Welcome to the Hydrology Research Laboratory website
This webpage highlights the research and people in the Hydrology Research Lab in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. The Hydrology Research lab is led by Willem Vervoort as Associate Professor Hydrology and Catchment Management provides research in these areas and teaches aspects of Hydrology and Statistics in 2nd, 3rd and 4th year units in the degrees in our Faculty.
The origin of the Hydrology Research Lab is in the McCaughey Lecturer position in Hydrology and Catchment Management which was established in 2000 and was funded by a generous grant from the McCaughey Institute between 2000 and 2006. We are still highly indebted to their vision for the current Hydrology Research Lab.
In 2006, the Faculty changed the position to a permanent staff position and in 2010 Dr. Willem Vervoort was promoted to Associate Professor. Willem's phone is (02) 8627 1054
| Links to information on these pages |
| Who works in the Lab and what do people in Hydrology Research Lab do? |
Teaching by A/Prof Willem Vervoort
Teaching is an important part of my role. I am involved in teaching a range of courses including in 2nd year environmetrics (statistics, ENVX2001), hydrology (LWSC2002) and groundwater hydrology (GEOG2321) and in 4th year hydrological simulation (LWSC 3007).
The main questons for my teaching development (the things that keep me awake at night) are:
- How do I measure incremental learning? For example, how do I measure the difference in learning from a person in the top 10% of ability and from a person in the bottom 10% of ability
- How do I increase the participation and understanding of complex hydrological concepts for a learner with little mathematical background
As part of my teaching development I review and reevaluate all my lectures and practicals regularly and have in the last few years integrated problem based learning concepts and more hands-on activities
In principle, teaching hydrology is quite abstract. Field observations are only relevant as part of long time series. Simulation modelling is even more abstract for many students. My challenge is to make the concepts and ideas that make hydrology useful for water resource management in Australia more accessible for all students
I enjoy shared teaching with other staff and teaching in units that are specifically my area of expertise (such as currently in ENVX2001). I think it sharpens the mind and creates new insights.
