Western Cape

INSTITUTE FOR WATER STUDIES

University of the Western Cape

Objectives

The Institute for Water Studies (IWS) at the University of the Western Cape was formed in 2009 with the goal of promoting research, postgraduate training, and outreach on water-related issues through the collaborative efforts of UWC staff and students. The Institute for Water Studies aims to increase the understanding of linkages between surface water, groundwater, and ecosystems, and how water users are affected and affect these linkages.

UWC staff affiliated to the Institute for Water Studies and their Research Interests are given below

Prof Dominic Mazvimavi, Director of the Institute for Water Studies

• Hydrological regionalization
• Environmental flow assessment
• Management of ephemeral river basins

Prof Yongxin Xu, Department of Earth Sciences & UNESCO Chair in Hydrogeology

• Assessment of aquifer systems
• Sustainable management of groundwater resources

Jaco Nel, Department of Earth Sciences

• Protection and management of fractured rock aquifers

Prof Lincoln Raitt, Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

• Plant water relationships
• Uptake of water contaminants by plants

Dr Leslie Petrik, Department of Chemistry

• Environmental remediation; use of fly ash for neutralization of acid mine drainage
• Application of nanoscience to water and wastewater management

Prof Edmund Pool, Department of Medical Biosciences

• Biomarkers for endocrine disruptors
• Estrogenic contaminants in sewage effluents

Dr Jacqueline Goldin, Institute for Water Studies

• Impact of water resources management practices on human well-being

Lewis Jonker, Co-ordinator for IWRM Programme, Faculty of Natural Sciences

• Implementation of integrated water resources management principles

For more information, please contact the following:

Water Institute: dmazvimavi@uwc.ac.za

IWRM Programme: ljonker@uwc.ac.za

VLIR UWC Water Project: yxu@uwc.ac.za, lraitt@uwc.ac.za & luc.brendonck@bio.kuleuven.be