Today is the last day of our PASCAL project in Accra. While the group is still working hard with Dr. Jirka Šimůnek and Dr. Roland Baatz to get to know the software “Hydrus” and to implement their own data to model water flows and contaminant transports in soils we ask some participants to give us a short feedback on the week. For us it was a pleasure working with you guys. We really enjoyed your interest in the subject and your enthusiasm at the courses. Hopefully we will meet again soon.
So, here comes the feedback of some of the PASCAL participants…
Nina Rholan Houngue
“Attending PASCAL’s program will definitely be beneficial for my career as scientist and for improving the efficiency and the reliability of the outputs of my scientific research. Furthermore, through the side event program, I got to know more about Germany and the scholarship opportunities it offers, because I am interested in completing a PhD in Germany.”
Nina is a PhD student from the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) in Ghana. She is an early career scientist who graduated a Master degree in the field of Climate Change and Human Security. So far, her research works focused on surface water modelling. Actually, she has worked on the assessment of future climate impact on the discharge of a transboundary river shared between the Republics of Benin and Togo, called Mono River.
Francis Oussou
“This program is a good solution to help Africa universities improve more quickly. If the program can take place more than one time a year and cover many other fields, it will be quite great.”
Francis Oussou is a Freelancer at the National Water Institute at the Applied Hydrology Laboratory in Benin. Water infiltration through the soil towards the groundwater is a complex process not well covered in my home country, he says. Francis has been using satellite images for water analysis, but as there is a huge released database available he is planning to build a platform which can collect those data in real time and provide maps and other derived product for free in West Africa. The Terrestrial Modelling and High-Performance Scientific Computing course program served as a tool to achieve that goal.
Immaculata Emekwuru
“I hope to put in my best to develop my skills and knowledge in this area and contribute immensely to the knowledge of this field and make impact on PASCAL’s African sustainable development scheme.”
Immaculata Emekwuru is a PhD research student at the Department of Microbiology, in the Rivers State University, Nigeria. Her current area of research is on modelling tools for assessing the Microorganisms and Soil quality associated with the Cucurbits plants found in the domestic waste dumpsite soils. She intend to use models taught at PASCAL to assess the microbial community and its influence on the flow of soil contaminants and nutrients surrounding the cucurbits plant roots.
Boris Ouattara
“The training theme is of a special relevance to my professional goals and career objectives. As a special added value of this event I found the opportunity to network with other students and professionals from all over the world, which is an exceptional opportunity for horizontal exchange of experience.”
Boris is a research assistant at the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) in Ghana.
