IAH 2026
World Groundwater Congress
53rd Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
14-18 September 2026
Budapest Congress Center
Budapest Congress Center
Dr. Miklos Antics is Managing Director and Associate Partner at GPC Instrumentation Process (GPC IP) and GEOFLUID France. His work focuses on geothermal energy development across low- to high-enthalpy systems in Europe, Africa, Central America, the Caucasus, and Southeast Asia. He specializes in integrated geothermal reservoir development, combining geoscience, reservoir engineering, drilling, and completion design, with an emphasis on sustainable heat extraction and innovative well architectures. He has developed sustainable reservoir concepts for multiple geothermal fields and has lectured internationally on geothermal reservoir simulation and sustainable resource development. He has authored and co-authored more than 75 technical papers and four textbooks. He serves as President of the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) and is a member of EGEC, EAGE, GRC, and SPE.
Dr. Marc Bierkens is Professor of Earth Surface Hydrology at Utrecht University. His research focuses on the global water cycle, groundwater systems, and the impacts of climate change and human water use. He develops high-resolution global hydrological and water resources models, including global groundwater flow modelling, widely used in scientific research and water risk assessment tools. His work supports applications such as the National Geographic World Water Map and the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. He has contributed significantly to advancing global-scale understanding of water availability and water-related risk under environmental change.
Dr. Tom Gleeson is Professor of Civil Engineering and President’s Chair at the University of Victoria, where he leads the Groundwater Science and Sustainability research group. His research focuses on groundwater science, sustainability, and interdisciplinary approaches that integrate community engagement and co-production of knowledge. He collaborates with governments, communities, and organizations to support equitable and sustainable water futures. He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. His work bridges scientific understanding and societal decision-making in groundwater systems.
Dr. Xiao-Wei Jiang is Professor of Hydrogeology and Vice Dean of the School of Water Resources and Environment at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and co-chair of the IAH Regional Groundwater Flow Commission. His research focuses on the physics and chemistry of groundwater flow systems, with applications to large sedimentary basins such as the Ordos Basin and the North China Plain. He has advanced the understanding of regional groundwater dynamics in major aquifer systems. He has received several national awards, including recognition for outstanding doctoral research and major national science funding awards. He is the author of History and Hydraulics of Flowing Wells, widely used internationally in groundwater education and research.
Dr. John Molson is Professor in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at Université Laval, Canada. His research focuses on hydrogeological modelling, including numerical simulation of groundwater flow and coupled processes such as reactive contaminant transport, heat transport, density-dependent flow, and cryo-hydrogeology in porous and fractured media. He applies modelling approaches to groundwater protection, remediation, and basin-scale hydrogeological characterization. He has contributed to environmental risk assessments and large-scale groundwater studies, including projects under Quebec’s PACES program. He promotes numerical modelling as a core tool in hydrogeology education and research and contributes to the development of modelling tools for the Groundwater Project. He serves as Vice-President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH-CNC).
Dr. Bridget R. Scanlon is a Research Professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on water resources, including satellite-based assessments, hydrological modelling, and water management under climate extremes. She works on adaptation strategies such as managed aquifer recharge to store floodwaters for use during droughts. She has authored or co-authored approximately 200 publications. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Chunmiao Zheng is Chair Professor and Vice President at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Ningbo, China. His research focuses on contaminant transport modelling, groundwater–surface water interactions, and sustainable water resources management. He has held academic positions at several leading universities in China and the United States. He developed the widely used MT3D/MT3DMS contaminant transport models, applied in over 100 countries. He is the author of Applied Contaminant Transport Modeling and a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. He has received major international awards recognizing his contributions to groundwater science and modelling.
