Dr. Rebecca Diehl of the University of Vermont joins the podcast to discuss how rivers and floodplains really work, and why that matters for flood risk and resilience. A CIROH collaborator, she shares how new floodplain mapping approaches, field data and geospatial tools are helping improve flood prediction and inform smarter decisions for communities facing more frequent flooding.

-----

About AWI:

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Join the conversation on AWI's social media:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

X/Twitter: https://x.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Dr. Ibrahim Demir, the Michael A. Fitts Presidential Chair in Environmental Informatics and Artificial Intelligence, and professor of river-coastal science and engineering at Tulane University, discusses how artificial intelligence is transforming the way we forecast floods, manage water resources, and communicate environmental risks.

Ibrahim's research focuses on using data-driven systems, machine learning, and digital twins to make hydrologic forecasting faster, smarter, and more accessible for communities everywhere.

-----

About AWI:

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Join the conversation on AWI's social media:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

X/Twitter: https://x.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Dr. Martyn Clark, professor of hydrology at the University of Calgary, joins the AWI Podcast to discuss hydrologic modeling and predicting where water will flow. Clark is a global leader in building advanced models that push environmental forecasting forward and help turn predictions into action.

The Alabama Water Institute and CIROH recently hosted the 20th anniversary of HEPEX — a global collaboration to improve hydrologic forecasting and its use in real-world decisions.

Visit HEPEX: https://hepex.org.au

-----

About AWI:

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Join the conversation on AWI's social media:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

X/Twitter: https://x.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

The Alabama Water Institute and CIROH recently hosted the 20th anniversary of HEPEX — a global collaboration to improve hydrologic forecasting and its use in real-world decisions. Rob Hartman, a consulting hydrologist with 35 years of federal flood and water supply forecasting experience, shared insights from his time leading the National Weather Service California–Nevada River Forecast Center, his work on the Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations project, and how agencies are using forecasts to guide reservoir operations and flood management today.

Visit HEPEX: https://hepex.org.au

About AWI:

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Join the conversation on AWI's social media:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

X/Twitter: https://x.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

HEPEX (Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction EXperiment) is a global community of researchers and practitioners in hydrological ensemble prediction. It brings together people contributing and working on specific topics related to hydrological forecasting and hydrometeorological ensemble prediction.

The group recently held its 20th anniversary workshop at The University of Alabama, hosted by the Alabama Water Institute and CIROH. Dr. Ilias Pechlivanidis, co-chair of HEPEX and associate professor and senior researcher in hydrology at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, explains what HEPEX is and why hydrological ensemble prediction is important.

Visit HEPEX: https://hepex.org.au

About AWI:

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Join the conversation on AWI's social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

X/Twitter: https://x.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

Dr. Toby Ault is an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and the director of graduate studies for atmospheric sciences at Cornell University. Ault joins us for this episode to discuss various climate topics, including megadroughts.

Ault's research coalesces around three areas of inquiry related to emergent climate risks: (1) estimating the risk of prolonged drought under climate change; (2) understanding the dynamics of seasonality, particularly spring; and (3) characterizing variations in the Tropical Pacific on timescales of decades to centuries, and their influence on global climate. His methods entail data synthesis from observational sources as well as numerical and statistical modeling. The nature of his work is therefore highly interdisciplinary, affording him the opportunity to collaborate closely not only with climate scientists and modelers, but with colleagues in many other disciplines, including geography, paleoclimatology, and ecology.

Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Dr. Kate Brauman is the associate director for communications and analysis for The University of Alabama's Global Water Security Center.

Brauman is a globally recognized thought leader in water resources and ecosystem services. Her research quantifies how changes in nature affect human wellbeing, with a particular focus on water resources. In addition to research, Brauman is committed to and skilled at science communication.

In this interview, we'll get to know a little bit more about Kate, her research, and why the GWSC is such an important resource in the world of water.

Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Dr. Steven Burian is AWI's director of science, the executive director of NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH), and a professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering.

In this episode, he discusses the newly awarded CIROH and the impact of water research from AWI and The University of Alabama.

Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvUaCXCzBwL6JS9M8dsdJQ

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Mike Gremillion is the director of the Global Water Security Center at The University of Alabama.

In this episode, he discusses the foundation of the GWSC and how it will make a lasting impact on water security, quality, and research for a global society.

Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvUaCXCzBwL6JS9M8dsdJQ

Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Dr. Cory Armstrong is the former chair for the Department of Journalism and Creative Media in The University of Alabama's College of Communication and Information Sciences. Her areas of research include media diversity, influences on media content and media messages concerning severe weather.

She was awarded a $15,000 grant to partner with the National Weather Service office in Memphis, Tennessee, to study how effective tornadic-related weather information is on the public.