Prof. McClain is Chair Professor of Ecohydrology at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands. His interests lie broadly in the science and practice of ecohydrology to support integrated water resources management (IWRM) and sustainable development. His research focuses on catchment hydrology and water quality, flow-ecology relationships, environmental flows, and land-water interactions. He routinely advises governmental authorities in a science and management context and leads major research and development projects in Africa and South America.

Prof. McClain received his PhD from the University of Washington (USA) in 1996. In 1997-1998 he was an NSF International Research Fellow at Peru’s National Agrarian University. In 1999 he became an Assistant Professor of Watershed Science at Florida International University, Miami; he became a tenured Associate Professor in 2005. From Aug 2005 until Feb 2006 he was a Fulbright Research and Teaching Fellow at the National Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In 2008 he joined IHE Delft and from 2009-2011 served as Head of the Department of Water Science and Engineering. He became Professor of Ecohydrology in 2012.

Prof. McClain is an active participant in the international scientific community, beginning as a contributing scientist to UNESCO IHP’s Ecotones Programme in the mid 1990’s and continuing today on the Scientific Steering Committee of its Ecohydrology Programme. He participated in ICSU’s International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and was principle investigator of two collaborative research networks of the Inter American Institute for Global Change Research. He regularly serves on the organizing committees of international conferences, convenes or chairs sessions, and gives keynote lectures.