Professor David Hannah PhD

Professor David Hannah

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Hydrology
College Director of Research

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 47931 (Helen Jones, PA)
Telephone (2)
+44 (0)121 41 46925 (for own research)
Email
d.m.hannah@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Water Crisis - Birmingham HeroesProfessor David Hannah - Research in 60 seconds videoDavid 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 Research of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. He is Chair-holder for the  UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

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 Research, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (2016-) 
  • 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 is Professor of Hydrology in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director of Research of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. He is Chair-holder for the UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences at the University of Birmingham. 

His research is interdisciplinary, focusing on three complementary themes within hydroclimatology (interface between hydrology-climatology): (1) climate and river flow regimes; (2) hydro-climatological processes within alpine, Arctic, mountain and glacierized river basins; and (3) river energy budget and water temperaturedynamics. He has a crosscutting interest in ecohydrology/ hydroecology, specifically ecological response to hydro-climatological and physico-chemical habitat variability/ change. He also develops new methods for monitoring, analysing and modelling environmental dynamics at a range of space-time scales. His research has significant blue skies and applied implications for understanding and responding to impacts of climate change/ variability on hydrological systems and riverine ecology, and the management/ conservation of freshwaters.

David is active in UNESCO’s International Hydrology Programme, UK Representative for the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (until 2016), and Vice-President of the IAHS-International Commission for Surface Water. Beyond academia, he provides advice to Government, agencies, water industry and regulators (please see Other activities).

Other activities

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Mackenzie, AR, Krause, S, Hart, KM, Thomas, RM, Blaen, PJ, Hamilton, RL, Curioni, G, Quick, SE, Kourmouli, A, Hannah, DM, Comer‐warner, SA, Brekenfeld, N, Ullah, S & Press, MC 2021, 'BIFoR FACE: water–soil–vegetation–atmosphere data from a temperate deciduous forest catchment, including under elevated CO2', Hydrological Processes, vol. 35, no. 3, e14096. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14096

Javadinejad, S, Hannah, D, Krause, S, Naseri, M, Dara, R & Jafary, F 2021, 'Building socio-hydrological resilience “improving capacity for building a socio hydrological system resilience”', Safety in Extreme Environments, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 205-218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42797-020-00024-8

Khamis, K, Bradley, C, Gunter, H, Basevi, G, Stevens, R & Hannah, D 2021, 'Calibration of an in-situ fluorescence based sensor 1 platform for reliable BOD5 measurement in wastewater', Water Science and Technology, vol. 83, no. 12, pp. 3075-3091. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2021.197

Croghan, D, Khamis, K, Bradley, C, Van Loon, AF, Sadler, J & Hannah, DM 2021, 'Combining in-situ fluorometry and distributed rainfall data provides new insights into natural organic matter transport dynamics in an urban river', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 755, 142731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142731

Cooper, RV, Hannah, DM, Krause, S & Lynch, I 2021, 'From water2me to water4all : Democratizing the discussion of global water futures through crowdsourcing of individual water values', Hydrological Processes, vol. 35, no. 5, e14134. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14134

Giuntoli, I, Prosdocimi, I & Hannah, DM 2021, 'Going Beyond the Ensemble Mean: Assessment of Future Floods From Global Multi‐Models', Water Resources Research, vol. 57, no. 3, e2020WR027897. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027897

Khamis, K, Blaen, PJ, Comer-warner, S, Hannah, DM, Mackenzie, AR & Krause, S 2021, 'High-Frequency Monitoring Reveals Multiple Frequencies of Nitrogen and Carbon Mass Balance Dynamics in a Headwater Stream', Frontiers in Water, vol. 3, 668924. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.668924

Mao, F, Ullah, S, Gorelick, SM, Hannah, DM & Krause, S 2021, 'Increasing nutrient inputs risk a surge of nitrous oxide emissions from global mangrove ecosystems', One Earth, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 742-748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.04.007

White, JC, Fornaroli, R, Hill, MJ, Hannah, DM, House, A, Colley, I, Perkins, M & Wood, PJ 2021, 'Long-term river invertebrate community responses to groundwater and surface water management operations', Water Research, vol. 189, 116651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116651

Romeijn, P, Hannah, DM & Krause, S 2021, 'Macrophyte controls on urban stream microbial metabolic activity', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 4585-4596. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c02854

Wendt, DE, van Loon, AF, Scanlon, BR & Hannah, DM 2021, 'Managed aquifer recharge as a drought mitigation strategy in heavily-stressed aquifers', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 16, no. 1, 014046. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abcfe1

Abesser, C, Ciocca, F, Findlay, J, Hannah, D, Blaen, P, Chalari, A, Mondanos, M & Krause, S 2020, 'A distributed heat pulse sensor network for thermo-hydraulic monitoring of the soil subsurface', Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 352-365. https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2018-147

Docherty, JM, Mao, F, Buytaert, W, Clark, JRA & Hannah, DM 2020, 'A framework for understanding water-related multi-hazards in a sustainable development context', Progress in Physical Geography, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 267-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133319900926

Dugdale, SJ, Hannah, DM & Malcolm, IA 2020, 'An evaluation of different forest cover geospatial data for riparian shading and river temperature modelling', River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3598

Review article

Guswa, AJ, Tetzlaff, D, Selker, JS, Carlyle-Moses, DE, Boyer, EW, Bruen, M, Cayuela, C, Creed, IF, van de Giesen, N, Grasso, D, Hannah, DM, Hudson, JE, Hudson, SA, Iida, S, Jackson, RB, Katul, GG, Kumagai, T, Llorens, P, Lopes Ribeiro, F, Michalzik, B, Nanko, K, Oster, C, Pataki, DE, Peters, CA, Rinaldo, A, Sanchez Carretero, D, Trifunovic, B, Zalewski, M, Haagsma, M & Levia, DF 2020, 'Advancing ecohydrology in the 21st century: a convergence of opportunities', Ecohydrology, vol. 13, no. 4, e2208. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2208

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

Culture and collections

Schools, institutes and departments

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