Dr C.J. (Kick) Hemker awarded for best paper

On 3 May 2012, Dr C.J. (Kick) Hemker received the award for the best paper in Stromingen, the professional magazine of the Netherlands Hydrological Society (NHV), over the first 15 years of the magazine. Dr Hemker received the prize for his groundbreaking work on whirls in groundwater.

whirlg_small_sharpUntil a decade ago it was thought that whirls in groundwater were not possible. A manuscript that showed groundwater whirls in a finite element model was at first not accepted by the editorial board of Ground Water. Only after additional analytical prove was provided, a paper on this topic was accepted.

Groundwater whirls occur in multiple layers with different anisotropy.

According to the final editor for the first 15 years of Stromingen, Mr Michael van der Valk, Dr Hemker’s papers were amongst the best that the editorial board received during these years. »His contributions hardly needed any editorial changes at all – he was one of the few fine authors that really followed the guidelines for contributions, saving us a lot of work. In addition, Dr Hemker has excellent educational skills, as was proven by the clarity of his papers, and his ability to explain complex situations to people that were new to the field.«

Dr Hemker continues to work for the good cause: he recently opened a couple of active groups on LinkedIn, and now also offers free introductory courses on groundwater modelling. He is the author of state-of-the-art groundwater modelling software, such as MicroFEM and MLU. MLU has recently been distributed for free worldwide through UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP), e.g. through over 15,000 DVDs.

All articles on groundwater whirls are available from Dr Hemker’s personal website.

 

Wervels

Cross-section showing clockwise (blue) and counter-clockwise (red) groundwater whirls.

 

» Key publications on hydrology, including groundwater whirls.