Keynote Lectures 

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​Astrid Blom, Associate Professor and Head of the Rivers, Ports, Waterways and Dredging                            Engineering Section, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, TU Delft, The
                        Netherlands

Lecture title:  ​Channel bed incision in engineered rivers: characteristics and mitigation

Dr. Astrid Blom is an associate professor in the Department of Hydraulic Engineering of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). In her research, she focuses on changes in engineered river systems. In particular, she asks how anthropogenic modification and natural change affect the river equilibrium state regarding channel slope and bed surface grain size, as well as how the river responds with time to such change. She loves to develop conceptual and analytical models as tools to increase insight into the physics governing modern and/or historic river problems. She combines these models with analyses of field and lab data, and numerical modeling to extend physical understanding to engineering applications. She is motivated to increase diversity in engineering and science, and loves to work with and educate young researchers.



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Peter Ashmore, Professor, Department of Geography and Environment, University of 
​                             Western Ontario, Canada 

Lecture title:  What braiding reveals about river morphology, bedload and channel change

​Dr. Peter Ashmore is a distinguished professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. His career at Western Ontario was preceded by short appointments at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Environment Canada, and University of Saskatchewan, with sabbatical leaves at University of Canterbury (Aotearoa New Zealand) and University of Victoria (British Columbia). His research in fluvial geomorphology has included: dynamics of braided rivers; experimental geomorphology; bedload and morphological dynamics in gravel-bed rivers; response of rivers in Canada to climate change; river restoration; effects of urbanization on rivers; geomorphology of semi-alluvial rivers; and critical socio-geomorphology of rivers.  He has conducted advisory work that includes contributing to the International Joint Commission project on Upper Great Lakes water levels and erosion of the bed of St Clair River, analyzing the potential effects of climate change on rivers in Canada (for Geological Survey of Canada), and supporting the Ontario Natural Channel Systems initiative.