This award is given by the Canadian National Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists and Canadian Geotechnical Society to honour an individual's outstanding contributions to the disciplines of earth science and engineering that emphasize the role or importance of groundwater.
The award is named after Robert N. Farvolden, who was the first Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences and former Dean of Science at the University of Waterloo. He was instrumental in the establishment, development and growth of the hydrogeology program at Waterloo and seen by many as the father of modern Canadian hydrogeology. This award also has extra meaning to Rudolph as Farvolden was his graduate supervisor.
Rudolph specializes and teaches in the areas of regional hydrogeology and groundwater protection and management. His research group combines watershed-scale field monitoring with numerical modeling strategies to resolve issues related to water balances, impacts of diffuse source contaminants and groundwater-surface water interaction phenomena.
In the spirit of Bob Farvolden, Dave has worked tirelessly over the years to promote the field of hydrogeology not only at the University of Waterloo, but within the several national and international organizations in which he is a member. He was the 2010 recipient of NGWA’s M. King Hubbert Award for contributions to the field of hydrogeology and the 2013 NGWA Darcy Lecturer in Ground Water Science.
Rudolph will receive an engraved and framed certificate at the annual meeting of the International Association of Hydrogeologists held in conjunction with GeoConvention 2020 in Calgary, Alberta.
Rudolph is the fourth Waterloo scientist to receive the award. Previous Waterloo recipients include Profs. Emeritus John Cherry (2001), Emil Frind (2007) and Jim Barker (2014).
Congratulations Dave!