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Staff Members CV

The Center has more than 45 senior-level faculty from national, regional, and international institutions. ACEWM affiliated 38 faculty who are engaged in teaching, research, joint supervision of students, and offering short courses.

Abebe Getahun

Professor of Biology at Addis Ababa University
Aquatic Ecosystems Management
Personal Infromation
  1. Full Name: Abebe Getahun
  2. Title: Professor of Biology at Addis Ababa University
Prfessional Preparation/ Educational Background
  1. BSc. in Biology from Addis Ababa University in 1983
  2. MSc. in Zoology from Addis Ababa University in 1987
  3. M.Phil. in Biology (Ecology, Evolution & Behavior) from the University of New York, U.S.A. in 1996.
  4. PhD. in Biology (Ecology, Evolution & Behavior) from the City University of New York, U.S.A. in 2000
Experences and Appointments
  1. Executive Committee member of the Biological Society of Ethiopia (1992-1994) and 2001-2003; Member of the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society; Member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
  2. Member and Vice Chairman of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (Nov. 2003-Sept. 2008)
  3. Organizer of the 4th International Conference of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA) that took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 22-26 Sept. 2008.
  4. President of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (2008-2013).
  5. Regional Coordinator (North and Northeast Africa) for the wetlands International/IUCN SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, beginning February 2007 up to present.
  6. Executive committee member and Vice President of the Ethiopian Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Association (EFASA).
  7. Fellow and Treasurer of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences starting 2014 and 2016, respectively.
  8. Chairman of the Natural Sciences Working Group, Ethiopian Academy of Sciences 2015-2019.
  9. Steering Committee member of the World Bank supported African Center of excellence for water management.
  10. Member of the Lake Turkana Advisory Group (LTuAG), coordinated by the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE), based in Michigan, USA.
  11. Coordinator of the graduate program of the Biology Department from Sep 2000 to Feb, 2005.
  12. Editor-in-Chief of SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science starting from January 2004 to July 2008.
  13. Director of the Natural History Museum from April 2002 to April 2007.
  14. Associate Dean of the Continuing and distance Education of the Faculty of Science starting Nov., 2004 to Mar 2007.
  15. Academic Vice President of Alpha University College from July 25, 2007 to September 17, 2007.
  16. Chairman, Department of Zoological Sciences from October 2010 to Feb. 2019.
Selected Publications /Conference Partcipation / Petinet Selected Publications
  1. Getahun, A. and Stiassny, M.L.J. 1998. The Freshwater biodiversity crisis: The case of the Ethiopian Fish fauna. SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science, 21 (2): 207-230.
  2. Getahun, A. and Lazara, K.J. 2001. Lebias stiassnyae: a new species of killifish from Lake Afdera, Ethiopia (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae). Copeia 1: 150-153.
  3. Getahun, A. Stiassny, M.L.J. and Teugels, G.G. .2004. A new species of Varicorhinus (Ostariophysi: Cyprinidae) from west-central Africa: Cybium 28 (2): 159-162.
  4. Getahun, A. 2005. Descriptions of Freshwater ecoregions of Ethiopia (Northeastern Rift; Ethiopian Highlands; Red Sea coastal; Shebelle-Juba catchments), IN: Thieme et al (edts), Freshwater ecoregions of Africa and Madagscar: A conservation assessment (P.181-183; 253-255; 351-352; 352-353) Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20009.
  5. Stiassny, M.L.J and Getahun, A. (2007). An overview of labeonin relationships and the phylogenetic placement of the Afro-Asian genus Garra Hamilton, 1922 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), with the description of five new species of Garra from Ethiopia, and a key to all African species. Zoological Journal of Linnaean Society, 150: 41-83.
  6. Getahun, A. 2007. An overview of the diversity and conservation status of the Ethiopian freshwater fish fauna. Journal of Afrotropical Zoology, Special issue: 87-96.
  7. Gibtan, A. Getahun, A. and Mengistou, S. 2008. Effect of stocking density on the growth performance and yield of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L., 1758) in a cage culture system in Lake Kuriftu, Ethiopia. Aquaculture research (2008): 1-11.
  8. Tang, Q., Getahun, A. and Liu, H. 2009. Multiple in-to-Africa dispersals of labeonin fishes (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) revealed by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Primary research paper). Hydrobiologia, 632 (1): 261-271.
  9. Getahun A. 2011. A unique species flock in Lake Tana-the Labeobarbus complex. Species in spot light, In: The Biodiversity of life in African freshwaters: Underwater, under threat; editors, Darwall, et al. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK; Pages 82-85.
  10. Getahun, A. and Dejen, E. (2012). Fishes of Lake Tana: A Guide Book. Addis Ababa University Press, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  11. Anteneh, W., Getahun, A., Dejen, E., Sibbing, F.A. Nagelkerke, L. A. J, De Graaf, M., Wudneh, W. Vijverberg J., and Palstra, A. P. 2012. Spawning migrations of the endemic Labeobarbus (Cyprinidae, Teleostei) species of Lake Tana, Ethiopia: status and threats. Journal of Fish Biology (2012) 81, 750–765.
  12. Vijverberg, J., Dejen, E. Getahun, A. and. Nagelkerke, L.A.J, 2012. The composition of fish communities of nine Ethiopian lakes along a north-south gradient: threats and possible solutions. Animal Biology 62 (2012) 315–335
  13. Vijverberg, J. Dejen, E., Getahun, A. and Nagelkerke, L. A. J. 2014. Zooplankton, fish communities and the role of planktivory in nine Ethiopian lakes. Hydrobiologia; Volume 722: Number 1: 45-60.
  14. Ahrens, L. Gashaw, H., Sjoholm, M., Gebrehiwot, G.S., Getahun A., Derbe, E., Bishop, K. and Akerblom, S. 2016. Poly-and perfluoroalkylated substances (PFASs) in water, sediment and fish muscle tissue from Lake Tana, Ethiopia and implications for human exposure. Chemosphere 165:352-357.
  15. Wakjira, M. and Getahun, A. 2017. Ichthyofaunal diversity of the Omo-Turkana Basin, East Africa, with specific reference to fish diversity within the limits of Ethiopian waters. Check List; 13 (2): 1-22.
  16. Abel Weldetinsaea, Mekibib Dawit, Abebe Getahun, H.S. Patil, Esayas Alemayehu, Melaku Gizaw, Moa Abate, Daniel Abera 2017. Aneugenicity and clastogenicity in freshwater fish Oreochromis niloticus exposed to incipient safe concentration of tannery effluent. Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, 138: 98-104.
  17. Getahun, A. 2017. The freshwater fishes of Ethiopia: Diversity and Utilization. View Graphics Publishing, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  18. Getahun, A. Lemma, B. and Mengistou, S. 2018. First Directory on Wetlands of Ethiopia. In collaboration with the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society and Wetlands International. Eclipse publishers, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 562 pages.
  19. W. Alsanius and S. Khalil, A. Tadesse; A. K. Rosberg, K. J. Bergstrand, R. Hartmann, L. Mogren, M. Alam, M. Grudén and T. Naznin and A. Getahun, 2019. Sustainable systems for integrated fish and vegetable production: new perspectives on aquaponics. In: Achieving sustainable greenhouse cultivation. Editors: Leo F. M. Marcelis and Dr Ep Heuvelink. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.
  20. Belay Abdissa, Abebe Getahun and Eshete Dejen (2020). Artificial propagation in Labeobarbus brevicephalus (Pisces: Cyprinidae) of Lake Tana. Aquaculture 521 (2020) 735063.
  21. Abebe Getahun and Eshete Dejen (2020). Freshwater fish diversity and its role in improving the livelihood of communities in Ethiopia In: FAO. 2020. Biodiversity: The central role in the sustainable development of Africa, Nature & Faune, Volume 33, Issue no.1: 49-56.
  22. Abebe Getahun, Mulugeta Wakjira and Dorothy Wanja Nyingi 2020. Social, economic and management status of small-scale fisheries in Omo River Delta and Ethiopian side of Lake Turkana, southern Ethiopia. Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology
Confrence Particaption
  1. September 9 to 15, 1990—Nairobi, Kenya. Workshop on the use of satellite data for marine resources exploitation.
  2. August 1994-January 2000—NewYork, U.S.A; PhD studies at the City University of New York
  3. May 5 to 9, 1997. Scientific visit of the fish collections of the British Museum, London, U.K.
  4. May 10 to 14 1997. Scientific visit of the fish collections of Paris Museum of Natural History, Paris, France
  5. May 15 to 18-1997. Scientific visit of the fish collections of Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
  6. May 19 to 22 1997. Scientific visit of the fish collections of Milan Natural History Museum, Milan, Italy
  7. July 20-to 25 1998. Guelph, Canada. Conference of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
  8. September 15-to 23- 1998. Grahamstown, South Africa. Conference on Fish and Fisheries of Africa.
  9. Novemebr 12 to 17, 2000. Nairobi, Kenya. Training workshop on improving the focus and impact of development research organized by the Rockefeller Foundation.
  10. December 4 to December 21, 2000. Tervuren, Belgium. Contributions towards the study of Varicorhinus species (Pisces: Cyprinidae) of Lower Guinea, Africa.
  11. July 2-21, 2001. Tervuren, Belgium. Additional work on the study of Varicorhinus species of Lower Guinea.
  12. July 21-August 12, 2002, New York at the American Museum of Natural History to further work on elements of my PhD thesis.
  13. 5 to March 5, 2003, Paris, France at the Paris Musuem of Natural History to work on preparing data bases for museum specimens.
  14. July 13-24, 2003, Washington D.C., U.S.A. at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to work on their African collections of the genus Varicorhinus.
  15. 10-14, 2003, Cotonou, Benin to participate and present a paper at a conference of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA).
  16. August 26-30, 2004, Yokohama, Japan to present a paper at the International conference on assessment and control of biological invasion risks.
  17. 6-10, 2004, Tallinn, Estonia to present a paper at the XI th congress of the European Ichthyological Society.
  18. 16-17, 2004, Nairobi, Kenya to participate at the formation of the Society for African Journal Editors (SAJE).
  19. August 1-10, 2005, New York at the American Museum of Natural History to meet with leaders of the ”Cypriniformes: Tree of life” project and receive training on how to take digital photos of anatomical structures from fish specimens and upload these onto the internet.
  20. 28-Dec. 25, 2005 Wuhan, China at the Institute of Hydrobiology to work on molecular systematics of Afro-Asian cyprinid fishes.
  21. 19-Dec. 18, 2006, Wageningen University at the Department of animal Science to work on the fishes of the Abay and Tekeze basins with Dr. Nand Sibbing.
  22. March 5-7, 2007, Manchester, UK at the Chester Zoo. Meeting of the freshwater fish specialist group of IUCN and Wetland International.
  23. March 29-June 23, 2007. Tervuren, Belgium at the Africa Museum.  Participated in training of Fishbase and Fish taxonomy. 
  24. March 16-19, 2008 at Chester. Participating at the meeting of the freshwater fish specialist group of IUCN and Wetland International.
  25. May 2-8, 2008 at Cairo, Egyprt, Assessment of the conservation status of the freshwater fishes of the diffrent regions of Africa.
  26. October 10-November 7, 2009 at Tervuren, Belgium, Continuation of the Fishbase project for preparing manuscript for publication.
  27. August 25-30, 2011 at Alnarp, Sweden (SLU –University of Agriculture) to evaluate the Linnaaeus-Palme exchange program.
  28. September 12-15, 2011 in Malawi, to participate in the conferemce of the Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa (AASA).
  29. October 19-27, 2011 Basel, Switzerland, to participate in the PhD defense and graduation of a co-supervised PhD student that registered at Basel University.
  30. June 3-6, 2012, Bujumbura, Burundi, to attend the Scientific Committee Meeting of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA)
  31. June 26-29, 2012, Nairobi, Kenya, to attend a workshop on Best Practices of the DelPHE Project, organized by the British Council, UK.
  32. September 15-21, 2013, Bujumbura, Burundi to partcipate in the Fifth Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association Conference.
  33. October 21-31, 2013, Alanarp, Sweden, for planning meeting of the Linnaeus-Palme Program at the Horticulture Department of the Swedish University of Agriculture
  34. April 26 to May 3, 2014—Wuhan, China on developing collaborative research projects with the Institute of Hydrobiology.
  35. June 15 to 18, 2014—Djibouti for a preaward workshop on aquaponics development in Ethiopia at Inter-Governemntal Authority on Developemnt (IGAD) Headquarter
  36. August 12 to 29 2014, New York, USA at the American Museum of Natral History for the study of Ethiopian fish specimens at the museum.
  37. October 28 to November 17, 2014. Alanarp, Sweden, for teaching part of a course as part of the exchange program of the Linnaeus-Palme Program at the Horticulture Department of the Swedish University of Agriculture (Aquaponics course)
  38. February 23-27, 2015, Kerala, India for a workshop organized by DFID, India to develop concept notes on aquaculture development in developing countries.
  39. July 27 to 01 August, 2015. Nairobi, Kenya, for a conference on ”Buuilding capacity for conservation & Resource management in Africa” organized by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and Fauna and Flora International.
  40. January 20-22, 2016, Juba, South Sudan for baseline study of the Baro-Akobo-Sobat water development project (A consultancy work with BRl Engineers).
  41. 30 to 03 Dec. 2016, Nairobi, Kenya for presentation of project results on aquaponics in Metehara, Ethiopia.
  42. 20-24, 2017, Mombassa, Kenya for participating in a workshop organized by Boku University and Egerton University to review programs in the special MSc program on Aquatic Ecosystems and Environmental Mangement (AEEM).
  43. 15-18, 2018, Nairobi, Kenya, to partciapte inan end of project on ”Aquaponics in Ethiopia” organized by WOTRO, Netherlands
  44. March 7-10, 2018 Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to partciapte in a conference on Women and development organized by the African Academy of Sciences
  45. June 8-11, 2018, Kajanssi, Uganda to partciapate in consulatancy services for assessment of transboundary fishery resources in Eastern Africa sponsored by Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD).
  46. 23-29, 2018. Mangochi Resort, Malawi to particpate in the 6th Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA) conference (PAFFA 6).
  47. 28 to 05 December, 2018. Different places in India (Mumbai, New Delhi, etc..) to participate in a mission by the Ministry of Education.
  48. March 20-26, 2019 at Kajanssi, Uganda to partcipate in consulatancy services for assessment of transboundary fishery resources in Eastern Africa sponsored by Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD).
  49. July 1-6, 2019, Entebbe, Uganda at the Imperial Botanical Garden Hotel to participate in a workshop that evaluates projects supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).
  50. 4-7, 2019, Entebbe, Uganda at the Imperial Hotel to participate in the workshop organized by the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE).
Partcipation in Research Projects and Community Engagement Partcipation in Research Projects
  1. Fellow of the American Museum of Natural History (1994-2000);
  2. African Career Award of the Rockefeller Foundation (2001-2003);
  3. Third World Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences one month visiting fellowship (2005);
  4. System for Analysis of Research and Training (START) one month visiting fellowship (2006);
  5. Three months training fellowship of the Central African Museum, Tervuren, Belgium (2007);
  6. Development Innovative Fund of the World bank for upgrading the Zoological Natural History Museum (2006-2008);
  7. Swedish SIDA/ SAREC thematic research fund for the study of aquaculture development in Ethiopia (2007-08);
  8. Dryland biodiversity grant for the study of fishes of the Awash basin (2007-08);
  9. Grant from Development Partnership for Higher Education (DelPHE) of the British Council for the study of cage culture development in Ethiopia (2009-2012);
  10. Research grant from Rufford Foundation, UK for the study of migratory fish species in Arno-Garno and Gilgel Abay Rivers, Lake Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia (2010-11);
  11. Rresearch grant from US Fish and Wildlife, USA, for training park personnel on fish conservation (2011-12);
  12. Recipient of a research grant from Rufford Foundation, UK for the study of the effects of sand mining and canalaization on the migartion of Labeobarbus spp. of Lake Tana, Ethiopia (2013-14);
  13. Training grant on aquaculture and aquaponics for sustainable utilization of aquatic resources in Ethiopia from United Nations University, Japan (2013);
  14. Grant from FAO on “Promotion and technology transfer of small-scale aquaponic in Ethiopia” (2012-2014);
  15. Grant from Mohammed Bin Zayed Conservation Fund on conservation of the Labeobarbus spp. of Lake Tana (2013-2014);
  16. Grant from Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) on conservation of the Labeobarbus spp. of Lake Tana, Ethiopia (2014-2018);
  17. Grant from Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for expanding aquaponics around Metehara, Eastern Ethiopia (2014-2016);
  18. Grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (WOTRO Science for global development) on “Developing a business model for sustainable implementation of small scale aquaponics systems improving food and nutrition security of rural and peri-urban households in Ethiopia” (2015-2017);
  19. Grant on aquaculture and aquaponics for sustainable utilization of aquatic resources in Ethiopia from United Nations University, Japan (2015-2016);
  20. Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (2018-2019);
  21. Christensen Fund/Silicon Valley Foundation for the study of the fisheries status of the Omo Delta, Southern Ethiopia (2018-2020);
  22. Fund from Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute (EBTI) for the study of water hyacinth as feed for fishes and fertilizer (2019-2022);
  23. EU Grant as member of a consortium of 9 institutions in Europe, Asia and Africa on “Next Generation Taxonomy: Ciliophora and their bacterial symbionts as a proof of concept” (4 years project: 2020-2023).
Community Engagement
  1. Vice chair of the Board, Shirka Woreda Development Association, Oromia Region, Ethiopia since 2008;
  2. Chairman of the Board, Fish for All (NGO) since 2018; Board member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (2015-2019);
  3. Board Member, Holistic Transformation Development Organization (NGO) since 2018;
  4. Board Member, Real Green Vision Ethiopia (NGO) since 2017; Board member, Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (NGO) since 2018;
  5. Board member, Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center (HoAREC)
Training and Professional Development
  1. Consultancy work on more than 30 domestic and foreign projects on aquatic ecology, fisheries and aquaculture.
  2. Has participated in conferences and training programs in Ethiopia and in more than 35 countries
  3. Curriculum Review at Hawassa, Jimma, Mekelle, Assosa, Debre Berhan and Arba Minch Universities.
  4. MSc thesis examinations at Bahir Dar, Debre Berhan, Jimma and Ambo Universities.
Main Research Activity / Interns
  • My research interest: Diversity, conservation and production of fishes; Aquaculture; Aquaponics and my specialization is Systematics and ecology

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