Dörthe Tetzlaff is delighted with the Water Resources Award and already has plans for how she will invest it. | David Ausserhofer/IGB | © David Ausserhofer/IGB
"Secure access to adequate and clean water resources is under threat in many parts of the world. We are experiencing global droughts, mega-droughts or even flash droughts," said the researcher, explaining her motivation. These extreme situations have resulted in reduced water availability, increasingly intermittent river flows and deteriorating water quality, as well as significant negative impacts on biodiversity in many regions. This is not just theory, but something that can be observed by those affected, and it is all too often fatal," she added.
Her research therefore focuses on a deeper understanding of the processes that influence water flow and storage in the face of increasing drought and water scarcity. These processes have a significant impact on the availability and quality of water resources – both spatially and temporally.
In addition to her scientific excellence, the scientist is being honoured today for her outstanding commitment to promoting young scientists and networking with key players in politics, research and practice. She emphasises the importance of working closely with stakeholders – from citizens to experts – to develop innovative solutions for the sustainable management of water resources.
Tetzlaff's plans for the €100,000 prize money include the organisation of an international workshop on 'More robust predictions through process-based modelling'. This workshop will serve as a platform for the exchange of the latest scientific approaches and promote international cooperation. The aim is to develop adaptive models that can predict the effects of land-use changes on water availability at an early stage. This should lead to science-based recommendations for water-smart land-use planning, with the continuous involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
Dörthe Tetzlaff will use another part of the prize money to offer young female scientists in the field of ecohydrology the opportunity to join her research group at the IGB, ranging from bachelor and master students to PhD students and postdocs. "If I have the opportunity to support a young colleague on her academic path, I will take it. The more people think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions, the less likely we are to see the feared impacts of global change on our water resources," she said. After all, water is something that concerns us all.
Congratulations to the winners of this well-deserved award!
The prize was awarded today at the 14th Water Research Horizon Conference in Leipzig, where a thesis supervised by Tetzlaff was also honoured:
Lisa Grof received the Interdisciplinary Aquatic Ecosystem Research Award for her bachelor's thesis entitled ‘Impacts of beaver population changes on hydrological processes in a lowland catchment in Brandenburg, Germany’.
The same award went to Olga Lukyanova for her master's thesis entitled ‘Biotelemetry-based study of northern pike (Esox lucius) movement in the Southern Baltic Sea: space use, connectivity, and implications for conservation and management’. She was supervised by IGB scientist Robert Arlinghaus, who also holds a professorship at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU).
Congratulations to both HU students!
