Speakers
Richard Crowder
Director Digital Flood Products
Wednesday 19th April 10:00
Welcome to Flood Modeller 2023
Thursday 20th April 10:00
Welcome to Flood Modeller 2023
Richard is Jacobs’ director responsible for our suite of Digital Flood Products. Richard is based in Leeds, UK, and has almost 30 years’ industry experience, including 20+ years at Jacobs. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and also the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management. His first degree is in civil and structural engineering (Bradford, UK) and he has a PhD in physical and computational hydraulics. He spent time working at Deltares (Delft, NL) and spent time studying at Bowling Green State University (Ohio, US).
Richard’s previous roles include Business Development Director (Water, Europe), Framework Manager and Framework Director (Environment Agency, UK), and Growth and Sales Director (Water Catchment Management, Europe). His technical expertise includes - flood risk management; strategies; appraisals; business case development; engagement; modelling, mapping and data; flood modelling software; watershed management; and water resource management.
Louise Cooke
Deputy Director Evidence and Risk
Wednesday 19th April 10:00
Keynote on the Environment Agency Flood Modelling Strategy
Louise joined the Environment Agency in 2021 and is the Deputy Director leading the Environment Agency’s experts in flood hydrology, modelling, forecasting, mapping and analytics and coastal change. Under Louise’s leadership, the Environment Agency is at the forefront of providing the evidence that informs actions to mitigate and manage flood risk, helping the nation tackle the climate emergency and prepare for a more uncertain future.
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Louise expertise and background is in Data Management, Information Risk Management and Cyber Security.
Alex Crowe
Flood Modeller Product Manager
Wednesday 19th April 10:40
New Feature Showcase Presentations
Alex joined as Product Manager just over a year ago. With an engineering background, Alex started his career in a commercial role before transitioning to Product Management over ten years ago. Latterly, Alex led the Product team for Gilbarco Veeder-Root delivering data insight and workflow improvement solutions to the retail fuelling industry.
Bob Potter
Principal Software Developer
Wednesday 19th April 10:40
New Feature Showcase Presentations
Bob has been involved with the Flood Modeller team for over 20 years. He joined with an engineering PhD that specialised in hydraulic processes and initially contributed to the development of new solver and user interface features. He has since progressed to the role of technical lead and is responsible for the development and delivery of new versions of the software and the management of the Flood Modeller development team. In addition, Bob has also delivered various Flood Modeller training courses and webinars, developed training materials and assisted with front line support.
Ian Perkins
Senior Technical Advisor, Evidence & Risk
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
Moving towards consistent evaluation of modelling uncertainty
Ian has spent 15 years working for the Environment Agency in flood incident management, forecasting, modelling and hydrology. He currently works as a Senior Technical Advisor within the Agency's Evidence and Risk team providing technical leadership in flood modelling skills development and quality assurance. During the course of his career, Ian has led numerous projects developing large and small models for flood defence schemes, mapping and forecasting in North West England. He led a significant programme of recovery modelling activity following the devastating winter 2015 floods in Cumbria. In more recent years, Ian has led FCRM research projects into modelling methods improvements and supported delivery of the Agency's new national flood risk assessment (NaFRA2).
Philip Crawford
Senior FRM Specialist
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
Moving towards consistent evaluation of modelling uncertainty
Phil is a Senior Flood Risk Management Specialist with over 10 years' of consultancy experience in the UK and New Zealand. Phil has a wide range of experience including flood risk mapping, flood forecasting and appraisal. He joined Jacobs in 2018 and has since been applying his knowledge to support project teams across the UK. Phil is also a member of the Flood Modeller team, providing technical support and API development.
Thursday 20th April 13:00
API case studies
Ally Potts
Principal Urban Drainage Modeller
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
​Why do we deploy integrated catchment models
Ally is a Principal Urban Drainage Modeller at Stantec, based in High Wycombe. She has over 10 years’ experience in the water industry, specialising in complex integrated drainage problems and partnership working. She is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management and has a degree in Environmental Engineering. Over her career, she has worked for clients of all sizes, from small developers and local authorities, through to the Environment Agency and many of the countries Water Companies.
Ally’s current role is as the Modelling and Optimisation Lead for the £35million industrial scale pilot of the removal of surface water being undertaken by Southern Water. She is pioneering new urban drainage solutions with the aim of significantly reducing Southern Waters spills to the environmental in the most sustainable way possible.
Jonathan Boyes
NaFRA2 Technical Lead
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
How NaFRA2 will transform our industry
Jonathan Boyes is a senior advisor within the Flood and Coastal Risk Management Directorate at the Environment Agency, and is a Technical Lead for NaFRA2. He has worked on a variety of mapping and modelling projects since 2002 at local, regional and national scales, and has been involved with the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) in some capacity for the past 19 years. He joined the NaFRA2 project team in 2017 to work on shaping the next generation of the assessment.
Neil Hunter
Head of Flood Modelling
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
How NaFRA2 will transform our industry
Neil is JBA’s Head of Modelling and Assessment and has over 17 years’ flood risk management experience. He is a highly experienced hydraulic modeller and has worked on flood-related projects that have ranged in scale from site-specific risk analysis to national-scale hazard mapping studies. Recent examples of the latter include Canada, US, Flanders and Wales. In parallel, he directed an R&D project for the Environment Agency on the use of real-time flood inundation models for incident management and provided technical input into the development of the UK’s first surface water flood forecasting system for the National Flood Forecasting Centre. Neil is currently working with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to develop replacements for their respective national flood risk
Joe Clarke
Associate Director of Hydroinformatics
Wednesday 19th April 13:00
How NaFRA2 will transform our industry
Joe is a flood risk technologist at Jacobs, currently leading the software development for NaFRA2, the cloud computing system underpinning Environment Agency’s next generation national flood risk analysis. Over his 13 years of research and industry experience, he has been involved with a variety of innovative projects, applying data science, automation and systems thinking techniques to flood risk and flood modelling problems.
Mistaya Langridge
Flood Management Team Lead
Wednesday 19th April 15:00
Garryduff Catchment Analysis and Flood Feasibility Study
Mistaya Langridge is the Lead of TOBIN Consulting Engineer’s Flood Management Team as part of the Civil | Design Build | Water (CDBW) Division, based out of their Galway (IE) headquarters. She has experience in hydraulic analysis and floodplain assessment, having lead numerous flood risk feasibility studies, mitigation works, and risk assessments. Mistaya moved to Ireland in 2021 from Canada, receiving her Masters in Water Resources Engineering at the University of Guelph. Mistaya has authored professional publications in hydrology, with her 2020 Journal of Hydrology publication applying machine learning techniques to National River Flow Archive (NRFA) and the UK Institute of Hydrology data to predict catchment response times in UK streams. She is passionate about bringing innovation to flood risk management in Ireland.
Chris Allman
Senior Associate - Flood Modeller
Wednesday 19th April 15:00
The Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2
Chris Allman is a Senior Associate Hydraulic Modeller at Mott MacDonald. He has 15 years’ experience working in flood risk management in the UK for a range of clients, including the Environment Agency, councils and charities such as the Canal and River Trust. Chris has a passion for solving problems and developing collaborative teams and has used flood modelling in the design of flood risk schemes such as the ongoing work at Phase 2 of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme. Chris is the chair of the Pennines Branch of the British Hydrological Society.
Dan Ferguson
Flood Risk Engineer
Wednesday 19th April 15:00
Assessing potential ecology or habitat linked responses to changes in flow regimes
Dan is a Flood Risk Engineer with a Masters in Civil Engineering and is based in the Manchester Environment, Water and Energy team at AECOM.
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Dan is skilled in hydraulic modelling and hydrological calculation software and has experience working on a range of modelling projects including: modelling of railway infrastructure to support planning, flood forecasting, detailed design of weir modifications for fish passage, low-flow modelling for utility companies and studies to appraise flood risk management options for local authorities.
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Dan also has experience in flood risk appraisal and was recipient of the ‘Highly Commended’ Surface Water Management award at the 2020 EA Flood and Coast Excellence Awards for his work conceptualising sustainable urban drainage schemes in the borough of Stockport.
Stephen Bilby
Senior Flood Risk Analyst
Wednesday 19th April 15:00
Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme - rapid and robust economic assessment using Flood Modellers’ Damage Calculator
Stephen has fifteen years of experience across a range of related Flood Risk Management disciplines, including hydraulic modelling, hydrology, GIS, economic assessment, and software development. On a day-to-day basis, he is involved in delivering work for many of the Environment Agency’s largest and most high-profile schemes, as well as providing training and quality checks on many smaller projects. Stephen is responsible for programming Damage Calculator, and also plays a major role in designing new features and providing training to new users.
Helen Harfoot
Lead Hydrologist
Thursday 20th April 10:00
Why does the Environment Agency’s Flood Hydrology Improvements Programme matter to Flood Modellers?
Helen is currently a Lead Hydrologist for the Environment Agency’s Flood Hydrology Improvements Programme. She joined the Environment Agency in 2021 specifically to work on improvements in flood hydrology. Helen has 18 years’ experience of working in hydrological modelling and flood risk estimation and prior to joining the Environment Agency, she worked for Jacobs and AECOM on a range of projects across the flow spectrum and in catchments across the world.
In her spare time, you’ll find Helen running around after her two small boys or swimming in the Itchen.
Adam Parkes
Head of Discipline - Hydrology
Thursday 20th April 10:30
The new era of integrated Hydrological and Hydraulic Modelling with Flood Modeller
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Automated Operational Controls
Adam is a chartered scientist with over 17 years' experience in hydrology and hydraulic modelling, working across a broad range of flood risk and water management projects. His main focus is on providing technical leadership for flood risk management projects, including mapping, appraisal and scheme design, alongside a wide range of related projects, including asset inspection, reservoir design, urban flooding, data capture and management.
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Adam enjoys innovative projects and finding new ways of working, especially working with the Flood Modeller development team to produce new features and enhance user experiences. Additionally, Adam regularly provides technical training both internally and external in hydraulic modelling and hydrological analysis.
Tracey Haxton
Technical Director
Thursday 20th April 10:30
The new era of integrated Hydrological and Hydraulic Modelling with Flood Modeller
Tracey is a Technical Director within Wallingford HydroSolutions (WHS) specialising in hydrological modelling of both floods and low flows, along with the influence of anthropogenic activities and climate change on UK rivers. She has 20 years’ experience of developing regionalised hydrological models. Tracey is the lead scientist in the ongoing development of the ReFH2 and WINFAP 5 software, which implement the latest Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH) best practice. She works closely with the UKCEH FEH team and regularly liaises with all UK regulatory national teams on the development and delivery of FEH methods. Tracey has contributed to a number of DEFRA research projects including the Small Catchments and Probable Maximum Flood method reviews. She is also a key member of the team behind Qube (formally LowFlows), a best practice tool for estimating natural and influenced flows in ungauged catchments.
Blanca Garcia
Principal Hydraulic Modeller
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Know your data sources
Blanca is a Principal Hydraulic Modeller at Jacobs with over 10 years of experience. She has undertaken hydraulic modelling studies to inform flood mapping, flood risk assessments and the design of flood mitigation solutions. Blanca has led an extensive variety of projects, from initial assessment stage through to detailed design stage. She is experienced in developing hydraulic models representing difference sources of flooding, including fluvial, pluvial, sewer network and integrated catchment models. Blanca provides the 1D Urban Flood Modeller external users training.
Gavin Lewis
Head of Engineering
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Flood hazard mapping for current and future climate scenarios
Gavin is a civil engineer and has a strong background in spatial data and technology across a number of sectors particularly infrastructure, utilities, government, and insurance.
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He is currently working as the Head of Engineering at Fathom, where he is responsible for taking Fathom’s leading flood and climate data, catastrophe models and services to a rapidly growing customer base across the built environment both directly and through selected Fathom partners.
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Being a research-led organisation, Gavin works closely with the Fathom scientific team to deliver the latest research into the real world. Fathom helps infrastructure and asset owners, engineers, climate change specialists and risk managers, to really understand the detailed impact of flooding and climate change and support them in the development of risk assessment, mitigation and resilience strategies at a local and global scale.
Dr Christopher Nankervis
Product Owner
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Re-Climate® extended daily precipitation forecasts
Chris is the founder of Weather Logistics Ltd, a climate technology firm based in Nottingham, where he has led several successful projects. This has included exploring a new climate service through European Space Agency funding, leading a UKRI/ A4I project in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory, and delivering weather data to international partners to help manage agricultural drought in Turkey in collaboration with Cranfield University. Over the past 9 years, he has developed climate-related software, undertaken model validation, developed seasonal climate prediction algorithms, and has post-processed satellite, weather and model data to help tackle global sustainability challenges. Leading several software engineering projects, he has now launched the Re-Climate® API product, fully automated on the Google Cloud Platform.
Alan Smith
Senior Advisor - Flood Forecasting Improvements and Development team
Thursday 20th April 10:30
An Overview of the Incident Management Forecasting System (IMFS) and Forecast Model Management at the Environment Agency
Alan is subject matter expert on flood forecast modelling and the operational forecasting service for the Environment Agency, where he has worked since 2006. He is currently leading the Inland theme of the Flood Forecasting Improvements and Development Programme (FFIDP) Team which will deliver improved forecasting capability and accuracy that enables better incident preparation and response to reduce the impacts of flooding to people, property, infrastructure, and the environment. He is also leading on updating the Environment Agency’s Real Time Modelling Guidance for Developers which provides technical guidance and instruction to those who develop flood forecast models for the Environment Agency.
Paul Wass
Technical Director
Thursday 20th April 10:30
Real-time river modelling for flood forecasting – what is best practice?
Paul is Discipline Lead for Real Time Modelling at JBA Consulting, where he has worked since 1999. As well as developing and testing flood forecasting models and systems, he maintains a strong interest in catchment hydrology and flood hydrology. He began his career at the (then) Institute of Hydrology in 1993 and, in between, worked as a hydrologist for the Environment Agency. Paul is based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, where he works with a team of forecast modellers, hydrologists and river modellers.
Joe Pierce
Principal Developer
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Unlocking automation with the Flood Modeller API
Thursday 20th April 15:00
Joe works in the relatively new Hydroinformatics team at Jacobs. His role focusses on developing and applying digital solutions to some of the most complex challenges in the water and flood risk industry - anything from small automation tools to developing cloud-based systems. Since joining Jacobs in 2021, he has led the development of the Flood Modeller API. Outside of work he enjoys hiking with his dog, music and climbing.
Hands on with the Flood Modeller API
Konrad Adams
Senior Developer
Thursday 20th April 13:00
Automated Operational Controls
Konrad is a Mathematician and Software Developer with a PhD in mathematical methods, who has just celebrated 25 years with Jacobs. During this time, Konrad has focussed mainly on the development of the Flood Modeller computational engines, as well as the user interface, and after spending a period of time on the front desk, is still actively involved in the back-office support. Konrad also delivers training courses on all aspects of the software and has used the software on numerous projects, several of them flood forecasting-related.
Daisy Lambert
Graduate Hydraulic Modeller/Data Scientist
Thursday 20th April 13:00
API case studies
Daisy joined Jacobs 8 months ago as a Graduate Hydraulic Modeller. In that time, Daisy has used Flood modeller for project work including reservoir flood studies, SFRA’s and various 1D-2D coupled models. In the past couple months, Daisy has been helping build the Flood Modeller API, working on functions to insert and remove units along with inferring what is next or previous in a reach. Daisy is currently working on Estry to Flood modeller conversion tools.