#iahrWomenVoices

The IAHR task force on Strengthening Diversity and Gender Equity is pleased to present the IAHR Women’s Voices video series project led by IAHR Member Verónica León from the IAHR Venezuela YPN. The Women’s Voices video series provides the opportunity to IAHR women members to introduce themselves and their background, explain why it is important for them to work in the hydro-environmental field, the challenges they are confronted with, and reflect about specific research topics or current events such as COVID-19, floods, droughts, the World Congress, etc.

>> Join the IAHR Women’s Voices video series project!

Introduction to the Women’s Voices project by Verónica León
Verónica León, young professional member of the IAHR Venezuela YPN currently working with the flood risk prevention authorities in Toulouse, France, introduces the purpose of this video series and invites you to participate. Raise your voice! Join the IAHR Women’s Voices video series. Contact Verónica León at elsa.incio@iahr.org to add your voice.

Invitation to participate from Silke Wieprecht
Silke Wieprecht, vice-president of IAHR and chair of the task force on Strengthening Diversity and Gender Equity, invites you to join this project aimed at raising women’s voices within and beyond IAHR.

Video 1 | Beatriz Negreiros, member of the IAHR Baden-Württemberg YPN
In this video, Beatriz Negreiros, a civil engineering graduate from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, who was awarded a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to complete her studies in Water Resources Engineering and Management (WAREM) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, introduces her career and experience as a research assistant working for over a  year at the Institute of Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems at the University of Stuttgart and lays out the challenges that women working in engineering and research are confronted with.

Video 2 | Maria del Rosario Ponce Guzman, member of the IAHR Baden-Württemberg YPN
Maria del Rosario Ponce Guzman member of the IAHR Baden-Württemberg Young Professionals Network is a civil engineer with a master’s degree in hydroinformatics and water management working as a research associate at the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems of the University of Stuttgart in Germany. She shares with us her views about working on water issues as a woman civil engineer and her message for young professional women.

Video 3 | Amparo López, member of the IAHR Council
Amparo López, IAHR member since 2010, is an industrial engineer specialised in the fields of hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics. Professor at the University of Valencia in Spain, she is particularly interested in the energy impacts of water management, the linkages of urban hydraulics with energy efficiency, and the environmental impacts of cities. She is a member of the IAHR Council and is regularly involved in the activities of the IAHR Spanish Chapter and the IAHR Europe Division. She shares with us her vision about the future of urban hydraulics, and its linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals, and the importance of bringing women closer to environmental engineering.

Video 4 | Maria Gabriela Castrellon, president of the IAHR Panama YPN
Maria Gabriela Castrellon, IAHR member since 2019, studied environmental sciences and has a master’s degree in hydrological sciences. She is particularly interested in research and especially in the way water moves through nature and how we, as humans, interact with it in a sustainable way. Gabriela got involved in IAHR in 2019, when she, together with other students and young professionals, decided to start the Panama YPN. She shares with us how the Panama YPN has adapted to the pandemic and her views about the main challenges facing Latin American tropical regions with regards to water.

Video 5 | Xiaolei Zhang from the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research
Xiaolei Zhang works at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), one of the IAHR Institute members, on flash flood disasters. Flash floods are a very serious issue in China. Xiaolei shares with us her own experience working on disaster prevention and monitoring and early warning systems, and introduces a global partnership that has recently been created to strengthen disaster preparedness and relief capacities.

Video 6 | Modupe Olufunmilayo, vice-chair of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria
Modupe Olufunmilayo is a civil engineer from Nigeria who specialises in water and environmental engineering. She has been a member of IAHR since 2019 and she currently works as a senior teaching fellow in Civil and Humanitarian Engineering at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Modupe shares with us how she got interested in water engineering and capacity development, and how these can help to improve people's quality of life. She is participating in the 1st IAHR Online Forum to be held on 5-7 July 2021 with a keynote talk on “Water Research in Africa: The dichotomy of two continents in one” within the Water Challenges and Professional Development in Africa session.

Video 7 | Karol Sánchez, president of the IAHR Venezuela YPN
Karol Sánchez, a Venezuelan civil engineer with a Master's degree in Hydraulics from the Central University of Venezuela, shares with us her professional experience working as a project engineer in the water sector and her view on how the hydraulics discipline helps to improve people’s living conditions. Currently president of the IAHR Venezuela YPN, she also shares the story of how the Venezuelan YPN was created. Karol is a member of the IAHR Latin American Division and an editor of NewsFlash Iberoamerica.

Video 8 | Arianna Varrani from the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Arianna Varrani works as Research Assistant at the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. She is a member of IAHR since 2017, and in 2020 helped shape IAHR Poland YPN. Her research interests span from geomorphology to microplastics transport. With this video, Arianna shares her views on the value of communication and education in an ever-changing world.

Video 9 | Samih Ikram from the Hassan II University of Casablanca
Samih Ikram is an environmental engineer with a Master degree of Environmental management. She is also a PhD. Student at Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. With this video, Samih shares her project thesis working on a disaggregated water demand management by sectors in Morocco (agriculture, industry, municipal and other activities of national importance) as well as the major challenges for coupling women women and water in Morocco.

Video 10 | Dayana Pita, Venezuela YPN
Dayana Pita, from Venezuela, is a civil engineer who graduated in 2016 from Andres Bello Catholic University located in Caracas. In 2021 she finished her postgraduate studies in Sanitary Engineering at the University of Buenos Aires. Dayana currently works as quality control inspector in the Represas Patagonia consortium in southern Argentina. She is also vice president of the YPN Venezuela since January 2022.

Video 11 | Charlene Gaba, Regional Center AGRHYMET (Centre Climatique Régional pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest et le Sahel CCR-AOS)
Charlene Gaba currently has 2 main responsibilities; she is a researcher in hydrological modelling at AGRHYMET and a lecturer and researcher at the Water National Institute located in Benin. She is also a member of the IAHR Africa division since 2021. Charlene discusses her two goals: transforming young researchers into visionaries, not just “job seekers” and encouraging women to take part in the field of water engineering.

Video 12 | Dr Qian Yu, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR)
Dr Qian Yu, from China, is a senior engineer currently working at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR). She obtained her doctoral degree in hydraulic engineering from Tsinghua University in 2015 and she is the young professionals representative from the Asia and Pacific (APD) region at the IAHR Council and also member of the IAHR Technical Committee on Education and Professional Development. In this video, she speaks about her research interests, which include flood risk management and impact assessment, flood resilience, green infrastructure and environmental hydraulics, about she got involved in IAHR, and shares her vision for IAHR young professionals in the APD region.