Vladimir Nikora is the Sixth Century Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, UK. Before coming to Scotland in February 2006, he was Principal Scientist and Manager of the Hydrodynamics Group at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand that he joined in 1995. Professor Nikora’s main research accomplishments include improved understanding of stream turbulence, development and applications of the double-averaging methodology for describing and predicting rough-bed turbulent flows, and new concepts of flow-biota interactions and sediment dynamics. A growing part of his current research work relates to the development of the Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems as an interfacial branch of fluid mechanics, biomechanics, and ecology. Vladimir Nikora is Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Editor of IAHR Journal of Hydraulic Research, and a recipient of 2010 Hunter Rouse Hydraulic Engineering Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers that “recognizes outstanding contributions to hydraulics and waterways”.