Congrat­u­la­tions to Phoebe Pauline Onijira who just finished her doctorate!

The aim of Phoebe Pauline Onjira's research, led by Hector Fellow Franz Nestmann, was to identify the role of river basin morphol­ogy (land use, terrain and soil) and climate change in varia­tions in water distribution.

Landuse change is a major cause for changes in hydrol­ogy and subse­quently other depen­dent processes. In water stressed areas, landuse activ­i­ties coupled with climate change exacer­bates these water stress. To enable the needed landuse devel­op­ment whilst conserv­ing hydrol­ogy, this research used hydro­log­i­cal model and statis­tics to inves­ti­gate the role of morphol­ogy, climate and landuse in hydro­log­i­cal partitioning.

The aim was to develop an approach for select­ing suitable areas for agricul­ture while minimiz­ing the impacts on hydrol­ogy. The research was under­taken within the iWaGSS Project in the Olifants Basin-South Africa, whose aim is to develop novel methods for easing water stress.

The research provided evidence for climate variabil­ity, landuse change and their impacts on hydrol­ogy of the basin. It also provided an effec­tive approach for agricul­tural landuse planning, involv­ing identi­fi­ca­tion of vegeta­tion that can be cleared for agricul­ture and morpho­log­i­cal condi­tions that are suitable for agriculture.

Details of her research can be found here.