Amman- 25 March, 2014
The School of Natural Resources Engineering and Management (SNREM) at GJU in collaboration with the Research Center Juelich organized a kick off meeting to discuss the main aspects of Modeling management of catchments in the Mediterranean Basins Project.
Dr. Qasem Abdelal, Assistant Professor at SNREM, welcomed the guests from the Research Center Juelich, and gave a brief about GJU, its schools, features, programs and future vision, stating that GJU is always supportive of such projects.
He further talked about Jordan’s Water resources, pointing out that the gravest environmental challenge that Jordan faces today is the scarcity of water. Indeed, Jordan needs projects such as these to increase and develop water resources.
Dr. Frank Wendland from the Research Center Juelich, explained the main characters that can help in developing new water resources, showing the scale of hydrologic models, the uses of water balance, the sustainable use of the natural resources of soil and water, in addition to the modeling of terrestrial systems.
He also pointed out that a very important part of this project will be a benefit for the GJU students, through personal exchange training between GJU and the Research Center Juelich. GJU will appoint 2 Masters students to go to Germany and stay there for up to 6 months in the first 2 years, in order to work on the project.
At the end of the meeting, a discussion was held between the participants about pre-processing of GROWA input data for Jordan that has become a case study.
The meeting was attended by the Vice President of GJU, Prof. Manar Fayyad, the Vice President for International Affairs, Prof. Anton Mangstl, Professors from the SNREM, as well as representatives from the Research Center Juelich.