Curriculum Vitae
Aqua Eco Mundi
Resource Protection Hydrology
Landscape Planning
Landscape Planning
| Name: | University-Professor Dr.-Ing.habil. Heiko D i e s t e l, B.Sc., M.Sc. |
| Date of birth: | 1. 10. 1940 |
| Nationality: | German |
| Languages: | German, English, Spanish, French |
| Professional Education: | |
| 1960 - 1961 | Hof Juhlschau, Flensburg, Germany Agricultural apprenticeship. |
| 1961 -1964 | University of California, Davis, California, USA B.Sc. Agricultural Production; M.Sc. Irrigation Science. |
| Academic distinctions: Danforth Award 1962, Dean's Honor List 1963, Knowles A. Ryerson Award 1963. |
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| 1975 | Ph.-D., Technical University Braunschweig, Germany. |
| 1987 | Habilitation for the subject "Soil Science" at the Technical University Braunschweig. |
| Professional Activities: | |
| 1965 - 1967 | Sales engineer and later manager of the Irrigation Department, INDAG Development Corporation S.A., Lucerne, Switzerland, European subsidiary of the Irrigation and Industrial Development Corporation of New York. |
| 1967 - 1969 | Associate Expert, Irrigation and Drainage, Varamin-Garmsar-Project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Iran. |
| 1970 - 1988 | Scientific employee at the Leichtweiß-Institute for Water Research, Technical University Braunschweig, Germany. From 1978 Chief of the Pedological Laboratory of the Institute. |
| From 1979 Lecturer of Soil Science at the Technical University. | |
| 1975 | Lecturer in "Irrigation and Drainage in Arid Regions" and in "Hydrology" at the Suderburg College. |
| 1988 - 2005 | Professor of Resource Protection, Applied Hydrology, Irrigation and Drainage at the Technical University of Berlin. |
| 2005 | Retirement as a professor. Since then, leader of the Working Group on Applied Hydrology and Resource Protection at the Technical University of Berlin. |
| 2006 | Foundation of Aqua Eco Mundi GbR (closed in 2015) |
| Official International Functions: | |
| 1976 | Chairman of the Session "Soil Chemistry" at the International Conference on Managing Saline Water for Irrigation, Lubbock, Texas, USA. |
| 1977 | General Reporter on the subject: "Unsaturated porous media in situ and in the laboratory" at the Symposium on Hydrodynamic Diffusion and Dispersion in Porous Media of the International Association for Hydraulic Research; Pavia, Italy. |
| 1989 | Delegate of the National Committee of the Federal Republic of Germany of the ICID (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage) at the Sixth Annual Irrigation and Drainage Seminar of the World Bank, Baltimore, Md, USA. |
| 1991 - 1994 | Delegate of the DVWK (German Association for Water Resources and Land Improvement) in the German-Polish-Negotiations on a Common Integrated Management of the Odra River Watershed |
| 1993 | Member of the Planning Committee for the 10th International DVWK-Irrigation Symposium "Ecologically Sound Resources Management in Irrigation". Congress WASSER BERLIN 93, Germany |
| 1996 | Member of the Mexico Steering Group of the OECD (Paris) for the OECD workshop Mexico '96 on Biotechnology for Water Use and Conservation Morelos, Mexico. |
| 1997 | External reviewer of the publication Management Guidelines for Agricultural Drainage and Water Quality of the FAO and of the ICID (Intern. Comm. on Irrigation and Drainage) |
| 1997 - 1998 | Visiting Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome. Task: Elaboration of the basic concept and structure of a Decision Support System for the identification and suitability classification of potential sites for water harvesting and supplemental irrigation with ponded water. |
| 2009 | World City Water Forum, Incheon, Korea. Co-Chair, Session 2, Climate Change Adaptation by Rainwater Harvesting and Management |
| Main areas of research: | |
| from 1970 to 2005 | Strategies for water management and resource protection under conflicting demands. |
| Solute displacement mechanisms in the larger voids in the soil. | |
| Development and applications of lysimeter investigations. | |
| Morphometric characterization of soil structure. | |
| Interactions between runoff and surface morphology | |
| Mechanisms of soil salinisation | |
| Consultancies, project studies and missions: | |
| 1970 - 1973 | Thailand Mae Kok and Mae Fang Irrigation Projects. Soil survey and land classification for some 68.000 ha; design criteria for irrigation and drainage measures. |
| 1973 | Libya Murzuq and Djoufrah. Soil surveys and land classification for irrigation schemes. |
| 1975 | Peru Tinajones Irrigation Project. Soil investigations and soil survey including land classification and mapping. Design criteria for irrigation, drainage and soil improvement measures, especially with regard to salinization problems. |
| 1978 | Zambia Member of the international study commission "Irrigation Potential" in Zambia. |
| 1978 | Libya Barjuj and Irawan. Soil surveys and land classification for irrigation schemes. |
| 1979 | Egypt El Nahda Project. Soil survey and rehabilitation of saline soils. |
| 1980 | Brazil Morada Nova Irrigation and Drainage Project. Soil inventory, determination of design criteria and soil reclamation measures. |
| 1981 | Tunisia Bou Heurtma Irrigation Project. Soil survey, determination of design criteria for irrigation and drainage schemes and soil reclamation measures. Planning of pilot schemes. |
| 1982 | Egypt New Valley Development Project. Soil survey in the Kharga and Dakhla Oases. Modernization and reorganization of a soils laboratory. |
| 1984 - 1986 | Egypt New Valley Development Project. Design and supervision of drainage trials in the Bulaq Pilot Scheme. Implementation of a mole drain test area including back-up service. Assessment of rehabilitation strategies. |
| 1986 | Bolivia Identification of salinization processes and proposal of rehabilitation measures for the Punata area. |
| 1988 | Germany Quantification of the water balance of planned variants of waste disposal coverings (Tönningstedt near Hamburg). |
| 1989 | Mauritania Proposals for soil and water management along the Senegal river in the area of Rosso. |
| 1991 | Germany Erosion in the catchment of the Emmer River. Identification of the causes and proposals for remedial measures. |
| 1992 | Germany Characterization of the dynamics of the water balance as basis for agricultural planning in Brandenburg. |
| 1993 | Germany Strategies for the infiltration of the waste waters of Berlin. |
| 1994 | Cuba Water management for closed cycle operation of milk production units. |
| 1994 | Germany Characterization of the structural behavior of mineral linings under the waste disposal site of Ihlenberg. |
| 1995 | Germany Water balance of planned variants of waste disposal coverings near Magdeburg. |
| 1995 | Cuba Planning of reclamation projects in the Provinces of La Habana and Pinar del Rio |
| 1999/2000 | Germany Federal Court, Karlsruhe Report on the patentability of stabilization elements for landscape construction purposes |
| 2000 | Sudan Field studies on water harvesting in the Butana Plain. Lecture at the University of Gezira. |
| 2001 | Iran Lecturer and cooperating coordinator at the DAAD/BMZ-Seminar Food Chain Management – Adaptation to the semi-arid environment by integrative water management approaches: Needs assessment and identification of priority fields. |
| 2003 | China Member of the Chinese-German study group on ecological restoration in the Tarim Basin, China |
| 2007 - 2009 |
Korea Decentral rainwater management in urban areas |
| Pro bono activities: | |
| Since 2009 | Reviews for scientific journals |
| Since 2012 | Germany Vice chairman of FEMO (Freilicht- und Erlebnismuseum Ostfalen e.V.) www.femo-online.de |