Jean-François Cantin, ing., M.Sc

Biography will be available soon (updated 31 March 2014)

Tony Boston

Tony Boston has more than 25 years experience in the development of integrated national information systems for scientific and collections-based organisations - geoscience and environment agencies, as well as libraries, museums, herbaria, and archives - based on the aggregation of data from across Australia.

Tony has an honours degree in Geology and graduate studies in Computer Science and Geographic Information Systems. He has expertise in informationmanagement including development of data standards and systemsfor data monitoring, collection, storage, quality control and management and associated metadata catalogues for discovery and access.

Tony is currently responsible for the Climate and Water Data Branch in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The branch maintains the Bureau's climate record, administers a program to improve Australia's water monitoring network, coordinates water data collection and quality control processes, and manages the Bureau’s national water information database as well as underpinning surface and sub-surface geospatial data.

Dr. Antônio Cardoso Neto

Dr. Antonio Cardoso Neto was born at 4th December 1951 in the Brazilian town of Bauru. He has worked in several fields of knowledge related to water: Flood Routing Numerical Modeling, Flow through Saturated Porous Media, General Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, Operations Research and Hydrology.

After becoming a Civil Engineer at the University of São Paulo (USP) in 1977, he worked with Hydrometry and Topography as an autonomous worker during six months. Then, he went to the Brazilian Federal Territory of Rondônia in 1998, where he worked with water supply and sanitation. One and a half years later, he went back to São Paulo, to work as a private lecturer of Mathematics and Physics.

After obtaining an MSc in Hydraulics and Sanitation at USP in 1983, he moved to Brasília, where he worked during three years in Hydrology at Themag Engenharia, a private company. Then, he obtained a job of researcher at IPT, the State Research Institute of São Paulo State, where he worked with Hydraulics, among other related areas.

He got a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Southampton (UK) with a thesis on the modeling of a catchment through the finite elements method, in 1994. Before getting his PhD, he developed a numerical model that coupled Finite Elements and Optimization methods to optimize pumping from unconfined aquifers subjected to environmental constraints. Back to Brazil, he worked with Hydrodynamics and Flood Routing Numerical Models at the Hydraulics Technological Center Foundation in USP during three years. He was then invited to be lecturer in the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), where he gave classes of Hydraulics, Irrigation and Numerical Models in Fluid Mechanics.

In 2001 he joined the first team of experts in the newly created National Water Agency of Brazil, where he works until today.

Since 2008, he is the Hydrological Advisor of the Permanent Representative of Brazil at WMO. During the 13th CHy meeting, he became a member of the Advisory Working Group (AWG) of CHy. In the 14th CHy meeting, he was chosen to continue as member of the AWG, as one of the persons responsible for Water Resources Assessment.

 

Dr. Sung Kim

Dr. Sung Kim is a water resources specialist. He had B.S. from Seoul National University in Rep. of Korea and M.S./Ph.D. from Univ. of Idaho in USA with majoring in agricultural engineering. He started his work as a river forecaster in USA and moved to Korea Institute of Construction Technology. Since 1988, he has worked as a researcher andthe research coordinator for the national water resources management.He has developed and implemented the hydrological database, the river forecasting/operating system and the flood design guidelines for water resources management practice in Rep. of Korea. From 2001 to 2011, he also coordinated and lead the national water resources research program focusing on developments and implementation of technologies for integrated water resources management. Since 2012, as a senior research fellow in water resources research division, he is working for research on water resources assessment including water-energy relationship.

Johnson Muturi Maina

J.M. Maina is currently the Assistant Director in charge of Hydrometeorological Information Services at the Kenya Meteorological Department. He is responsible for Hydrological Forecasting and Prediction services whose main aim is to provide Flood and Drought forecasts and early warning information for hydro-climatic risks management. In this regard, he has played a key role in: the design of a real-time hydrometeorological monitoring system; establishment of a Flood Diagnostic and Forecasting Centre (FDFC) in Nairobi - for accurate and reliable flood early warning;establishment of a RANET FM Radio station Communitybased dissemination System and; is pursuing the official establishment of a National Hydrometeorological Information and Decision Support System (NHyMIDSS). He is active in various activities including updating of a) the Kenya National Water Master Plan 2030 in view of the changing climate, b) the National Road Design Manuals (IDF Curves), c) the inventory and mapping of the National Wetlands (National Wetlands Atlas), d) the climate change analysis and prediction – for adaptation in Water, Agriculture, Energy and Health Sectors and, e) capacity building for resilience to climate and water related risks in various parts of Kenya, namely Nzoia, Tana, Lumi, UasoNyiro North (Isiolo) and KujaMigori that includes flood and drought early warning, design of structural flood control structures, rain water harvesting systems and community based training.

Maina has built capacity in hydrology and (integrated) water resources management over Africa as a) a lecturer in instruments/methods of observation and hydrological modeling and forecasting for more than 15 years at the WMO Regional Meteorological Training Centre (RMTC) - Nairobi, b) a founder member of WaterNet (the Network of Institutions responsible for training and education in Water Resources Development and Management in Eastern and Southern Africa) c) providing hands-on training of young university/college attachees and employees at the FDFC-Nairobi, d) hydrological data management (including the WMO data rescue for Africa project) and e) partner consultant in the design of the IGAD HyCOS Network. I have also engaged in community awareness and education on hydro-climatic risk management i.e. community based flood management: preparation of risk maps, development of response plans/strategies, and formation of dyke management committees, among others.

Johnson obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi in 1983. In 1993, one of the then leading institutions in hydrological modeling and forecasting, the Department of Engineering Hydrology, University College - Galway (now National University of Ireland-Galway), awarded him a Master of Science degree in Hydrology. He also attended the following post graduate courses: hydrology (6 months, 1988) at VITUKI, Budapest-Hungary; hydrometeorology (1 month, 2004) at WMO RMTC, Bet Dagan-Israel; rainfall-runoff modeling (3 weeks, 1998) at the University of Dar-es-Salaam-Tanzania; MIKE SHE Modelling System (1 week, 2004) at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and; Flood Risk Management using IFAS (1 month, 2012) at the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management [ICHARM-Japan]. He has wide experience in the use of Geographical Information Systems [GIS] for spatial analysis and mapping of hydro-climatic data.

Dr. Yuri Simonov

Dr. Yuri Simonov is highly qualified specialist in the area of hydrological modelling and forecasting. He works as senior scientist in the Hydro-meteorological Research Centre of Russia, where he is responsible for hydrological processes modelling and forecasting, including modelling of hazardous floods and flash-floods formation in the mountain watersheds. He also is a member of Interdepartmental Operational Panel on operation management of the water river reservoir cascade on the Volga and the Kama river basins which goal is provision of safe and economy effective operation of the water river reservoirs. Yuri Simonov is widely involved in Roshydromet international scientific cooperation in the following topics: "Flash-flood forecasting methods development using data from satellites, weather radars and gauging stations" and "Flood monitoring, forecasting, frequency analysis and inundation mapping". Yuri Simonov defended with honours M.Sc.(2005) and Ph.D. (2008) at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Dr. Jan Danhelka

Dr. Jan Danhelka has a Master degree in physical geography and a Ph.D. in hydrology at Faculty of Nature Sciences of Charles University in Prague. Dr. Danhelka worked in the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute from 1999 to 2004 as Hydrologist at the Department of Applied Hydrological Research and as Head of the Department of Hydrological Forecasting until 2010. Since 2010, Dr. Danhelka is the Vice Director for Hydrology at Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and since 2004, lecturer at Faculty of Nature Sciences at Charles University.

Since 2007, he is the Czech Republic representative in Working group F (Floods) within the framework of Common Implementation Strategy of EU Directive 2007/60/EC, European Commission and Member of Scientific Board of Faculty of Environment Science of the University of Life Sciences in Prague.

In 2008, Dr. Danhelka became a Member of the Commission for Hydrology and an OPACHE member. Since 2009 he is also Member of the Task Teams on Flood Forecasting and Warning RA VI and on Hydrometeorological Warning Systems of the Working Groups on Climate & Hydrology of WMO RA VI. Dr. Danhelka was designated as Hydrological Advisor of the Czech Republic with WMO in 2010 and is Member of Czech National Commission for UNESCO since 2011.

Since 2012, Dr. Danhelka is the Chair of the Czech National Commitee for Hydrology (covering IHP-UNESCO, HWRP-WMO, IAHS).