Speech at WASER Assembly in Stuttgart 2016
Dear WASER members
Ladies and Gentlemen
The World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research with abbreviation of WASER is an independent non-governmental, non-political, non-profit organization, free of racial, gender or national prejudice. The web page of WASER is http://www.waser.cn/waser/index.htm. WASER aims to understanding and application of erosion and sedimentation, through international contacts among scientists, engineers, and governments. The Secretariat of WASER is based in the International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES) in Beijing, China. The International Symposia on River Sedimentation is one of the main forums of WASER.
The International Journal of Sediment Research is the journal jointly sponsored by WASER and IRTCES. The International journal of sediment research has played an important role in increasing the exposure of WASER to the international community. The average impact factor of the Journal is about 1.3 and the impact factor in 2015 is 1.39. I would like to extend my thanks to the Chief Editor, Prof. Hongwei Fang and the Editorial Team for their excellent work. Encouraging members to publish papers and cite papers in the journal WASER awards the best paper award to the best papers published in the journal.
WASER awards prizes to scientists and engineers who have made great contributions in the field of sedimentation and erosion. WASER Honorary Members are awarded to the WASER members who have made great contributions to the science of sediment transportation and development of the association. The international Ning Chien Prize is awarded to the scientists or engineers who have worked in the field of sedimentation and erosion for a long period of time and have made outstanding contributions.
In 1996 Prof. Bingnan Lin proposed to establish the international organization of WASER. I assisted Prof. Lin for international supports and Prof. Dingzhong Dai assisted Prof. Lin for support from Chinese Government. Prof. Bingnan Lin drafted the Petition and the statutes of WASER. After many trials and vicissitudes over a span of 8 years WASER was finally established in 2004 under the support of UNESCO and the ministry of water resources of China. Prof. Bingnan Lin is regarded as the father of WASER.
After the establishment Prof. Des Walling was elected as the president in the first and second terms of the presidency. Then Prof. Giampaolo Di Silvio was elected as president in the third and fourth terms. Under the excellent leadership of Prof. Des Walling and Prof. Di Silvio WASER had many important developments and passed its infant and young children periods. They brought up our new-born Association to its maturity and to a deserved reputation among the numerous international associations dealing with water and sediment research. I am pleased to take over the job from Prof. Di Silvio and serve as the president in the fifth term. In the future 3 years I will follow the trail of Prof. Des Walling and Prof. Di Silvio to promote the mission of WASER in the international context by making its structure and activities better known to both the membership and the outside world.
Sediment research has come into a new era from purely mechanical movement of sediment and fluvial processes to integrated management of erosion and sedimentation. The theme of the 13th ISRS symposium in Stuttgart is Innovative Management Strategies in Riverine Systems: From Old Problems to New Solutions. Ecological aspects of hydraulic and sediment transport processes and Social, Economic and Political Aspects of Sediment Management have become important topics of the symposium. Moreover, people are aware of the importance of sediment transportation on land creation and continent balance. I believe that sediment research will have a bright future and our association will attract more scientists and engineers.
Zhaoyin Wang
Beijing, Sep. 20, 2016
