Position

Associate Professor of Hydrology

Biography 

Professor Seifu Kebede Gurmessa obtained BSc degree in Geology (1994) and MSc degree in Hydrogeology (1999) both from Addis Ababa University. He obtained PhD degree from the University of Avignon, France in 2005 in Isotope (tracer) hydrogeology. Between 1994 and 1999, he served the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as research assistant and junior lecturer. For about one year (2005-2006), after completion of his PhD work, he served the International Atomic Energy Agency as Junior Professional Officer. On return to the Addis Ababa University in 2007, he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Hydrogeology and later in 2013, he has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Hydrogeology. He joined the School of Agricultural Earth and Environmental Sciences and Center of Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu Natal in September 2019.

He authors more than 40 peer reviewed scientific articles in various hydrology topics and a book on groundwater (see below).

His research interest rests in tracer hydrology and geochemistry as applied to water resources management, surface water groundwater interaction studies, and open water evaporation studies. He has been involved in research activities related to the multifaceted dimensions of groundwater including -rural water supply, groundwater irrigation, and human health.

He has work relation with a few international organizations, UN agencies, river basin organizations, NGOs and the private sector operating in Africa. He travelled in more than 20 African countries in relation to capacity building projects around tracer hydrology and groundwater.

Qualifications

Doctorat (PhD), University of Avignon, France [2005]
Thesis title: Environmental isotopes and geochemistry in investigating groundwater and lake hydrology: cases from the Blue Nile basin & the Ethiopian Rift (Ethiopia)

MSc, Hydrogeology/Engineering Geology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia [1999]
Thesis title: Hydrology and Hydrochemistry of Bishoftu Crater Lakes (Ethiopia), Hydrological, hydrochemical and oxygen isotope modelling.

BSc, Geology and Geophysics, Addis Ababa University [1994]

Current Research Projects

• October 2018 to 2022: Use of Isotope Techniques for the Evaluation of Water Sources for Domestic Supply in Urban Areas; the Case of Addis Ababa City. Financed by IAEA Coordinated Research Project Scheme (CRP) (PI).
• May 2015- April 2020: Hidden Crisis: unraveling current failures for future success/resilience in rural groundwater supply (Fund DFID Upgro program, Co-I)
• April 2016-October 2017: Monitoring the impact of the 2015/16 El Nino on rural water insecurity in Ethiopia: learning lessons for climate resilience [Fund DFID- NERC, PI)
• REACH Project – Improving water security for the poor (2015-2022): A global research program to improve water security for millions of poor people in Asia and Africa [fund: DFID, PI is University of Oxford

Recent Publications