Perspectives on the contributions of women to the hydrologic sciences and their changing demographics at USDA Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges

The increase in the frequency and severity of water crises around the world necessitates maintaining or augmenting investments in the hydrologic sciences, including in a trained, diverse workforce. The USDA Forest Service operates a network of 85 Experimental Forests and Ranges, Experimental Watersheds, and cooperating sites (EFRs), 31 of which include long-term hydrologic studies (HydroEFRs). The HydroEFRs are centers for hydrologic science and education and play a key role informing watershed policy and management. The goals of this study were to understand (1) how, broadly, the women associated with the HydroEFRs (including women in the Forest Service workforce and women with cooperating agencies or universities who have worked at HydroEFRs) have contributed to hydrologic sciences and (2) how, more specifically, the number and roles of women in the Forest Service workforce associated with the HydroEFRs have changed over time. Data were collected from the EFR Data Explorer, the USDA Forest Service Human Resources Management (HRM) Data Metrics and Analysis Team (DMAT), literature reviews, and questionnaires to USDA EFR scientists-in-charge and to women who were or had been involved in hydrologic sciences at EFRs. Results showed that women associated with the HydroEFRs have made significant contributions to the hydrologic sciences, including authoring or co-authoring over 3,000 publications, with over 170,000 citations since 1977 and an H-index of 181. In their own words, the women indicated that they were also active in contributing to hydrologic fieldwork, providing stewardship for long-term data, and contributing to the social capital of the HydroEFRs through teamwork, collaboration, and mentoring. For the Forest Service, trends in employment records from 1992 through 2021 showed a 55% contraction of the entire FS R&D workforce, including a 59% loss in the number of women in the FS R&D workforce, a 50% loss in the number of women associated with HydroEFR duty stations, and a 26% loss in the number of women in hydrology positions. During this period, there was a greater loss of both women and men in lower-graded positions relative to higher-graded positions in the FS R&D workforce, with serial implications for the ability of the workforce to collect data, produce basic science publications, and conduct syntheses. Although the ratio of women:men declined across the Forest Service and FS R&D, the ratio of women:men increased at the HydroEFRs (driven by a higher ratio of women:men at higher grade levels) and for management positions within FS R&D and at the HydroEFRs.When asked, women valued their contributions to the hydrologic sciences and envisioned a more equitable future for women in hydrology. Overall, results show that HydroEFRs have played an important role in advancing the careers of women in the hydrologic sciences, who, in turn, have contributed to the groundbreaking hydrologic research that occurs at these long-term research sites. As water crises around the world continue to escalate, building a strong, diverse workforce in the hydrologic sciences and supporting the places where they can conduct their research is important.