Taking the pulse of hydrology education

As a group of young hydrologists, we conducted a short, online survey to understand some of the main characteristics of current hydrology education and its educators. The survey provided a very interesting view on the great diversity found in hydrology education and suggests that while an education with a common basis is desirable, it is clearly not available at the moment. Hydrology educators are challenged to identify common principles, core knowledge, and approaches that should be included, in addition to areas where clear consensus is lacking. This lack of consistency may be contributing to slow progress in hydrologic science since each hydrologist's definition of what a hydrologist should know depends on their education and background. Kirchner (2006) and Bloeschl (2006) discuss in separate papers that advancements in hydrological science will likely come from synthesis of different approaches, from 'collision' of theory and data, and from better communication. Hydrology education is clearly one way to facilitate this communication. Additional information about the Research and Education Advancement through Cooperative Hydrology (REACH) group, which initiated this survey can be found as an online supplement to this article on the survey website. All the data collected are freely available and interested parties are invited to approach any of the authors to discuss the issue of hydrology education further. The survey can be found at http:// www.ideal.forestry.ubc.ca/markus/survey.asp, as well as the data underlying the analysis presented here. The survey will remain open to new respondents.