On June 6, 2022, ACEWM held Ph.D. dissertation public defense of Rodgers Makwinja, a Ph.D. candidate specializing in Aquatic Ecosystem Management.
Rodgers successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation titled ‘Ecosystem Services, Ecological Dynamics, Livelihood, Adaptation Strategies, and Restoration: Lesson from Lake Malombe’s Changing Catchment’.

Through his research work, he promotes multi-disciplinary approaches to ecological science and management and the integration of natural and social sciences, and his 11 research publications have meticulously linked economics, ecology, socio-psychology, and policy within one broader framework and demonstrated how freshwater ecosystem management approaches could be integrated into multi-sectoral policies to reduce trade-offs, promote synergies, and enhance the livelihood of local communities’ resilience and ecological restoration.

His thesis was supervised by Prof. Seyoum Mengistou Professor of Aquatic Ecology(Limnologist), at Addis Ababa University, and Prof. Emmanuel Kaunda Professor of Fisheries Science at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Fisheries, Malawi.
The examiners were Prof. Brook Lemma, Professor of Aquatic Sciences, University at Addis Ababa University and Prof.Zinabu Gebremariam, Professor of Freshwater Ecology at Hawassa University and the session was chaired by Dr.Feleke Zewge, Director of ACEWM.
Holding BSc and two MSc degrees in the fields of Fisheries and Water Resources and Supply Management, Rodgers’ research works focus on natural resource economics, sustainability science, human-nature conflict, modeling, landscape management, conservation and economic policies, livelihood, and ecological restoration pressing issues highlighting the UN Agenda 2030 and African Union Agenda 2063.