Key Persons
Director: Maurizio Polemio
| Hydraulic Engineer and Senior Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). Since 1989, he has worked at the Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI), where he served as Head of the Bari Unit. He is the Scientific Coordinator of the Hydrology Laboratory and the Hydrogeology Research Group. Author of over 200 publications, he has taught Applied Geology and Hydrogeology at the University of Calabria and the University of Bari. He holds qualifications as a Full Professor in the 04/A3 sector: Applied Geology, Physical Geography, and Geomorphology. He has extensive experience leading research teams within national and international projects. An expert in the hydrogeology of Italy’s main aquifers, particularly in the south, as well as in Mediterranean countries (Albania, Malta, Greece, etc.), he has developed in-depth expertise in these areas. He was the Scientific Secretary of the Italian Committee of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme for many years and has held leadership roles in scientific associations such as IAH, IAHS, IAEG, and AIGA. He acts as a reviewer for scientific articles for the most prestigious international journals in the field and evaluates research projects for several foreign scientific institutions. As an expert, he has collaborated with or supported numerous prominent national and local institutions in the field. His research and studies focus on natural hazards and hydrogeological disasters, particularly floods and landslides, hydrology, applied geology, and hydrogeology. His expertise encompasses groundwater pollution, aquifer vulnerability, seawater intrusion, quantitative degradation, and groundwater management in the context of climate change, employing methods ranging from field surveys to the use of statistical and numerical models. In these fields, he serves as a Consultant for private entities and major national and regional public institutions.
(maurizio.polemio@cnr.it) |
Co-Director: Albert Folch
Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. He holds his PhD in Geology in 2010 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona with training periods at the University of Arizona (USA) and the University of Oxford (UK). His research focuses on different fields on hydrogeology including coastal aquifers, large-scale groundwater flow systems, river-aquifer interactions, groundwater contamination at local and basin scale, and the development of different pollution remediation strategies. With more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, he has participated and/or coordinated different projects related with aquifer characterization, groundwater pollution and remediation, numerical flow modeling and water resources management. He participated in more than 15 research projects including 7 projects of the “National plan” from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Spain) and two European projects. He has led projects in Latin America to evaluate the effect of water transfers in coastal dry areas (Perú), the effect of intensive agriculture (Guatemala) and has been Co-principal investigator of a 5 year project focused on groundwater
governance in Kenya led by the University of Oxford (UK). Currently, he is leading two projects to characterize seawater intrusion and submarine groundwater discharge applying a multidisciplinary approach with different national and international partners. He teaches in the areas of Civil Engineering, Geology, Environment and Marine sciences. In 2012 he was rewarded with the Alfons Bayó award for Young Researchers, given by the Spanish Group of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.(albert.folch.s@upc.edu) |
Co-Director: Gualbert Oude Essink
| Hydrogeologist at Deltares and Utrecht University (associate prof.). Expert variable-density groundwater and salt transport in coastal groundwater systems in deltaic areas, considering saltwater intrusion and fresh groundwater resources under palaeo, anthropogenic, climate change and (extreme) sea level rise conditions. Gu works on improving fresh (ground)water availability in The Netherlands, Vietnam, Egypt and Bangladesh, applying the latest innovations in modelling (e.g. SEAWAT parallel, imod-python), monitoring (Airborne EM, new salinity and groundwater flow devices) and strategies to store water underground (Aquifer Storage and Recovery GO-FRESH Netherlands and Belgium, Fresh Water Availability Vietnam; COASTAR: “Brackish Groundwater is the New Fresh”). Gu gives courses and lectures, teaches at IHE Delft, and supervises MSc students and in August 2021 7 PhDs.
(Gualbert.OudeEssink@deltares.nl) |
Webmaster: Fabrizio Antonio Piscedda
| In 2021, they earned a Master’s degree by presenting a thesis titled: “Combined Application of the Water Table Fluctuation Method and Geochemical and Isotopic Investigations to Evaluate Recharge Sources and Their Effect on the Intrusion Process of the Coastal Aquifer in Muravera (Southeastern Sardinia).” During their postgraduate studies, they also completed the “Training Program in Anthropo-Psycho-Pedagogical Disciplines and Didactic Methods and Technologies” as part of the FIT Teacher Qualification pathway. In 2022, they began a research fellowship at the Faculty of Geological Sciences and Technologies in Cagliari, titled: “Geochemical, Isotopic, and Hydrogeological Insights into Groundwater Bodies.” As of March 1, 2023, they have been pursuing a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Technology, focusing on the design of management systems for coastal aquifers affected by saline intrusion.
(fabrizioa.piscedda@unica.it) |
Webmaster: Daniel Gonzalez Daniel
Post Doctoral Scholar at The Ohio State University. His research is centered on investigating the movement of water through Earth’s systems and its impact on transport and biogeochemical reactions of chemical constituents that influence ecosystems and communities. To achieve this, he utilizes numerical models, data consolidation and analysis, and statistical methods within high-performance computing environments to assess hydrologic ecosystems. My key research interests encompass surface water-groundwater interactions, groundwater hydrology, physical hydrology, geophysics, climatology, and meteorology.
(gonzalezduque.1@osu.edu)
