H.E.R.S. Lab

HERSLab has strategically participated in the development of proposals that focus in developing the underlying science and the management tools for successful integrated water resources management.  In addition to participation in the FP5-tempQsim project, HERSLab lead the development of the successful FP7-MIRAGE proposal.  This was done after the team establish a large pilot watershed basin (the Evrotas River Basin) where the first River Basin Management Plan will be developed (by the team) as part of a LIFE05-Environment (EnviFriendly) project.  The watershed is one of the best studied watershed in Greece and the first one that the WFD will be applied to.  In addition, HERSLAB has developed a partnership with the US CLEANER project for the development of Cyber-management infrastructure and tools.  The Koiliaris watershed study has been instrumented with real time monitoring stations and it is being twinned with a US watershed in IOWA.  Koiliaris River Basin is an International Critical Zone Observatory. The two experimental watersheds (EVROTAS River Basin – 2400 Km2 surface area and KOILIARIS River Basin – 149 Km2 surface area) are equipped with fully instrumented gauging stations, meteorological stations, precipitation stations as well as demonstration sites for technologies that reduce environmental pollution such riparian zone restoration for ground water remediation with phytoremediation, subsurface disposal of olive mill wastes with poplar tree phytoremediation design, management of drainage canals etc.

Overall, the HERSLab team (which has been built during the past 10 years) is a center of excellence that provides both research and training to undergraduate and graduate students in environmental engineering and science.  The team is part of a small but vibrant University that in addition to other things claims excellence in research and training of its students.