Professor David Hannah PhD

Professor David Hannah

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability)
Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action
Professor of Hydrology, UNESCO Chair in Water Science

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

David is a physical geographer with interdisciplinary research interests focusing on three complementary themes within hydroclimatology (interface between hydrology-climatology): (1) hydroclimatological processes within alpine, Arctic, mountain and glacierized river basins; (2) climate and river flow regimes; and (3) river energy budget and water temperature dynamics. He has cross-cutting interests in ecohydrology/ hydroecology, specifically ecological response to hydro-climatological and physico-chemical habitat variability/ change, and development of new methods for monitoring, analysing and modelling environmental dynamics. 

David is Professor of Hydrology in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action. He is Chair-holder for the UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences at the University of Birmingham, and is a member of the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ).

David is listed in the Reuters Top 1000 world’s top climate scientists

View David Hannah's Research Portal

Biography

  • UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences (2016-)
  • Director of Birmingham Institute for Sustainability & Climate Action (2022-)
  • Director of Research, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2016-22) 
  • Head of School, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2014-16)
  • Chair of Hydrology, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2012-)
  • Reader in Hydrology, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2009-12)
  • Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2005-2009)
  • Lecturer in Physical Geography, School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (1998-2005)
  • Postdoctoral Associate, School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (1997-1998)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2007); Member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching and Register Practitioner of The Higher Education Academy (2005)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Birmingham (2002)
  • PhD, Meltwater generation and drainage within a small glacierized basin in the French Pyrénées, University of Birmingham (1997)
  • BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography, University of Aberdeen (1994)

Teaching

Geography degrees

MSc River Environments and their Management

Teaching-related publication

Kingston D.G., Eastwood W.J., Jones P.I, Marshall S., Johnson R.H. and Hannah D.M. (2012), Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual fieldtrips in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education, Hydrology and Earth Systems Science, 16, 1281–1286 DOI:10.5194/hess-16-1281-2012

Postgraduate supervision

David Hannah’s research is interdisciplinary, focusing on three complementary themes within hydroclimatology (the interface between hydrology-climatology):

Hydroclimatological processes within alpine, Arctic, mountain and glacierised river basins
Climate and river flow regimes
River energy budget and thermal dynamics

Professor Hannah has a cross-cutting interest in hydroecology, specifically ecological response to hydroclimatological and physico-chemical habitat variability/change. He also develops new methods for monitoring, analysing and modelling environmental dynamics at range of space-time scales. He has successfully supervised numerous doctoral researchers and welcomes enquiries from prospective researchers in his areas of interest.

Research

The answer is in nature

David M. Hannah is Professor of Hydrology, UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences, and inaugural Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability & Climate Action (BISCA) at the University of Birmingham. He was included in Reuters list of the world’s top climate scientists. He was honoured with the prestigious Tison Award (2014) from the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS); in 2019, he became a Royal Society Wolfson Fellow; and he was awarded the Murchison Award from the Royal Geographical Society in 2022.

His long-term vision is to understand water cycle processes, hydrological events (flood, drought) and water-related impacts under climate and other drivers of change. He uses interdisciplinary approaches to address three internationally important themes: (1) to develop new knowledge of the climate drivers, hydrological response and habitat conditions that control water availability and river biodiversity in ARCTIC AND ALPINE GLACIER-FED RIVER BASINS; (2) to LINK VARIATIONS IN RIVER FLOW TO CLIMATE AND LAND CHANGES (using observations and model projections) and so improve understanding of the interconnected-ness of the water cycle at basin to regional to global scales; and (3) to unravel multiple controls on RIVER TEMPERATURE to understand the potential of different adaptations to climate change for reducing high temperature extremes that may damage aquatic ecosystems. In addition, he has made TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS in environmental sensing and helped shape the emerging citizen science agenda around water resources.

David is very active in UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrology Programme, formerly UK Representative for the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, and current President of the IAHS-International Commission for Surface Water.

He promotes knowledge exchange to communicate the importance of water and climate science for society – often facilitated by his UNESCO Chair’s ‘network of networks’ at the science-policy interface. He has authored reports underpinning the UK RIDE/ LWEC Climate Change Impacts Report Card for Water for decision-makers; his work has been included in three IPCC reports; and he gives policy advice to UK water industry, NGOs, Scottish Government, overseas government agencies, and water sector regulators on climate change adaptation. He fronted the Birmingham Heroes media campaign on “The Water Crisis”. These activities demonstrate his strong commitment to research that matters in the real-world.

Other activities

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Gribbin, T, Mackay, JD, MacDonald, A, Hannah, DM, Buytaert, W, Baiker, JR, Montoya, N, Perry, LB, Seimon, A, Rado, M, Arias, S & Vargas, M 2024, 'Bofedal wetland and glacial melt contributions to dry season streamflow in a high‐Andean headwater watershed', Hydrological Processes, vol. 38, no. 8, e15237. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15237

Howard, BC, Buytaert, W, Krause, S & Hannah, D 2024, 'Connecting Global Water Agendas: From Wicked Problematization to Opportunities for Action', Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists, vol. 5, no. 1, e2024CN000248. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024cn000248

Leader, S, Kettridge, N, Hannah, D, Mendoza, C & Devito, KJ 2024, 'Diverse response of shallow lake water levels to decadal weather patterns in a heterogeneous glacial Boreal Plains landscape', Hydrological Processes, vol. 38, no. 4, e15125. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15125

Effiong, CJ, Musa Wakawa Zenna, J, Hannah, D & Sugden, F 2024, 'Exploring loss and damage from climate change and global perspectives that influence response mechanism in vulnerable communities', Sustainable Environment, vol. 10, no. 1, 2299549. https://doi.org/10.1080/27658511.2023.2299549

White, JC, Seddon, E, Hill, MJ, Mathers, KL, Bridger, M, Hannah, DM & Wood, PJ 2024, 'Going to the archives: Combining palaeoecological and contemporary data to support river restoration appraisals', River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4366

Zhu, H, Khamis, K, Hannah, DM & Krause, S 2024, 'Importance of Monitoring Frequency for Representation of Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics in Urban Rivers', Water Resources Research, vol. 60, no. 12, e2024WR037254. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr037254

Ganapathy, A, Hannah, DM & Agarwal, A 2024, 'Improved estimation of extreme floods with data pooling and mixed probability distribution', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 629, 130633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130633

England, J, White, JC, Johns, T, Meadows, G & Hannah, DM 2024, 'Initial ecological recovery post‐weir removal amidst catchment‐wide improvements, in a groundwater‐dominated chalk stream', River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4351

Leader, S, Kettridge, N, Hannah, DM, Mendoza, C & Devito, KJ 2024, 'Multi-year climate memory in shallow lake water levels', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 642, 131764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131764

Croghan, D, Ala-Aho, P, Welker, J, Mustonen, KR, Khamis, K, Hannah, DM, Vuorenmaa, J, Kløve, B & Marttila, H 2024, 'Seasonal and interannual dissolved organic carbon transport process dynamics in a subarctic headwater catchment revealed by high-resolution measurements', Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 1055-1070. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1055-2024

Dugdale, SJ, Malcolm, IA & Hannah, DM 2024, 'Understanding the effects of spatially variable riparian tree planting strategies to target water temperature reductions in rivers', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 635, 131163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131163

Zhang, X, Mao, F, Gong, Z, Hannah, DM, Cai, Y & Wu, J 2023, 'A disaster-damage-based framework for assessing urban resilience to intense rainfall-induced flooding', Urban Climate, vol. 48, 101402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101402

Comment/debate

Levia, DF, Bergquist, R, Meydani, A, Hu, Y & Hannah, DM 2024, 'Hydrological Extremes Heighten Vulnerability to Schistosomiasis', Earth's Future, vol. 12, no. 6, e2024EF004659. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ef004659

Review article

Kumar, M, Khamis, K, Stevens, R, Hannah, DM & Bradley, C 2024, 'In-situ optical water quality monitoring sensors—applications, challenges, and future opportunities', Frontiers in Water, vol. 6, 1380133. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2024.1380133

Gunter, H, Bradley, C, Hannah, D, Manaseki-Holland, S, Stevens, R & Khamis, K 2023, 'Advances in quantifying microbial contamination in potable water: Potential of fluorescence-based sensor technology', Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, vol. 10, no. 1, e1622. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1622

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Climate and hydrology interactions (hydroclimatology); mountain/alpine/glacier environments; climate and river flows (flood/drought); stream/river temperature; biological/human response to climate/hydrological change.

Expertise

Climate and hydrology interactions (hydroclimatology); mountain/alpine/glacier environments; climate and river flows (flood/drought); stream/river temperature; biological/human response to climate/hydrological change.