In Greek, ecohydrology refers to the scientific field studying the influence of ecological processes on water fluxes in ecosystems.
What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
I received my Ph.D. degree in Hydrology and Water Resources at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2017 under the advising of Provost Rafael L. Bras, my M.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013, and my Diploma in Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens in 2011.
How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
As a hydrologist modeling watershed-scale hydrologic processes in the critical zone, during my PhD in Georgia Tech I started working with vegetation dynamics and associated feedbacks on water fluxes. My research involved developing process-based distributed models focusing on this fascinating interdisciplinary area, trying to improve my understanding on complex ecohydrologic controls on sediment fluxes and carbon cycling.
What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
In my opinion, our knowledge of how ecohydrology controls watershed-scale hydrogeomorphic processes and carbon cycling in diverse ecosystems remains limited. Improving our understanding on these complex linked processes can be an important step towards addressing global problems with vast socio-economic implications and assessing the role of natural and human forcings on the course of global change.
Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain.
A recent work that is worth mentioning is the award-winning: “Ecohydrologic role of solar radiation on landscape evolution” published by Omer Yetemen, Erkan Istanbulluoglu, Homero Flores‐Cervantes, Enrique Vivoni, and Rafael Bras in Water Resources Research (2015), which helps explain how ecohydrologic processes control hillslope asymmetry. This interdisciplinary research paper describes the development of a coupled model that helped understanding the influence of solar radiation on watershed evolution with emphasis on the key role of ecohydrology.
What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I find music extremely exciting! I play the violin and the bass guitar.