The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) conferred degrees on thousands of students who received their hard-earned qualifications during the 2023 Autumn Graduation ceremonies that took place in May, and a number of CWRR students received their hard-earned degrees.
Dr Robyn Horan was awarded her PhD in Hydrology and her thesis was titled: “Development and Assessment of an Integrated Large-Scale Hydrological Modelling Tool for Water Resources Management in the Cauvery Catchment, India”. She was supervised by Prof. Jeff Smithers, Dr David Clark and Dr Thomas Kjeldsen. Robyn’s work focused on the development of a hydrological modelling tool to account for specific natural and anthropogenic phenomena experienced in Indian catchments.
Robyn began her undergraduate degree at UKZN in 2014, despite basically “growing up” on campus. Her journey started in the discipline of Engineering but Hydrology always had a stronghold on her heart and in 2016, she graduated with a BSc in Hydrology and Soil Science and in 2017, Honours cum laude in Hydrology.
During her time working on projects in India, Robyn identified a significant issue she wanted to tackle and in 2020, she got the opportunity to use what she had learnt working in developing countries to develop her PhD concept. During this time, Robyn moved from UKCEH to a leading global multi-disciplinary software company, Autodesk, to work as a technical specialist in their water sector, which focuses on the European, African, Middle East and Indian regions.
Dr Horan is a bona-fide Hydrologist trained within the CWRR and this achievement reflects her motivation, tenacity and perseverance. Robyn would like to thank her family, friends, fiancé and the CWRR for their continued support. It really is the fairytale ending to nine official but in reality, a 28 year association at UKZN through her proud father, Mark Horan.