CWSS 3-Year Celebration: Henry Darcy Medal Seminar & Networking Event

The Centre for Water and Spatial Science (CWSS) at The University of Western Australia warmly invites colleagues, partners, researchers, and industry stakeholders to attend a special seminar and networking event featuring Professor Sally E. Thompson, recipient of the 2026 Henry Darcy Medal.

The Henry Darcy Medal is one of the most prestigious international awards in hydrology, recognising exceptional contributions to advancing water science globally. In 2026, the medal has been awarded to Professor Sally E. Thompson in recognition of her for outstanding contributions to ecohydrology, particularly the co-evolution of vegetation and soils in natural landscapes, and the emerging patterns in response to water limitation.

This event also celebrates three years of impactful research, innovation, and collaboration across water and spatial science, bringing together academia, government, and industry to connect, share knowledge, and explore future opportunities.

Event highlights include:

• Henry Darcy Medal Seminar:
  “Ecohydrological Adaptation to Climate Change – from Gondwana to the Globe” presented by Professor Sally E. Thompson

• Poster presentations from HDR students, postdoctoral researchers or core & teaching research staff

• Updates on CWSS research impact, including completed and upcoming projects

• Opportunities to connect and engage with peers across academia, government, and industry

• Exploration of potential collaborations across diverse fields

Keynote Speaker
Professor Sally E. Thompson
Ecohydrological Adaptation to Climate Change – from Gondwana to the Globe

The south west corner of Australia holds a level of plant diversity unmatched outside tropical rainforests; fostered through millions of years of isolation and relative tectonic and climatic stability.  Across deep time, pressures of pollinator scarcity, severe nutrient limitation in an ancient, highly weathered Critical Zone, and fire disturbance have produced what might be the most specialised flora in the world.  Southwest Western Australia (SWWA) is also on the bleeding edge of climatic heating and drying, in a trend that has been apparent since the 1960s.  Water resources management in response to these trends has made the cities of SWWA global leaders in conservation and water technologies – but as the drying continues, groundwater recharge is dropping, phreatophytic plants are dying, and more severe summer heatwaves and droughts are impacting key ecosystems over huge areas.  In this Darcy Oration, I hope to introduce you to the often forgotten, but exceptional set of ecosystems, catchments and Critical Zones of SWWA, and ask how can ecohydrology as a discipline support meaningful adaptation to such climatic changes in this megabiodiverse, hyper-endemic area?  I will present a potential hierarchy of actions and research gaps to consider, and suggest that research in support of making decisions about where and how to adapt is a key challenge for our community.  Finally, I will spend a little time reflecting on my personal experiences as a caregiver to special needs children, and how those caregiving responsibilities impact a career in hydrological science.