Professional summary

Research Interests

  • Water Resources Assessment and Management
  • Project Management and Coordination
  • Hydrological Data and Information
  • Capacity Development

Brief CV

Helen originally intended to be a geologist, but after getting soaked on numerous field trips I decided that the water she was trying to avoid was actually more interesting than the rocks she was meant to be studying.  She did an M.Sc. in Engineering Hydrology and then joined the then Institute of Hydrology in 1989.  Initially she was based in the Flood Event Modelling Group, working on rainfall-runoff modelling and managing the UK Flood Event Archive.  She subsequently authored Volume 4 of the 1999 UK Flood Estimation Handbook.

She later moved to the Water Resources Group, becoming involved in hydrologically more-varied projects, both in the UK and overseas.  She has worked in more than 40 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe during her career.  Projects have included water resource assessment, flood and low flow/drought estimation, rainfall-runoff modelling, hydrological data storage, processing and analysis, and training and capacity building.

She has a particular interest in expanding technical capabilities in the African water sector, where there is a recognised lack of institutional capacity to monitor, plan and manage water resources effectively and sustainably.  She is increasingly involved in project management and is a Registered PRINCE2 Practitioner.

Qualifications

M.Sc. Engineering Hydrology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne 1989

B.A. (Hons) Geology, University of Oxford 1988

Panels, committees and memberships

2017 to present: International Association of Hydrological Sciences (Company Secretary & Trustee)

2014 to present: Irrigation & Water Forum National Committee (Member 2014-2017, Chair 2017-2020, Honorary Treasurer 2020 to present))

2013 to present: International Planning Committee for GEWEX (Global Energy & Water Exchanges) HyVic project (Member)

2011 to present: Irrigation and Water Forum (UK Branch of International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage) (Member)

2007 to present: Steering Committee for UNESCO Southern Africa FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental & Network Data) (Member)

2007 to present: WMO HOMS (Hydrological Operational Multipurpose System) National Reference Centre (HNRC) for the UK (Manager)

2005 to present: International Association of Hydrological Sciences (Member)

2004-06: Steering Committee for Water Research Commission (South Africa) project K5/1420 “Updated guidelines and design flood hydrograph techniques for dam safety” (Member)

1990-present: British Hydrological Society (Member)

Publications