Hydro Nation Scholar Welcome Event - 2022
This month the annual Hydro Nation Scholars Programme welcome event for the new intake of PhD students was held at the Royal Society, Edinburgh. The event is organised by the Hydro Nation International Centre Scotland and provides an opportunity for new Scholars* to be introduced to the programme, their fellow peers, and a wide range of stakeholders from Scotland’s water and research sector. For the first time in over 2 years the Scholars were able to see each other in person following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic! Our Scholars were formally welcomed by the Programme Director Professor Bob Ferrier (James Hutton Institute), and Deputy Director of Water Policy & DECC Operations Jon Rathgen (Scottish Government). The important role of the Scholars in helping Scotland become the world’s first Hydro Nation through their research, innovation and engagement was highlighted and reaffirmed.
The existing scholars also delivered a group presentation to share their experience of the programme and how to make the most of being part of the Hydro Nation ‘family’. Hydro Nation Alumni scholars Dr. Nazli Koseoglu (James Hutton Institute) and Dr. Lydia Niemi (One Health Breakthrough Partnership) returned to offer their insightful perspectives on how the programme has assisted their career development. A poster session also allowed an opportunity for knowledge exchange between Scholars, their academic supervisors, and stakeholders- and of course a long-awaited chance to catch-up in person!
As part of the extended two-day event scholars had the opportunity to learn more about Scotland’s Water sector through a field trip to the world class Glencorse water treatment works and Scottish Water's Innovation Centre at Bo’ness. These visits enabled an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities in water management in Scotland and highlighted some of the important innovations made in water treatment and reaching net zero carbon emissions. For more information about the work the Scholars are doing please take a virtual tour of their research at the COP26 Hydro Nation Water Pavilion.
*The 2021 intake of scholars includes (full Scholar profiles coming soon):
- Sarah Crowe (University of Dundee) - Water smart cities: towards a place-based approach for waterfront management and flood protection
- David Bryan (University of Stirling) - Integrated management of Scotland’s agricultural wetlands to deliver multiple benefits and minimise pollution swapping
- Daniel Beckmann (University of Stirling) - Using satellite remote sensing and automated in situ sensors to monitor and predict cyanobacterial blooms in multiple lakes
- Anna McWilliam (University of Highlands and Islands) - Innovative brash management to enhance water quality following peatland restoration and forestry operations
- Oludare Durodola (University of Aberdeen) - Optimising water use and soil carbon sequestration – can agricultural co-cropping systems provide multiple benefits to address climate change?
- Donald Robertson (Strathclyde University) - Citizen-derived digital data for water resources management in Malawi
