Partners and Network

As well as the network of river basins, ROBIN is the network of researchers and institutions sharing expertise. The network includes experts from across the globe with currently in excess of 3,000 gauges. Crucially, these gauges span a broad range of different climates and all our partners also bring specific expertise (for example, unique knowledge of global datasets that can support ROBIN, and specialist analysis of ‘ephemeral’ rivers that often run dry).

The below map shows the status of the first version of the ROBIN Network (released in February 2025).

Current Partners

Africa

Country	Organisation	Names
Algeria	University of Annaba	Hamouda Boutaghane
Benin	University of Parakou	Ernest Amoussou
Cote d'Ivoire	Université Nangui Abrogoua	Albert Bi Tié Goula
Malawi	University of Malawi	Cosmo Ngondondo
Morocco	Cadi Ayyad University	Mohamed Elmehdi Saidi, El Mahdi El Khalki, Rachdane Mariame
Senegal	Gaston Berger University	Ansoumana Bodian
South Africa	South African Environmental Observation Network, Stellenbosch University	Michele Toucher, Andrew Watson
Tunisia	National Engineering School of Tunis	Hamouda Dakhaoui
Ethiopia	Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources (EIWR)	Mehari Hiben, Sirak Tekleab, Hadush Meresa

Asia

Country	Organisation	Names
India	Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee	Sharad Jain, Ashutosh Sharma
India	Indian Institute of Technology Indore	Priyank Sharma
Japan	University of Tokyo, Meteorology and Hydrology Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute	Yuko Asano, Takanori Shimizu
Thailand	King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Chulalongkorn University	Chaiwat Ekkawatpanit, Supattra Vissesri
Vietnam	Nong Lam University	Hong Xuan Do
Bhutan	ChhimiD Consulting	Chhimi Dorji
South Korea	Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology: Gwangju, KR	Hyunglok Kim
Malaysia	Universiti Putra Malaysia	BALQIS BINTI MOHAMED REHAN

Europe

Country	Organisation	Names
Austria	University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna	Gregor Laaha
Czechia	Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Czech University of Life Sciences	Jan Daňhelka, Martin Hanel, Yannis Markonis
Finland	SYKE - Finnish Environment Institute	Jari Uusikivi, Sami Soosalu, Noora Veijalainen, Cintia Uvo, Anna-Stiina Heiskanen
France	Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD - France)	Yves Tramblay
France	INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food	Benjamin Renard
Germany	Global Runoff Data Center (GRDC)	Simon Mischel, Claudia Faeber
Germany	University of Freiburg	Kerstin Stahl, Sebastian Gnann
Ireland	Maynooth University	Conor Murphy, Paul O'Connor
Norway	NVE - Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate	Anne Fleig, Anja Iselin Pedersen
Poland	Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Gdansk University of Technology	Mikołaj Piniewski, Tomasz Berezowski
Portugal	University of Évora	Maria Albuquerque, Nuno De Almeida Ribeiro, Rita Fonseca
Spain	University of Madrid	Luis Medeiro
Sweden	Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute	Berit Arheimer, René Capell
Switzerland	Federal Office for the Environment	Caroline Kan, Petra Schmocker
Iceland	Icelandic Meteorological Office	Gunnar Sigurðsson
Slovenia	ARSO	Sašo Petan
Italy	University of Bologna	Paola Mazzoglio
Ukraine	Mechnikov National University	Inna Semenova

North America

Country	Organisation	Names
Canada	University of Saskatchewan	Paul Whitfield
United States	United States Geological Survey	Glenn Hodgkins
Mexico	National Autonomous University of Mexico	Saul Arciniega Esparza

South America

Country	Organisation	Names
Brazil	National Water and Sanitation Agency	Walszon Lopes
Chile	Center for Climate and Resilience Research	Camila Alvarez-Garreton
Columbia	University Javeriana - Bogota	Juan Diego Giraldo Osorio
Argentina	Instituto Nacional del Agua	Leandro Giordano
Uruguay	Ministerio de Ambiente, Uruguay	Jose Valles
Ecuador	INAMHI	BOLIVAR A. ERAZO MALDONADO
Peru	SENAMHI	Kris Milagros Correa Marrou

Oceania

Country	Organisation	Names
Australia	University of Adelaide	Seth Westra
New Zealand	University of Otago, University of Oxford	Daniel Kingston, Sarah Mager, Sophie Horton

Global and Regional Organisations

Organisation	Names
Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia (GWP-SEA)	Raymond Valiant, Louise Desrainy
Spanish National Research CounciL	Sergio Vicente Serrano
WMO	Johanna Korhonen, D Berod, Stephan Uhlenbrook
UNESCO	Koen Verbist, Abou Amani
IPCC	Valerie Masson-Delmotte

ROBIN legacy

ROBIN is more than just a dataset: it’s a collaborative ecosystem. As we build this global reference hydrological network, we’re forging deep partnerships to ensure long-term value, accessibility, and impact.

We’re working closely with the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) to align data-sharing practices. The principle is simple: if countries share data once, we ensure it serves multiple trusted platforms. This avoids duplication and makes the most of contributors' efforts.

We’re also engaging with social hydrology communities, such as FRIEND-Water and EURO-FRIEND, to reflect the human dimensions of hydrology. ROBIN isn’t only about pristine catchments and physical processes it's about relevance, representation, and the people who depend on these waters.

Importantly, ROBIN is designed with real-world applications in mind. The near-natural sites identified in our network can help underpin operational tools like WMO’s HydroSOS, providing countries with the data they need for monitoring, early warning, and climate adaptation.

ROBIN’s legacy will be a living, growing foundation for global water resilience.

GRDC UNESCO FRIEND WMO

Prof Peter Thorne (Maynooth University and coordinating lead author of the IPCC AR6 WG1) said: "In the IPCC AR6 assessment we concluded that the direction of global streamflow trends remains uncertain, with ‘low confidence’ in patterns of observed change. Much of this lack of confidence relates to the relative absence of rivers which are unperturbed by other human factors. With ROBIN providing a set of long-term, sustained measurements which are, to the extent practical, free of human perturbations, future assessments of global streamflow can potentially discern with higher confidence any signal that may exist."

"ROBIN is a remarkable initiative, creating an open, harmonized foundation for global climate research. It supports scientific collaboration and boosts the visibility and use of regional datasets in international scientific efforts. Integrating our CAMELS-CL dataset into ROBIN has been an important step toward connecting local hydrological data from Chile with global climate studies, an experience I am sure is shared by the many countries involved." Dr Camila Alvarez Garreton (Hydrologist at the Center for Climate and Resilience Research, Chile)

“ROBIN has helped us bring together disparate flow records held between different local and national bodies. Research is already underway using this dataset, including detecting regional patterns in runoff generation and the incidence of atmospheric rivers; analysing the impacts of reducing snow and ice on water generation; and assessing vulnerability to droughts in mountain regions.” Sara Mager (University of Otago, New Zealand)