professor of Engineering Hydrology – Management and Development of Water Resources, Head of Transportation and Hydraulic Engineering Department, Director of “Hydraulic Works and Environmental Management” Lab, Director of Master Program “Water Resources” of the School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2018-today). Previously, he was affiliated with University of Thessaly in which he served as a Professor, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering (2008-2012) and Dean of Faculty of Engineering (2015-2018), Laboratory Director and Director of an international Master Program (2010-2018). His research and activity focus on hydrology, hydrological hazards and risks (droughts and floods), climate change impacts, and water resources management, fields in which he has more than 400 scientific referred international journal publications, conference proceedings publications, books and technical reports. He coordinated and participated in numerous national and international research programs. Besides his research activity, he develops a strong outreach activity, and acts as mentor of a high number of post-graduate and Ph.D. students. He received, during his academic studies and carrier, numerous fellowships, prices and awards such as the Fulbright Research Scholarship in 2013. He is listed in the top world-wide 2% of the most influential scientists (according to his publications and the citations to his publications for his carrier period until 2022) of Stanford University (2023). His is a visiting professor in U.S.A. and European Universities. He is, currently, Editor-in-Chief of European Water, Section Editor-in-Chief “Water Resources Management Policy and Governance” of Water and Editorial Board Member of Water Resources Management and Scientific Review Engineering and Environmental Sciences. He is regular reviewer of national and European research proposals as well as evaluator and responsible of research projects certification. He is affiliated with national and international scientific organizations such as EWRA and EGU.
