IAH recognises that many hydrogeologists and those working in groundwater-related fields would like to join the Association and would benefit from membership but are prevented by economic or practical reasons. For some, this might be because our membership fee is high in relation to their income; others encounter problems of access to convertible currency or payment facilities. In 2021 IAH’s member sponsorship scheme continued, with 262 such individuals receiving the opportunity to join IAH. This was financed via a mix of donation from IAH’s central funds, personal donations from individual members, and by several national chapters. We are grateful to all those who contribute to this scheme. To find out more – especially if you are interested in becoming a supporter or recipient of IAH sponsorship – see https://iah.org/join-us/sponsorship-scheme.

We were pleased to offer costs for registration at the Sao Paulo Congress to 17 IAH members from low income backgrounds and two further registrations in a prize draw open to all IAH members. For the Brussels Congress, we offered 6 registrations to student members and members from low- income countries. We were also happy to award several books in prize draws.

Towards the end of 2021 we made a further call to our mentoring scheme, inviting both potential mentors and mentees to participate.