Surviving the Anthropocene: the role of groundwater

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Richard Taylor, Professor of Hydrogeology, UCL Department of Geography, delivers his Inaugural Lecture: Surviving the Anthropocene: the role of groundwater

About the lecture

Demand for freshwater is rising globally while we collectively warm the planet. These changes present immense socio-political and technical challenges to the equitable and sustainable provision of water to sustain ecosystems, food supplies, industry and human health. Further, they expose well limitations in our understanding of hydrology and current tools to assess and project water resources. I will argue that groundwater - water that flows in rocks and sediments beneath the landsurface - is often the net beneficiary of the impact of climate change on rainfall in the tropics, where by 2050 the majority of world’s population will live.

About the speaker

Professor Richard Taylor is a hydrogeologist who has for 28 years sought to better understand groundwater systems in low-income countries in tropical Africa and South Asia. A native of suburban Toronto, he currently leads two research consortia, GroFutures and AfriWatSan, working in 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa funded by The Royal Society, UKRI and DFID.

Image: Groundwater-fed irrigation of maize in Zambia, one of the most popular irrigated crops in sub-Saharan Africa and critical to food security across the region.

Inaugural Lecture Series 2019/20

This lecture is part of the 2019/20 series for UCL's Faculty of Arts & Humanities and Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences. The series provides an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our professors who are undertaking research and scholarship of international significance, and offers an insight into the strength and vitality of the arts, humanities and social sciences at UCL.

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