Graduation: MSc Limnology and Wetland Management students are awarded degrees
After almost two years of intensive studies and research in Austria, Kenya and the Netherlands, a group of students were awarded their degrees last week – proof of their new knowledge and skills in limnology and wetland management.
The students graduated with MScs in Limnology and Wetland Management, a joint masters programme offered by IHE Delft, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria, and Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya. Six students were awarded degrees in a ceremony held 28 June at IHE Delft, with a seventh student receiving her degree a few days later.
Vital ecosystems
Wetlands provide vital ecosystem services and livelihoods for millions of people, but they are vulnerable to human-made threats, and in his speech during the graduation ceremony, IHE Delft Business Director Johan Aad van Dijk emphasised that the graduates – future water leaders – are needed to tackle these challenges.
“The management of inland water and wetlands is critical for environmental health, biodiversity and human well-being. Managing inland water and wetlands is not an easy task, and the threats are many. We have to deal with climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, poor water management and allocation practices, socio-economic pressures , land-use change” and more, he said. “I congratulate you all and hope your career will be as satisfying and impactful as we expect.”
Learning journey
Graduate Praise Ainomugisha of Uganda said the programme had taught her more than water and wetlands preservation and restoration: “It is a journey of learning different things, of gaining exposure - this programme is really something that opens your eyes to different aspects,” she said during the ceremony. “I am really looking forward to transferring knowledge and skills to my country for sustainable development.”
“I am really looking forward to transferring knowledge and skills to my country for sustainable development.”
For graduate Amose Ouko Obonyo of Kenya, the hands-on work included in the programme was particularly useful: “What I loved most is the practical nature of this programme. We learned a lot through practice,” he said. “This course prepared us quite nicely for the future, in terms of practicality.”
IHE Delft’s coordinator for the joint progamme, John P. Simaika, Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology and Conservation, reflected on the impact of biodiversity loss in his speech: “Knowing that freshwater biodiversity has declined 83% since 1970, imagine how much more wonder there was in the world just 20 years ago,” he said, “This makes it all the more important to see you here today: you are either current or future ambassadors of wetland conservation.”
The day before the students’ graduation, an agreement to renew the institutions’ cooperation until 2031 was signed by Johan Aad van Dijk in the presence of the programme coordinators: Egerton Professor Nzula Kitaka and Philine Trnka of BOKU as well as John P. Simaika. Since the cooperation’s launch in 2000, more than 200 participants, mostly from Africa, but also from Asia and other parts of the world, have benefitted from the programme.
The MSc in Limnology and Wetlands Management was IHE Delft’s first joint master’s degree. The Institute now is part of two more joint MSc programmes, Water Cooperation and Diplomacy and Water Science and Engineering in Hydropower Development. It is also part of four Erasmus Joint Master Degree programmes that focus on solutions for global water issues such as environmental degradation, floods and droughts.
John Simaika
Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology & Conservation
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