Hwirin Kim
Dr Hwirin Kim has been serving as the head of the Hydrological and Water Resources Division (HWR) since 2019. The HWR division supports the enhancement of Members’ hydrological and water resources services by coordinating diverse projects and programmes such as the Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM, WMO/GWP), the Flash Flood Guidance System With Global Coverage (FFGS/WGC), the WMO Community of Practice on Flood Forecasting and Early Warning Systems (CoP -FF-EWS), and other activities related to hydrologic forecasting and water resources assessment and management.
Before joining WMO, Dr Kim developed her career at the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea (2005-2019), having been the first hydrologist in the Ministry.
She was a leader of the Forecasting and Disaster Risk Reduction team of the Han River Flood Control Office, mainly working in the areas of flood forecasting and integrated water resources management.
She holds a master’s degree (M.Sc.) in Hydrology and a Doctorate degree (PhD) in Water Resources Engineering, from Korea University, B.Sc. from Pukyong National University.
She also worked at the Korea Insititute of Construction Technology (2003-2005) as a researcher focused on water resources assessment and planning.
She has had a vast experience in the international arena, where she made significant contributions to multiple programmes as a member of the Advisory Working Group (AWG) of WMO Commission for Hydrology (2016-2019), as a Theme leader of WMO Regional Association II Working Group Hydrological Services (2012-2019), and as focal point of both the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (2011-2014) and the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee (2010-2014).
