The retirement of Dr Cate Gardner as Manager of IAHS Press was announced to Members at the Plenary held at the recent IAHS General Assembly in Prague on Friday June 26th, 2015. This provided an appropriate occasion for the Association to convey their thanks and appreciation to Cate for her long, loyal and valuable service to IAHS and to recognise her outstanding contribution to the Association over many years.  

Cate formally retires on Wednesday July 8th, 2015, after working for IAHS Press for 17 years. Initially,  she was employed part-time to assist with the production of Red Books, but in 2003 she was appointed full-time Manager of IAHS Press on the retirement of Penny Kisby and she has held this post for 13 years. Most Members will know Cate as one of the friendly ladies from IAHS Press that have manned the IAHS stand at Assemblies, Symposia and other meetings and she has played an important role as the friendly face of the Association over many years. Presidents and Officers have come and gone, but Cate has provided valuable continuity. 

Members will be less aware of Cate’s key role as Manager of IAHS Press, which, since its inception in embryo form more than 40 years ago, has been based within the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, UK. IAHS Press is the commercial arm of IAHS that is responsible for the production and marketing of its publications and generating valuable income for the Association.  It also serves as the main Office of the Association, maintaining the website, producing and circulating Newsletters, maintaining the membership database and communicating with Members. The operation of the Association’s base is very much a team effort and its smooth and efficient running relies heavily on its loyal and highly committed staff. However, as Manager of IAHS Press over the past 13 years, Cate has played a key role in ensuring its successful operation. With a turnover approaching £250,000 in recent years, Cate has been responsible for managing the budget, producing the accounts and avoiding financial problems. The Board of IAHS Ltd oversees these tasks, but it has relied heavily on Cate’s professional expertise and judgement in the day to day operation of the business and office. Cate has also been responsible for researching and coordinating important developments such as the transfer of the publication of the Association’s journal, HSJ, to a commercial publisher – Taylor and Francis, and the commissioning of a specialist website designer to develop the new IAHS website, which was launched in 2013. The past decade has been a period of major and rapid change in the publishing industry and both IAHS and the Board have relied heavily on Cate to plot a course through these difficult times. That IAHS Press has survived and has remained financially viable owes a great deal to Cate’s sound professional  judgement and ability to remain ahead of the game. The recent launch of PIAHS as an online open-access journal that will serve as the outlet for the Red Books owes much to Cate’s foresight and strong commitment to ensuring that IAHS moves  with the times.

Looking back over the 13 past years, Cate has been a very successful manager of IAHS Press and on her retirement she leaves the Association with an important legacy. This includes, firstly, a business arm that has successfully adapted to a rapidly changing publishing environment. Secondly, she has herself been very closely involved with the production of a large number of high quality publications that have generated very significant income for the Association. These include a total of 90 Red Books, which represents an average of seven per year and accounts for 25% of the total number of such books produced by IAHS to date. In addition, she has coordinated the production of nine Benchmark Volumes and important additions to the Blue Book series. Thirdly, and arguably most importantly, she has promoted and overseen the successful move to publishing Red Books in online and open-access form though the new PIAHS series, which is published in collaboration with Copernicus Publications. Eight of these have been published prior to Cate’s retirement and it is clear that PIAHS represents a very  important and successful development.    

IAHS is extremely grateful to Cate for her outstanding contribution to the Association over the past 17 years and particularly the past 13 years, when she has been the Manager of IAHS Press. It is important to note that her valuable experience gained in managing IAHS Press will not be lost to the Association. She is not being allowed to escape! President Huub Savenije has persuaded her to follow Chuck Onstad as IAHS Treasurer when he stands down in 2017 and to succeed Des Walling as Chair of IAHS Ltd, when he stands down in early 2016. The Association is very pleased that it will  continue to benefit from Cate’s experience and support over the coming years.   

Des Walling
Chair IAHS Ltd.

Photo by Frances Watkins at the IUGG IAHS Plenary. Cate was presented with a gift of a red glass vase chosen to represent IAHS as it holds water, is handmade in Prague and is the IAHS red colour.

Photo courtesy of C. Neale.