Elections - ECOHYDRAULICS

IAHR Ecohydraulics Technical Committee Biennial Elections

The IAHR Ecohydraulics Technical Committee (ETC) Leadership Team (LT) consists of a Chair, Vice Chair, and Past Chair along with up to 3 representatives from each of 6 geographic regions, yielding a maximum LT membership of 21 people. This committee size was selected to represent the diverse global ecohydraulics community with an inclusive and equitable foundation. ETC LT elections take place every other year, yielding 2-year terms. The timing of an election should aim to align with the end of a 2-year term for the existing LT, but depending on circumstances and logistics it can be briefly delayed. As a result, there is no fixed date for election timing. LT elections are typically held online to maximize participation.

Nominations. Self-nominations are welcome, along with the nomination of colleagues. Although everyone is welcome to participate in the process, only IAHR members may serve on the LT, including as the new Vice Chair. Before sending a nomination, please confirm the nominee’s willingness to serve and their IAHR membership. Information on the mission and governance of the Ecohydraulics TC can be found in the Governance section.

1. Who can vote?

Only people officially listed as ETC members before the election opens may vote. The Ecohydraulics Technical Committee is unique in IAHR, because it is approved to allow non-IAHR members to be involved in the ETC and vote in ETC elections. The pool of voters therefore consists of three groups:

IAHR members who selected the ETC as their primary TC get a full vote.
IAHR members who selected the ETC as their secondary TC get a half vote.
Non-IAHR members of the ETC get a full vote.

2. Regions

To ensure diverse representation of viewpoints, voting regions are established, each receiving an equal number of LT member positions (3 positions). Voting for LT members to represent a region is limited to voters from that region. The Chair and Vice Chair positions do not count toward the number of representatives per region. The six regions are: Africa + Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South + Central America.

3. Who can serve on the ETC LT?

IAHR only allows IAHR members to serve on the LT of a TC. Thus, even though non-IAHR members of the ETC can vote in LT elections and participate in TC activities, they would have to join IAHR to run for an LT position.

4. Term limits

LT members can serve up to 6 years total, consisting of three 2-year terms that may be back-to-back or separated by one or more election cycles.
Vice Chair: a new Vice Chair is elected for a 2-year term during every biennial election, then chooses whether to continue on as Chair.
Chair serves a 2-year term, then chooses whether to continue as Past Chair.
Past Chair serves a 2-year term, after which they rotate off the LT.

5. Election preparatory stages

The Chair queries LT members who have not reached their term limits, finalizes the number of open positions, and coordinates with the IAHR staff liaison on the voting tool. An open call for nominations is then issued through as many outreach channels as possible. Nominations are due three weeks after the call; candidate statements are due two weeks after the nomination deadline (250-word maximum for regular LT candidates, 500 words for Vice Chair candidates). Candidate statements are circulated to all TC members and posted on this website.

6. Election system requirements

All individual voter names and votes are kept private. The election technology must handle the decision tree limiting voters to their designated region, allow only one vote per voter, and issue an individual invitation to each voter.

7. Election

The online system opens two weeks after the candidate-statement deadline and remains open for two weeks. It closes at midnight at the International Date Line so everyone has had a full 14 days to vote. Votes are tallied without viewing identifying information, and results are reported privately to the LT Chair, who then reports to the IAHR staff liaison and outgoing LT members for public distribution.

8. Appeals process

Within 2 weeks of an election, a candidate may contact the Chair to present a complaint and appeal the process. The LT Chair will then involve the IAHR Executive Director and IAHR President, who review the procedure, the process used, and the basis of the complaint, and decide on a course of action.

9. New term begins

The new 2-year term for the LT begins 2 weeks after the announcement of the election results.

Candidate statements will be posted here before the next elections.