Admasu Adamu has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
ACEWM PhD candidate Admasu Adamu successfully defended his dissertation on 7th July 2023. The title of his dissertation is Adsorption Characteristics of Spent Coffee Grounds Biochar for the Removal of Dyes from Aqueous Solution.
In his study in one-step carbonization and activation of spent coffee grounds (SCG), iron (III) chloride and K2CO3 were used as a catalyst and solid-state activator to produce activated biochar (AB), respectively. Characterization of the biochar was also conducted. The optimization study was carried out using CCD-RSM and the optimum conditions were validated using synthetic and textile wastewater.
Dr Admasu argued the dye removal efficiency of AB was more significant than commercial activated carbon. He stated Langmuir model was the most fitted isotherm model with an adsorption capacity of 10.63 mg/g. A pseudo-second-order model better described the adsorption kinetic equilibrium data, and both intraparticle and film diffusions affected the dye’s adsorption rate.
Dr. Admasu’s thermodynamic study suggested that the adsorption process was spontaneous, favorable, exothermic, and involved physisorption and chemisorptions.
The possible adsorption mechanisms governing the adsorption process were proposed. Fixed-bed adsorption column study was carried out to remove VR 3 BS dye from an aqueous solution. He said Thomas’s model fitted better with the breakthrough curve with an adsorption capacity of 5.76 mg/g. thermally regenerated biochar showed improved dye removal capacity.
In Dr. Admasu’s dissertation Column tests were also conducted for real textile wastewater containing VR 3 BS dye. He concluded that activated biochar obtained from the SCG could be used for the removal of VR 3 BS dye from textile wastewater.
Dr Admasu who published two Articles on international journals. His Dissertation was supervised by Professor Feleke Zewege, Director, ACEWM, Addis Ababa University and Dr. Yonas Chebude from Addis Ababa University.
ACEWM board of Directors who examined his dissertation were Dr. Ahmed Mustafa from Addis Ababa University, Dr. Beteley Tekola from Addis Ababa university and, Professor, Doctor Engineer Esayas Alemayehu from Jimma University.
Clarance Paul has successfully defended her PhD dissertation
Clarance Paul successfully defended her PhD dissertation on 26th June 2023. The title of her dissertation is Groundwater Resource Evaluation and its Application in Assessing Flow Dynamics of Makutupora Basin in Dodoma, central Tanzania.
Makutupora basin is found in the semi-arid central region of Tanzania where groundwater plays an essential role as a source of water for Dodoma city, the new capital city of Tanzania. Clarance stated Population growth, urbanization, and industrial development increased stress on freshwater needs which lead to over-pumping. As a result, Clarance added, the groundwater system is experiencing the lowering of water levels with unprecedented recharge and climate variability.
Clarance conducted a study to estimate groundwater resources and assess the impact of recharge and pumping on the groundwater system. She applied Variable approaches including mapping groundwater recharge zones, estimation of groundwater recharge rates using multiple methods and groundwater modeling. The results of her study indicated that the basin is categorized into good, moderate and poor recharge zones. The overall recharge of the basin ranges between 0 to 120.88mm/year. Her Scenario analysis using groundwater modeling indicated an increase of hydraulic head with increasing recharge and a decrease with increasing pumping rate.
Clarance recommended Land conservation and regulated pumping in the basin for aquifer protection and sustainability. She further explained Alternative water sources such as dam construction or the introduction of managed aquifer recharge are vital to augment groundwater in the basin considering erratic population growth.Clarance recommended Land conservation and regulated pumping in the basin for aquifer protection and sustainability. She further explained Alternative water sources such as dam construction or the introduction of managed aquifer recharge are vital to augment groundwater in the basin considering erratic population growth.
Clarance published three Articles in international Journals which can be accessed at https://acewm-aau.org/publication. Clarance’s Thesis was supervised by Prof. Tenalem Ayenew, Professor of Hydro-geology and Water Management at Addis Ababa University and Dr Ibrahimu Chikira from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
The Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management board who examined Clarance’s thesis defense were Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director of ACEWM, Addis Ababa University, Prof. Seifu Kebede from University of Kwazulu Natal and Center for Water Resources Research, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and Dr. Dessie Nedaw, Associate Professor of hydrogeology in the School of Earth sciences at the Addis Ababa University.
ACEWM warmly congratulated its 4th woman PhD graduate, Dr. Clarance Paul and wished her best in her future career.
Hailay Zeray has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
ACEWM PhD candidate Hailay Zeray Successfully defended his dissertation on 30th June 2023. The Title of his dissertation is Evaluation of factors affecting the quality of citizen science rainfall data in Akaki catchment, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hailay in his study recalled Data quality has remained the main concern of citizen science programs. Citizen science is the participation of people in the actual science – collecting data, making records, analysing or finding new information.
Dr. Hailay maintained the factors affecting rainfall data quality observed by the citizen scientists are not well understood. Thus, a citizen science program was set-up to monitor rainfall data using 19 rain gauges during the summer rainy season of 2020 in Akaki catchment, Ethiopia, He added.
Hailay’s study examined the effect of citizen scientists’ attributes on the quality of rainfall data. He further developed and applied a systematic quality control procedure to evaluate daily rainfall data quality followed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Linear Regressions (MLR) model to evaluate the effect of citizen scientists’ attributes on the quality of rainfall data.
Hailay stated Easy-to-detect errors, during the initial stage of quality control, formed most of the errors in the rainfall data collected by the 19 citizen scientists.
He also argued the rainfall data quality was mainly affected by education level, location and head of family attributes of the citizen scientists. His findings indicated that the PCA technique and MLR model can provide useful information on the influence of citizen scientists’ attributes on rainfall data quality.
The study recommended, training and supervision of citizen scientists should consider their attributes to ensure data quality.
Hailay Zeray, who is also Lecturer at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (ASTU), published two Articles on International Journals.
Hailay’s Dissertation was supervised by Dr Alemseged Tamiru from International Water Management Institute and Prof. Assefa Melese from Florida International University.
ACEWM boards of examiners who evaluated Hailay’s Dissertation are Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director of Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management, Addis Ababa University, Dr. Adane Abebe from Addis Ababa University and Dr Fasika Atanaw from Bahirdar University.
Rebecca Walugembe has successfully defended her PhD dissertation
ACEWM PhD candidate Rebecca Walugembe successfully defended her dissertation on June 29.2023. The Title of her dissertation is Assessment of Anthropogenic Activities and their Impacts on Fish Breeding Habitats and Fish Catches on Lake Kyoga, Uganda: An Approach to Sustainable Fisheries Management. Rebecca‘s study aimed at characterizing fish breeding habitats and assessing how anthropogenic activities, on Lake Kyoga and its surrounding, impact fishing catches and the water quality.
She presented Secondary data of fish catch, water quality, temperature and precipitation from the responsible ministries. She also collected Primary data of fish gonads, water quality, vegetation cover and Lake Bottom types were collected from the lake at 20 selected geo-referenced points.
Rebecca carried out Focus group discussions and key informant interviews with the stakeholders to validate the collected data. In her study the land use land cover changes from 1989 to 2021 were classified into five classes. Data analyses were also done using different statistical packages.
Rebecca stated Total nitrogen and chlorophyll- showed a positive correlation with settlements and fishing gear showed a significant negative impact on fish catches. She further found out Precipitation in March, April and May season was higher than in other seasons.
Dr Rebecca suggested Protection of fish breeding habitats from degrading activities is required through sustainable management approaches.
Dr Rebecca, who is also Senior Fisheries Inspector at Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Directorate of Fisheries Resources, published two Articles on International Journals.
Rebecca’s Dissertation was supervised by Prof. Abebe Getahun from Addis Ababa University and Prof. Muyodi Fredrick , Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
ACEWM boards of examiners who evaluated Hailay’s Dissertation are Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director of Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management, Addis Ababa University, Prof. Brook Lemma from Addis Ababa University and Dr. Glenn Wilson from The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia.
Wondimu Tadiwos has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
Wondimu Tadiwos defended his PhD dissertation successfully on 23rd June 2023.The title of his dissertation is: Understanding Hydro-Climatological Variability, Drought Characteristics, and Future Climate Changes over Central Main Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes Basin.
The dissertation argues that Understanding and quantifying hydro-climatologically components from the past and future are critical for effective water resource planning and management.
Wondimu stated that there has been non-stationarity or significant shifts in the statistical character of hydro-climatological variables at different time scales across the basin.
In terms of scholarly contributions, his research added to the body of knowledge on the subject by providing multiple drought indices for assessing drought characteristics across the basin, where little research has been conducted.
One of the key insights of this study is that Droughts are predicted to occur in the 2050s under the climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) as a result of projected precipitation decreases combined with anticipated warming during the typically wet season.
Wondimu used the HEC-HMS model to simulate rainfall-runoff using the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS_CN) for loss and the Clark Unit Hydrograph for efficient rainfall transformation. He suggested the model’s information on the spatial distribution of water availability could be used to address basin-wide water management issues more effectively.
Wondimu, who is also Basin Meteorologist Expert at FDRE’s Ministry of Water and Energy, published Three Articles in international Journals which can be accessed at https://acewm-aau.org/publication.
Wondimu’s Thesis was supervised by Prof. Tenalem Ayenew, Professor of Hydro-geology and Water Management at Addis Ababa University and Dr. Sirak Tekleab, Assistant professor at Addis Ababa University.
The Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management board who examined Wondimu’s thesis defense were Prof.Feleke Zewge ,Director of ACEWM, Addis Ababa University, Dr. Alemseged Tamiru from International Water Management Institute and Dr. Semu Ayalew , Hydrologist from Dallas City Government, Texas, USA.
Muhajir Mussa has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
Muhajir Mussa who is PhD candidate at ACEWM in the field of Water Science and Technology, has successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Optimization of Cadmium Adsorption in Soil Water Amended with Bamboo Sandust and Rice Husk Biochar” on March 28,2023.
The general objective of this research is to study the optimization of cadmium adsorption in soil-water matrix amended with locally available bamboo saw dust and rice husk co-char. Muhajir has published 5 research articles in highly reputable peer reviewed journals.
His thesis was supervised by Dr. Yonas Chebude and Dr. Beteley Tekola, Deputy Director-ACEWM of Addis Ababa University.
The examiners were Prof. Francisco Medina Cabello from Universitat Rovira, Virglli of Spain, and Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director-ACEWM of Addis Ababa University. The session was chaired by Dr. Adey Feleke from Addis Ababa University. Mr. Muhajir is an instructor at Dodoma University of Tanzania.
Demelash Ademe has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
Demelash Ademe Molla who is a PhD Candidate at ACEWM in the field of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, has successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Evaluation of Climate Land Use Land Cover Dynamics Impact on Catchment Hydrology over Birr River Water shade, Abbay Basin, Ethiopia” on April 6, 2023.
The main objective of this study is to establish a better understanding of the catchment hydrological processes under the integrated and individual impact of land use land cover and climate change events in the Birr River watershed, Abbay basin, Ethiopia. Demelash has published five research articles in highly reputable, peer reviewed journals.
His thesis was supervised by Dr. Tena Alamrew of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and Dr. Job Rotich Kosgei of Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
The examiners were Prof. Assefa Melesse from Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, and Dr. Asfaw Kebede of Haramaya University. The defense session was chaired by Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director-ACEWM of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Demelash is an instructor at Debre Markos University.
Aster Tesfaye has successfully defended her PhD dissertation
Aster Tesfaye Hordofa who is a PhD candidate at ACEWM in the field of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, has successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled “Climate Change Effects on Water Balance Components and Crop Productivity in Ziway Lake Basin, Ethiopia” on April, 18, 2023. During the defense, Aster discussed the extensive concern of decision-makers regarding climate change and its impact on Agro-hydrological processes. She also mentioned that consistent time series climate records can benefit climate change trend analysis and Agro-hydrological modeling. Aster has published 4 research articles in highly reputable, peer reviewed journals.
Her thesis was supervised by Dr. Olkeba Tolessa of Johns River Water Management District, Florida, USA, Dr. Tena Alamrew of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and Dr. Ababe Demissie of IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
The examiners were Dr. Charles Hans Komakech from Nelson Mandela Africa Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Tanzania, and Prof. Seifu Admassu, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The defense session was chaired by Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director-ACEWM of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Aster is an instructor at Arba Minch University.
Kindie Engidaw has successfully defended his PhD dissertation
Kindie Engidaw who is a PhD candidate in the field of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, has successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Evaluation of Global precipitation data for runoff generation in Wabi Shebelle river basin” on May, 12, 2023.
The overall objective of this study is to evaluate precipitation products for runoff generation and water budget estimation in the data-scarce Wabi Shebelle River Basin.
His thesis was supervised by Prof. Assefa Melese from Florida International University, Miami Florida, USA, Dr. Adane Abebe from Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia and Dr. Haileyesus Belay from International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The examiners were Dr. Semu Ayalew from Dallas city government, Texas, USA and Dr. Fasikaw Atanaw, Bahirdar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The session was chaired by Prof. Feleke Zewge, Director of ACEWM. Kindie is an instructor at Gonder University.
