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.

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

I welcome applications from prospective PhD researchers (from the UK and overseas) with interests in: hydrology, hydroclimatology, ecohydrology, hydroecology and technologies for environmental sensing. 

Current doctoral researchers

Probert S. (10/16-), Risk of landscape failure examined through big data analysis, NERC DREAM co-supervisors N. Kettridge and G. Parkin (Newcastle)

Wendt D. (10/16-), Understanding hydrological drought, NERC CENTA, co-supervisors A.F. Van Loon and J. Bloomfield (BGS)

Brekenfeld N. (10/16-), Forestry on the Edge: Hyporheic flows and nutrient spiralling in riparian buffer zones, NERC CENTA, co-supervisors S. Krause, K. Bishop (Swedish Agricultural University - SLU) and H. Laudon (SLU)

Croghan D. (10/15-), Hydrological extremes in urban environments: impacts on river water quality, EPSRC, co-supervisors A.F. Van Loon, C. Bradley and J.P. Sadler

Krajenbrink H. (10/15-), Putting ‘ecology’ into environmental flows: multiple pressures and biological processes, NERC CENTA co-supervisors P.J. Wood (Loughborough) and M. Acreman (CEH)

MacKay J.D. (10/15-), Glacial and hydrological change in a rapidly deglaciating catchment in Iceland, NERC CENTA CASE Plus with British Geological Survey, co-supervisors N. Barrand, S. Krause, C. Jackson (BGS), J. Everest (BGS) and G. Aðalgeirsdóttir (University of Iceland)

Singh T. (07/15-), Catchment-wide impacts of reactive hotspots and hot moments, EU-H2020-ETN HypoTRAIN, co-supervisor S. Krause

Loicq P. (02/15-,) River temperature modelling at the regional scale, Université François - Rabelais de Tours, co-supervisors F. Moatar and F. Curie (Université de Tours)

Borg A. (10/14-, part-time), An integrated landscape approach for the conservation of Mediterranean riparian corridors, self-funded, co-supervisors J. Sadler and T. Datry (IRSTEA)

White J. (10/14-), Quantifying the influences of groundwater abstraction and hydromorphological controls on river ecosystems, NERC CENTA CASE support from Wessex Water, co-supervisors P.J. Wood (Loughborough) and A. House (Wessex Water)

Romeijn P. (06/14-), Aquifer-surface water interfaces as hotspots for interconnected carbon and nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas production, EU ITN INTERFACES, co-supervisor S. Krause

Folegot S. (01/14-), A risk assessment framework for quantifying drought impacts on thermal and water quality extremes, Climate-KIC, co-supervisor S. Krause and W. Buytaert (Imperial College London)

Docherty C. (10/13-), Hydroecological response of Greenland river systems to climate change, NERC with additional field support from EU-INTERACT, co-supervisor A.M. Milner

Jackson F. (10/13-), River temperature sensitivity and response to drivers of change, NERC Open CASE with MSS, co-supervisor I.A. Malcolm (MSS-FL)

Giuntoli I. (10/12-), Development of droughts in Europe: from observations to inter-model comparisons, NERC, co-supervisor C. Prudhomme (CEH-Wallingford) 

Completed doctoral researchers

Javadinejad S. (10/12-09/16), Managing scarce water resources under competing demands: Zayandeh-Rud basin, Iran, self funded, co-supervisors S. Krause and M. Widmann

Royan A. (10/11-03/15), Assessing the vulnerability of river birds to hydrological disturbance, NERC with CASE support from British Trust for Ornithologists (BTO), co-supervisors J.P. Sadler, S.J. Reynolds and D. Nobel (BTO)

Aidoo I.A. (10/10-11/14), Urban river sediment pollution dynamics in storm events, Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), co-supervisor D.M. Lawler and N. Kettridge

Laizé C. (09/06-08/14), Modification of climate-flow-ecology associations by basin properties, CEH, co-supervisor M. Acreman (CEH-Wallingford)

Garner G. (10/10-07/14), River and stream temperature in a changing climate, NERC, co-supervisors J.P. Sadler and H. Orr (EA)

Khamis K. (04/10-03/14), Hydroecology of alpine streams in a changing climate, EU-FP7 ACQWA, co-supervisors A.M. Milner and L.E. Brown (Leeds)

Semmahasak S. (11/09-11/13), Soil erosion hazard assessment, prediction and management in northern Thailand, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University scholarship, co-supervisor D.M. Lawler and N. Kettridge

Sittilert C. (11/09-10/13), Sustainable water management in the upper Ping River basin, Thailand, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University scholarship, co-supervisors J.R.A. Clarke

Blaen P. (10/09-04/12), Hydroecological response of high latitude river systems in Svalbard to climate change, NERC, co-supervisors A.M. Milner and L.E. Brown (Leeds)

Mellor C. (10/07-09/11), Arctic water source dynamics, stream habitat and biodiversity in a changing climate, University of Birmingham, co-supervisor A.M. Milner

Sariş F.(10/07-08/11), Hydroclimatology of the eastern Black Sea mountain region, High Education Council of Turkey, co-supervisors W.J. Eastwood and H. Aksoy (Istanbul Technical University)

O’Callaghan M.J. (10/07-02/11) The occupancy of exposed riverine sediments (ERS) by specialist invertebrates: an evaluation of population threats in the UK, Environment Agency, co-supervisors J.P. Sadler and M.C. Williams (EA)

Lavers D.A. (01/07-10/10), Comparison and combination of statistical and dynamic approaches to seasonal forecasting of river flow anomalies in the UK and Europe, NERC, co-supervisor C. Prudhomme (CEH-Wallingford)

Henshall S.E. (10/05-01/10), Identifying ‘hotspots’ of ERS biodiversity: can physical habitat dynamics predict beetle distributions?, NERC with CASE support from EA, co-supervisors J.P. Sadler and M.C. Williams (EA)

Dixon H. (10/03-11/07), Evaluating recent river flow changes in England and Wales, EPSRC with CASE support from Hydro-Logic, co supervisors D.M. Lawler, J. Powell (Hydro-Logic) and A. Shamseldin (Auckland)

Cadbury S.L. (10/03-06/07), Hydroecology of alpine streams in New Zealand, NERC with CASE support from NIWA, co-supervisors A.M. Milner and C. Pearson (NIWA)

Kingston D.G. (10/03-06/07), Recent change in river flood magnitude-frequency in North Atlantic arctic and subarctic environments: Impact of atmospheric circulation fluctuations, University of Birmingham, co supervisors D.M. Lawler and G.R. McGregor

Monk W.A. (10/02-01/06), Scales of hydroecological variability within riverine ecosystems, Loughborough University with CASE support from EA, co-supervisors P.J. Wood (Loughborough) and D.A. Wilson (EA)

Brown L.E. (10/01-12/04), Hydroecological response of alpine streams to dynamic water store contributions, NERC, co-supervisor A.M.

Bower D. (10/00-11/04), PhD Western European climate and river flow regimes, NERC, co supervisor G.R. McGregor

Kansakar S.R. (10/99-09/04), Hydroclimatological Regimes of River Basins of Nepal, UK Department For International Development (DFID) grant AG2206, co-supervisors A.J. Gerrard and A. Gustard (CEH) 

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 temperature dynamics. 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-hannah-research

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).

Current research projects

Since 2012, David has been awarded several major grants from sponsors including: NERC, EU, ESRC, EPSRC, DFID and Innovate UK. Selected ongoing and recent projects are listed below: 

Other activities

Publications

Selected publications since 2014

Prudhomme C., Giuntoli. I., Robinson E.L., Clark D.B., Arnell A.W., Dankers R., Fekete B., Franssen W., Gerten D., Gosling S.N., Hagemann S., Hannah D.M., Kim H., Masaki Y., Satoh Y., Stacke T., Wada Y. and Wisser D. (2014), Hydrological droughts in the 21st century: hotspots and uncertainties from a global multi-model ensemble experiment, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 111 (9), 3262-3267 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222473110

Van Loon A.F., Gleeson T., Clark J,. Van Dijk A.I.J.M, Stahl K., Hannaford J., Di Baldassarre G., Teuling A.J., Tallaksen L.M., Uijlenhoet R., Hannah D.M., Sheffield J., Svoboda M., Verbeiren B., Wagener T., Rangecroft S., Wanders N. and Van Lanen H.A.J. (2016), Drought in the Anthropocene, Nature Geosciences, 9, 89-91 DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2646

Hannah D.M. and Garner G. (2015), River water temperature in the United Kingdom: changes over the 20th century and possible changes over the 21st century, Progress in Physical Geography, 39, 68–92   DOI: 10.1177/0309133314550669

Giuntoli I., Vidal J.-P., Prudhomme C. and Hannah D.M. (2015), Future hydrological extremes: the uncertainty from multiple global climate and global hydrological models, Earth Systems Dynamics, 6, 267–285, DOI:10.5194/esd-6-267-2015

Khamis K., Hannah D.M., Hill M., Brown L.E., Castella E., and Milner A.M. (2014), Alpine aquatic ecosystem conservation policy in a changing climate, Environmental Science and Policy, 43, 39-55
DOI 10.1016/j.envsci.2013.10.004

Laizé C.L.R., Acreman M., Schneider C., Dunbar M., Houghton-Carr H., Flörke M. and Hannah D.M. (2014) Projected flow alteration and ecological risk for pan-European rivers, River Research and Applications, 30: 299–314 DOI:10.1002/rra.2645

Jackson F.L., Malcolm I.A. and Hannah D.M. (2016), A novel approach for the design of large scale river temperature monitoring networks, Hydrology Research, 47, 569-590 DOI: 10.2166/nh.2015.106

Kettridge N., Bradley C., Hannah D. M. and Krause S. (2016), Editorial: Challenging hydrological theory and practice, Hydrology Research, 47, 543-544 DOI: 10.2166/nh.2016.001

Buytaert W., Dewulf A., De Bièvre B., Clark J. and Hannah D.M. (2016), Citizen science for water resources management: toward polycentric monitoring and governance?, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management – Invited Editorial, 142, Art.No. 01816002
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000641

Karpouzoglou T., Zulkafli Z., Grainger S., Dewulf A., Buytaert W. and Hannah D.M. (2016), Environmental Virtual Observatories (EVOs) in the Information Age: Prospects for improved knowledge co-creation and resilience building, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 18, 40-48   DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2015.07.015

McMillan H., Montanari A.., Cudennec C., Savenije H.H., Kreibich H., Krueger T., Liu J., Meija A., van Loon A., Aksoy H., Di Baldassarre G., Huang Y., Mazvimavi D., Rogger M., Sivakumar B., Bibikova T., Castellarin A., Chen Y., Finger D., Gelfan A., Hannah D, Hoekstra A., Li H., Maskey S., Mathevet T., Mijic A., Acuña A., Polo M., Rosales Sierra V., Smith P., Viglione A., Srinivasan V., Toth E., van Nooijen, R. and Xia J. (2016), Panta Rhei 2013-2015: Global perspectives on hydrology, society and change, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 61, 1174-1191 DOI:10.1080/02626667.2016.1159308

Schmadel N.M., Ward A.S., Kurz M.J., Fleckenstein J.H., Zarnetske J.P., Hannah D.M., Blume T., Vieweg M., Blaen P.J., Schmidt C., Knapp J., Klaar M.J., Romeijn P., Datry T., Keller T., Folegot S., Marruedo A. and Krause S. (2016), Transport timescales of stream solute tracers changing with discharge and reach length confound process interpretation, Water Resources Research, 52, 3227–3245   DOI: 10.1002/2015WR018062

Garner G., Malcolm I.A., Sadler J.P., Millar C.P. and Hannah D.M. (2015), Inter-annual variability in the effects of riparian woodland on micro-climate, energy exchanges and water temperature of an upland Scottish stream, Hydrological Processes, 29, 1080-1095 DOI:10.1002/hyp.10223

Garner G., Van Loon A.F., Prudhomme C. and Hannah D.M. (2015), Hydroclimatology of extreme riverflows, Freshwater Biology, 12, 2461-2476 DOI: 10.1111/fwb.12667

Giuntoli I., Villarini G., Prudhomme C., Mallakpour I. and Hannah D.M. (2015), Evaluation of global impact models’ ability to reproduce runoff characteristics over the central United States, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 18, 9138-9159 DOI: 10.1002/2015JD023401

Khamis K., Brown L.E., Hannah D.M. and Milner A.M. (2015), Experimental evidence that predator range expansion modifies alpine stream community structure, Freshwater Science, 34, 66-80
DOI: 10.1086/679484

Khamis K., Brown L.E., Milner A.M. and Hannah D.M. (2015), Heat exchange processes and thermal dynamics of a glacier-fed alpine stream, Hydrological Processes, 29, 3306–3317 DOI:10.1002/hyp.10433

Khamis K., Sorensen J.P.R., Bradley C., Hannah D.M., Lapworth D.J. and Stevens R. (2015), In-situ tryptophan-like fluorometers: assessing turbidity and temperature effects for freshwater applications, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, 17, 740-752 DOI: 10.1039/c5em00030k

Kingston D.G., Stagge J.H., Tallaksen L.M. and Hannah D.M. (2015), European-scale drought: understanding connections between atmospheric circulation and meteorological drought indices, Journal of Climate, 28, 505-516 DOI 10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00001.1

Lavers D.A., Hannah D.M. and Bradley C. (2015), Linking variations in groundwater level in southern England to large-scale atmospheric circulation, Journal of Hydrology, 523, 179–189
DOI: 1 0.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.01.06

Pinay G., Peiffer S. ,Krause S., Hannah D.M., Fleckenstein J., Sébilo M., Bishop K. and Hubert-Moy L. (2015), Upscaling nitrogen removal capacity from riparian zone to the landscape scale: A new framework, Ecosystems, 18, 1101-1120 DOI: 10.1007/s10021-015-9878-5

Royan A., Prudhomme C., Hannah D.M., Reynolds S.J., Nobel D.G. and Sadler J.P. (2015), Climate-induced changes in river flow regimes alter future bird distributions, Ecosphere, 6, Article 50
DOI: 10.1890/ES14-00245.1

Sahin S., Türkeş M, Wang S.H., Hannah D.M. and Eastwood W.J. (2015), Large-scale moisture flux characteristics of the Mediterranean basin and their relationships with drier and wetter climate conditions, Climate Dynamics, 45, 3381–3401 DOI: 10.1007/s00382-015-2545-x

Watts G., Battarbee R.W., Bloomfield J.P., Crossman J., Daccache A., Durance I., Elliot A., Garner G., Hannaford J., Hannah D.M., Hess T., Jackson C.R., Kay A.L., Kernan M., Knox J., Mackay J., Monteith D.T., Ormerod S., Rance J., Stuart M.E., Wade A.J., Wade S.D., Weatherhead K., Whitehead P.G. and Wilby R.L. (2015), Climate change and water in the UK - past changes and future prospects, Progress in Physical Geography, 39, 6-28 DOI: 10.1177/0309133314542957

Watts G., Hannah D.M. and Watkinson A. (2015), Introduction to the special issue on the impact of climate change on water in the UK, Progress in Physical Geography, 39, 3-5, DOI: 10.1177/0309133314546345

Blaen P.J., Milner A.M., Hannah D.M., Brittain J.E. and Brown L.E. (2014), Impact of changing hydrology on nutrient uptake in High Arctic rivers, River Research and Applications, 30, 1073-1083   DOI: 10.1002/rra.2706

Blaen P.J., Brown L.E., Hannah D.M. and Milner A.M. (2014), Environmental drivers of macroinvertebrate communities in High Arctic rivers (Svalbard), Freshwater Biology, 59, 378-391. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.12271

Blaen P.J., Hannah D.M., Brown L.E. and Milner A.M. (2014), Water source dynamics of high Arctic river basins, Hydrological Processes, 28, 3521–3538 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.9891

Buytaert W., Zulkafli Z., Grainger S., Acosta L., Bastiaensen J., de Bièvre B., Bhusal J., Chanie T., Clark J., Dewulf A., Hannah D.M., Hergarten C., Isaeva A., Karpouzoglou T., Pandey B., Paudel D., Sharma K., Steenhuis T., Tilahun S., Van Hecken G., and Zhumanova M. (2014), Citizen science in hydrology and water resources: opportunities for knowledge generation, ecosystem service management, and sustainable development, Frontiers in Earth Sciences: Hydrosphere, 2, Article26
DOI: 10.3389/feart.2014.0002

Emery S.B. and Hannah D.M. (2014), Managing and researching floods: sustainability, policy responses and the place of rural communities, Hydrological Processes - HPToday Invited Commentary, 28, 4984–4988 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10258

Garner G., Hannah D.M., Sadler J.P. and Orr H.O. (2014), River temperature regimes of England and Wales: spatial patterns, inter-annual variability and climatic sensitivity, Hydrological Processes, 28, 5583–5598 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.9992

Garner G., Malcolm I.A., Sadler J.P. and Hannah D.M. (2014) What causes cooling water temperature gradients in forested stream reaches?, Hydrology and Earth Systems Science, 18, 5361–5376
DOI: 10.5194/hess-18-5361-2014

Hill-Clarvis M., Allan A. and Hannah D.M. (2014), Water, resilience and the law: from general concepts and governance design principles to actionable mechanisms, Environmental Science and Policy, 43, 98-110   DOI 10.1016/j.envsci.2013.10.005

Khamis K, Hannah D.M., Brown L.E., Tiberti R. and Milner A.M. (2014), The use of invertebrates as indicators of environmental change in alpine rivers and lakes, Science of the Total Environment, 493, 1242-1254 DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.126

Krause S., Freer J., Hannah D.M., Howden N.J.K., Wagener T. and Worrall F. (2014) Catchment Similarity Concepts for Understanding Dynamic Biogeochemical Behaviour of River Basins, Hydrological Processes - HPToday Invited Commentary, 28, 1554–1560 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10093

Krause S., Klaar M., Hannah D.M., Mant J., Bridgeman J., Trimmer M. and Manning-Jones S. (2014), The potential of Large Woody Debris to alter biogeochemical processes and ecosystem services in lowland rivers, WIREs Water, 1, 263–275DOI 10.1002/wat2.1019

Royan A., Hannah D.M., Reynolds S.J., Nobel D.G. and Sadler J.P. (2014), River birds' response to hydrological extremes: new vulnerability index and conservation implications, Biological Conservation, 177, 64–7310 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2014.06.017

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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