Staff Profile

Background

Geoff has been a member of academic staff in the Water Resources Systems Group in Civil Engineering since 1999, following a period as a researcher in the group. He has more than 30 years of  experience in modelling and field studies of integrated  groundwater/surface water systems, and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). He has developed and tested numerical methods and model software related to most parts of the water cycle, including atmospheric, surface water and groundwater models, and has applied models to water resources and land use applications in temperate, arid/semi-arid, and tropical climate zones. He has interests in sustainable development and Integrated Water Resources Management, working mostly in the Middle East but with experience in sub-saharan Africa, South America, and the Carribean.

Roles & Responsibilities

Degree Programme Director, MSc Hydrogeology and Water Management, MSc Hydrology and Climate Change, MSc Hydroinformatics, MSc Flood Risk Management

Joint Head (teaching) of Water Resources Group

Qualifications

PhD Water Resources Engineering (Newcastle University, 1996)
BSc Mathematics (Newcastle University, 1984,2(I))

Professional Memberships

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)

Fellow of the Geological Society

Member of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (UK Chapter National Committee Member)

Member of the British Hydrological Society (ICE society)

Industrial Experience

Geoff has worked on major projects for industrial, government, and third sector clients in the UK and overseas. In the UK, these include a central role in the Biosphere research programme and Disposal Safety Assessment Team for UK Nirex Ltd in relation to development of a safety case for deep disposal of low and intermediate radioactive waste, and a number of hydrological studies for regional water companies, DEFRA, and for the Environment Agency.

Internationally, Geoff was project manager and modeler in the major 5-year DfID-funded project “Sustainable Management of the West Bank and Gaza Aquifers” (SUSMAQ), which followed an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach and included research components including regional climate modeling, rainfall assessment, recharge field studies and assessments, groundwater modelling of the transboundary Israeli-Palestinian aquifers, and socio-economic assessments, leading to evaluation of water resource management options and impacts. Geoff has acted as consultant to community based integrated watershed management programmes for the development charity Concern Worldwide, in Haiti and in Rwanda. Recently, he has been Consultant Water Resources Modeller on a project with the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), developing a water resources management planning model for the whole Nile basin and pilot application models to assess development scenarios for specific areas. The study includes representatives at technical and governmental levels from each of the Nile basin countries.

Research Interests

Geoff's interests in understanding and modelling catchment processes began with his PhD as one of the developers of the SHETRAN software model, a leading physically-based hydrological modelling system which has had worldwide application over the last 15 years. Following on from development of major catchment instrumentation and monitoring studies in the UK (the CHASM programme), he is now leading the climate/hydrology field monitoring and modelling aspects of an initiative at the Iwokrama International Centre, a forest reserve in Guyana, South America, aimed at sustainable forest management and assessment of water and carbon related forest ecosystem services.

His interests in water management have included high profile studies, including the DfID-funded project “Sustainable Management of the West Bank and Gaza Aquifers” (SUSMAQ) which provided capacity building for the Palestinian water sector and modelling of the transboundary (Israel-Palestine) Western Aquifer Basin, institutional analysis and water resources assessment of the endangered Lake Urmia in north-west Iran (one of the largest endorheic salt lakes on Earth), and recently development of a full model for the Nile basin, for use in transboundary water management between the 9 countries in the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

Postgraduate supervision

As 1st supervisor:
Sam Boyes (started 2010) Regional-scale investigation of land cover and hydroclimate relationships in an anthropogenically impacted tropical region
Vesna Tripkovitch (submitted 2011) Quantifying and upscaling surface and subsurface runoff and nutrient flows under climate variability
Manal Hatem-Mousallem (completed 2008) Integrated Water Resources Management in the Palestinian West Bank
Federico Fragala (completed 2008) Groundwater recharge through spatially heterogeneous drift deposits
Mahmoud Moustafa (completed 2005) Assessment of Permeable Reactive Barriers for treating spoil waste runoff
Joe Pollacco (completed 2005) Impact of afforestation on groundwater recharge
Khaled Rashed (completed 2003) Use of spring discharge data and modeling for management of karstic groundwater

As 2nd supervisor:
Ryan Pereira (started 2009) Hydrological and nutrient monitoring and modelling at the Iwokrama tropical rainforest, Guyana
Mukhtar Hashemi (submitted 2011) A Framework for Implementing the Integrated Water Resources Management Paradigm in Iran
Barrak Al-Dubaikhi (completed 2005) Groundwater optimization for dewatering applications
Barry Mayers (British Commonwealth Split-Site Scholarship, 2003-4) Management of saline coastal karstic groundwaters in Barbados using modeling and optimisation

Undergraduate Teaching

CEG8511 Groundwater Assessment (Stage 4) (40% and module leader)

Postgraduate Teaching

CEG8506 Hydrosystems Modelling (30% and module leader)
CEG8511 Groundwater Assessment (40% and module leader)
CEG8516 Groundwater Modelling (95% and module leader)
CEG8507 Borehole Design, Operation, and Maintenance (50% and module leader)
CEG8599 Dissertation in Water Resources (5% and module leader)
CEG8503/4 Hydrosystems, Processes and Management (10%)
CEG8106 Groundwater Contamination and Remediation (20%)

• Gowing J, Walker D, Parkin G, Forsythe N, Haile AT, Alamirew D. Can shallow groundwater sustain small-scale irrigated agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from N-W Ethiopia. Groundwater for Sustainable Development 2020, 10, 100290.
• Mintamer F, Haile AT, Walker D, Gowing J, Parkin G. Multi-method groundwater recharge estimation at Eshito micro-watershed, Rift Valley Basin in Ethiopia. Hydrological Sciences Journal 2020, 65(9), 1596-1605.
• Walker D, Parkin G, Gowing J, Haile AT. Development of a hydrogeological conceptual model for shallow aquifers in the data scarce upper Blue Nile basin. Hydrology 2019, 6(2), 43.
• Walker D, Haile AT, Gowing J, Legesse Y, Gebrehawariat G, Hundie H, Berhanu D, Parkin G. Guideline: community-based hydroclimate monitoring: planning, establishing and operating. REACH Working Papers 2019, 5, 41.
• Walker D, Haile AT, Gowing J, Forsythe N, Parkin G. Guideline: Selecting, training and managing para-hydrologists. REACH Working Papers 2019, 6, 31.
• Walker D, Parkin G, Schmitter P, Gowing J, Tilahun SA, Haile AT, Yimam AY. Insights From a Multi-Method Recharge Estimation Comparison Study. Groundwater 2019, 57(2), 245-258.
• Haile AT, Gowing J, Parkin G. Scope of citizen science for hydrologic monitoring in small watersheds in Ethiopia. In: Assefa M. Melesse, Wossenu Abtew, Gabriel Senay, ed. Extreme Hydrology and Climate Variability: Monitoring, Modelling, Adaptation and Mitigation. Elsevier, 2019.
• Walker D, Jovanovic N, Bugan RDH, Abiye TA, DuPreez D, Parkin G, Gowing J. Alluvial aquifer characterisation and resource assessment of the Molototsi sand river, Limpopo, South Africa. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 2018, 19, 177-192.
• Bovolo CI, Wagner T, Parkin G, Hein-Griggs D, Pereira R, Jones R. The Guiana Shield rainforests-overlooked guardians of South American climate. Environmental Research Letters 2018, 13(7), 074029.
• Archer DR, Parkin G, Fowler HJ. Assessing long term flash flooding frequency using historical information. Hydrology Research 2017, 48(1), 1-16.
• Starkey E, Parkin G, Birkinshaw S, Large A, Quinn P, Gibson C. Demonstrating the value of community-based (‘citizen science’) observations for catchment modelling and characterisation. Journal of Hydrology 2017, 548, 801–817.
• Walker D, Forsythe N, Parkin G, Gowing J. Filling the observational void: scientific value and quantitative validation of hydrometeorological data from a community‐based monitoring programme. Journal of Hydrology 2016, 538, 713-725.
• Starkey E, Parkin G. Community Involvement in UK Catchment Management. Foundation for Water Research, 2015. Review of Current Knowledge FR/R0021.
• Birks D, Younger PL, Tavendale L, Coutts C, Parkin G, Button P, Whittall S. Groundwater reinjection and heat dissipation: lessons from the operation of a large groundwater cooling system in Central London. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology 2015, 48(2), 94-103.
• Fairs TH, Younger PL, Parkin G. Parsimonious numerical modelling of deep geothermal reservoirs. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Energy 2015, 168(4), 218-228.
• Pereira R, Bovolo CI, Spencer RGM, Hernes PJ, Tipping E, Vieth-Hillebrand A, Pedentchouk N, Chappell NA, Parkin G, Wagner T. Mobilization of optically invisible dissolved organic matter in response to rainstorm events in a tropical forest headwater river. Geophysical Research Letters 2014, 41(4), 1202-1208.
• Pereira R, Bovolo I, Forsythe N, Pedentchouk N, Parkin G, Wagner T. Seasonal patterns of rainfall and river isotopic chemistry in northern Amazonia (Guyana): From the headwater to the regional scale. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 2014, 52, 108-118.
• Birks D, Whittall S, Savill I, Younger PL, Parkin G. Groundwater cooling of a large building using a shallow alluvial aquifer in Central London. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology 2013, 46(2), 189-202.
• Miller P, Mills J, Barr SL, Birkinshaw S, Hardy A, Parkin G, Hall S. A Remote Sensing Approach for Landslide Hazard Assessment on Engineered Slopes. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 2012, 50(4), 1048-1056.
• Bovolo CI, Pereira R, Parkin G, Kilsby C, Wagner T. Fine-scale regional climate patterns in the Guianas, tropical South America, based on observations and reanalysis data. International Journal of Climatology 2012, 32(11), 1665-1689.
• Ewen J, O'Connell E, Bathurst J, Birkinshaw SJ, Kilsby C, Parkin G, O'Donnell G. Physically-based modelling, uncertainty, and pragmatism – Comment on: ‘Système Hydrologique Europeén (SHE): review and perspectives after 30 years development in distributed physically-based hydrological modelling’ by Jens Christian Refsgaard, Børge Storm and Thomas Clausen. Hydrology Research 2012, 43(6), 945-947.
• Flögel S, Parkin G, Pollard D, Dullo W, Wagner T. Simulating zonal scale shifts in the partitioning of surface and subsurface freshwater flow in response to increasing pCO₂. Climate Dynamics 2011, 37(7-8), 1565-1573.
• Fragala FA, Parkin G. Local recharge processes in glacial and alluvial deposits of a temperate catchment. Journal of Hydrology 2010, 389(1-2), 90-100.
• Kilsby CG, Glendinning S, Hughes PN, Parkin G, Bransby MF. Climate-change impacts on long-term performance of slopes. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability 2009, 162(2), 59-66.
• Hughes PN, Glendinning S, Mendes J, Parkin G, Toll DG, Gallipoli D, Miller PE. Full-scale testing to assess climate effects on embankments. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Engineering Sustainability 2009, 162(2), 67-79.
• Bovolo CI, Parkin G, Sophocleous M. Groundwater resources, climate and vulnerability. Environmental Research Letters 2009, 4(3), 035001.
• Birkinshaw SJ, Parkin G, Rao Z. A hybrid neural networks and numerical models approach for predicting groundwater abstraction impacts. Journal of Hydroinformatics 2008, 10(2), 127-137.
• Miller PE, Mills JP, Barr SL, Lim M, Barber D, Parkin G, Clarke B, Glendinning S, Hall JW. Terrestrial laser scanning for assessing the risk of slope instability along transport corridors. International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 2008, 37(B5), 495-500.
• Parkin G, Birkinshaw SJ, Younger PL, Rao Z, Kirk S. A numerical modelling and neural network approach to estimate the impact of groundwater abstractions on river flows. Journal of Hydrology 2007, 339(1-2), 15-28.
• Lim M, Mills JP, Barr SL, Barber D, Glendinning S, Parkin G, Hall JW, Clarke B. High resolution earth imaging for transport corridor slope stability risk analysis. In: ISPRS Hannover Workshop 2007: High-Resolution Earth Imaging for Geospatial Information. 2007, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany: Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation.
• Large ARG, Mayes W, Newson M, Parkin G. Using long-term monitoring of fen hydrology and vegetation to underpin wetland restoration strategies. Applied Vegetation Science 2007, 10(3), 417-428.
• Glendinning S, Rouainia M, Davies O, Birkinshaw S, Parkin G. Simulation of climate-change induced deformation of a trial embankment. Engineering Geology 2006.
• Adams R, Parkin G, Rutherford JC, Ibbitt RP, Elliott AH. Using a rainfall simulator and a physically based hydrological model to investigate runoff processes in a hillslope. Hydrological Processes 2005, 19(11), 2209-2223.
• Bathurst JC, Ewen J, Parkin G, O'Connell PE, Cooper J. Validation of catchment models for predicting land-use and climate change impacts. 3. Blind validation for internal and outlet responses. Journal of Hydrology 2004, 287(1-4), 74-94.
• Nasr A, Bruen M, Parkin G, Birkinshaw SJ, Moles R, Byrne P. Modelling phosphorous loss from agriculture catchments: a comparison of the performance of SWAT, HSPF and SHETRAN for the Clarianna catchment. In: Proceedings of IWA DipCom, 7th Special Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Basin Management. 2003, Dublin.
• Parkin G, Pollacco J, Birkinshaw S. Predicting the impact of afforestation or deforestation on recharge using only time series soil moisture and hydrometeorological data. In: International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. 2003, Townsville, Australia: University of Western Australia.
• Aliewi A, Jayyousi A, Parkin G. Towards Sustainable Management of the Palestinian Water Resources. In: Proc. 6th Gulf Water Conf. in concurrence with the 2nd Symp. on the water use rationalisation in the Saudi Kingdom. 2003, Saudi Arabia.
• Adams R, Parkin G. Development of a coupled surface-groundwater-pipe network model for the sustainable management of karstic groundwater. Environmental Geology 2002, 42(5), 513-517.
• Adams R, Parkin G. Development of a coupled surface-groundwater-pipe network model for the sustainable management of karstic groundwater. In: Geotechnical and Environmental Applications of Karst Geology and Hydrology: proceedings of the Eighth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karsts. 2001, Louisville, Kentucky, USA: AA Balkema / Swets and Zeitlinger BV.
• Baker G, Petric M, Parkin G, Kogovsek J. Surface and groundwater interaction of the Bela Stream and Vipava Springs in southwestern Slovenia. Acta Carsologica 2001, 30(2), 217-238.
• Ewen J, Parkin G, O'Connell PE. SHETRAN: Distributed river basin flow and transport modeling system. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 2000, 5(3), 250-258.
• Thorne MC, Degnan P, Ewen J, Parkin G. Validation of a physically based catchment model for application in post-closure radiological safety assessments of deep geological repositories for solid radioactive wastes. Journal of Radiological Protection 2000, 20(4), 403-421.
• Parkin G, Anderton SP, Ewen J, O'Donnell GM, Thorne MC, Crossland IG. A physically based approach to modelling radionuclide transport in the biosphere. Journal of Radiological Protection 1999, 19(4), 319-331.
• Parkin G, O'Donnell GM, Ewen J, Bathurst JC, O'Connell PE, Lavabre J. Validation of catchment models for predicting land-use and climate change impacts .2. Case study for a Mediterranean catchment. Journal of Hydrology 1996, 175(1-4), 595-613.
• Ewen J, Parkin G. Validation of catchment models for predicting land-use and climate change impacts. 1. Method. Journal of Hydrology 1996, 175(1-4), 583-594.