Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Research and Enterprise Development
Abstract
In this GCTA we propose three projects to tackle significant environmental challenges; earthquakes, droughts and food security in DAC countries in the East African region.
Project 1 will focus on seismic risk mitigation in Malawi. In DAC countries, the lack of resources hinders effective seismic mitigation strategies and as a result, earthquakes can result in devastating human and school infrastructure loss. Malawi is one of the countries in the East African region that suffer greatly from this challenge. This is because traditional masonry structures are unreinforced and seismically vulnerable, there is rapid population growth and urbanization, and large earthquakes of M7.0 or greater can occur in the East African Rift (EAR). In Malawi Schools are often the only community buildings in a village and are used as refuges post-disaster. In addition to that, Malawi lack the means to predict seismic risk. To tackle this challenge, we will employ a two-pronged approach. First, we will deploy the seismic risk assessment tools developed as part of the PREPARE project in Malawi. This will enable the reliable assessment of seismic hazard (i.e., the probability that an earthquake will occur in a given geographic area, within a given window of time, and with certain ground motion intensity). Second, we will translate and contextualise the simple, low cost, easy to use tool developed as part of the SAFER project in Nepal for the pre-earthquake assessment of school buildings and the informed prioritization of school strengthening in Malawi.
PROJECT 2 will focus on adaptation to droughts in Kenya. Severe water shortage is one of the most pressing development challenges in the East African region, having been struck by 10 droughts since 2000 which led to three severe famines affecting millions of East Africans. As such there is a pressing need for relevant, timely, and practical information about water resources, particularly for rural agro-pastoral populations which are distant from decision-making centres. We propose to develop an App for this purpose. The App will provide users with seasonal forecasts of water scarcity (in the soil and groundwater) with uncertainty estimates at their location, allowing farmers to take appropriate decisions about crop variety for that season for example.
PROJECT 3 will focus on improving aquaculture production in Tanzania. The population of Tanzania is projected to increase from 56 million in 2018 to 129 million by 2050, resulting in unprecedented demand for fish protein. Tilapia aquaculture is proposed as an important solution to meet the increased demand. However, it has not yet expanded in line with demand, with access to appropriate broodstock and education cited as key concerns limiting expansion. A key issue is the widespread contamination of ponds by an invasive small-bodied tilapia species (the blue-spotted tilapia), which is indistinguishable as young fish from large bodied species (e.g. Nile tilapia). Elimination of this contamination has been recognised by the Tanzanian Government as a critical step to improve food production as the industry expands. This project will provide environmental DNA-based surveillance information to focus the developing aquaculture sector on large-bodied, high-yielding species, in addition to providing advice and information on where to obtain pure stock and appropriate feed and rearing conditions for favoured large-bodied species.
Project 1 will focus on seismic risk mitigation in Malawi. In DAC countries, the lack of resources hinders effective seismic mitigation strategies and as a result, earthquakes can result in devastating human and school infrastructure loss. Malawi is one of the countries in the East African region that suffer greatly from this challenge. This is because traditional masonry structures are unreinforced and seismically vulnerable, there is rapid population growth and urbanization, and large earthquakes of M7.0 or greater can occur in the East African Rift (EAR). In Malawi Schools are often the only community buildings in a village and are used as refuges post-disaster. In addition to that, Malawi lack the means to predict seismic risk. To tackle this challenge, we will employ a two-pronged approach. First, we will deploy the seismic risk assessment tools developed as part of the PREPARE project in Malawi. This will enable the reliable assessment of seismic hazard (i.e., the probability that an earthquake will occur in a given geographic area, within a given window of time, and with certain ground motion intensity). Second, we will translate and contextualise the simple, low cost, easy to use tool developed as part of the SAFER project in Nepal for the pre-earthquake assessment of school buildings and the informed prioritization of school strengthening in Malawi.
PROJECT 2 will focus on adaptation to droughts in Kenya. Severe water shortage is one of the most pressing development challenges in the East African region, having been struck by 10 droughts since 2000 which led to three severe famines affecting millions of East Africans. As such there is a pressing need for relevant, timely, and practical information about water resources, particularly for rural agro-pastoral populations which are distant from decision-making centres. We propose to develop an App for this purpose. The App will provide users with seasonal forecasts of water scarcity (in the soil and groundwater) with uncertainty estimates at their location, allowing farmers to take appropriate decisions about crop variety for that season for example.
PROJECT 3 will focus on improving aquaculture production in Tanzania. The population of Tanzania is projected to increase from 56 million in 2018 to 129 million by 2050, resulting in unprecedented demand for fish protein. Tilapia aquaculture is proposed as an important solution to meet the increased demand. However, it has not yet expanded in line with demand, with access to appropriate broodstock and education cited as key concerns limiting expansion. A key issue is the widespread contamination of ponds by an invasive small-bodied tilapia species (the blue-spotted tilapia), which is indistinguishable as young fish from large bodied species (e.g. Nile tilapia). Elimination of this contamination has been recognised by the Tanzanian Government as a critical step to improve food production as the industry expands. This project will provide environmental DNA-based surveillance information to focus the developing aquaculture sector on large-bodied, high-yielding species, in addition to providing advice and information on where to obtain pure stock and appropriate feed and rearing conditions for favoured large-bodied species.
Planned Impact
Project 1: SAFER PREPARED
Primary beneficiaries of the seismic risk ranking and retrofit prioritization App are schools, teachers, children and communities in Malawi followed by expanding to any geographical context. Infrastructure and emergency development organisations will also benefit.
- Schools can be prioritised for retrospective strengthening pre-earthquake based on building fragility, seismic hazard and population exposure saving children's and teachers lives and minimising educational disruption. Educational communities outcomes, social mobility and resilience to cope with both physical and mental challenges will be improved.
- The tool and underlying methodology can also be applied to residential and critical facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, power stations, and administrative building quality thereby saving lives and benefiting the economy.
- Science capacity can be increased through training stakeholders in the App promoting sound scientific and engineering approaches aiding understanding of earthquake hazard and vulnerability and expanding and embedding local capacity to deal with disasters.
- Government and international aid agencies can integrate seismic hazard and risk into policies for long-term infrastructure development and short-term emergency management enabling the prioritisation of their investments and value for money.
Project 2: Mobile phone App Development for Drought Adaptation in Drylands (MAD DAD)
Beneficiaries of the Swahili MAD DAD App will initially be remote, rural agro-pastoral drought-affected communities in Kenya's drylands followed by expansion to the rest of the East African countries. The App will also benefit humanitarian organisations.
- Agro-pastoralists can input into and use a free app transforming decision-making on and drought adaptation to the short- and long-term, improving crop yields, livelihoods, economics and resilience. Designing the app with an understanding of gendered behavioural norms will promote equitable access and empower female agro-pastoralists.
- Humanitarian organisations will be better able to respond to drought-related water scarcity and famine crises, as their interventions will be more accepted by the communities that have access to the relevant information.
- Kenyan ICT for development research capability will be increased enabling sustainable technology solutions to pressing development challenges. Community partnering on the App development helps feed in vital local knowledge, the App's acceptability, and capability for future ICT solutions.
Project 3: Environmental DNA Surveillance for Improved Aquaculture Production
Beneficiaries of the new diagnostic tests to increase Tilapia production are small-scale fish farmers in Tanzania (circa 19,000), hatchery workers, the Government, and the whole population of Tanzania.
Tanzanian Fish farmers will receive written, mobile and face to face communication about their stocks species status. This will encourage them to restock contaminated aquaculture ponds with higher quality fingerlings of high-yielding species from certified sources thereby increasing confidence and fish production.
Tanzanian Government environmental policy can be informed about a sustainable alternative to arable farming and livestock farming. In turn, informing agricultural policy with an aim to exploring further funding with donors.
Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute's (TAFIRI) gender-balanced team will be trained creating in-country infrastructure enhancing national capability for tilapia identification and capacity to use robust DNA monitoring methods for detecting the small-bodied invasive species.
The whole population's food supply will benefit as sustainable Aquaculture expansion is central to Tanzania. The population will increase from 53 million in 2015 to 138 million by 2050 (UN 2017), and smallholders restocking aquaculture ponds will supply sustainable fish protein to the growing population.
Primary beneficiaries of the seismic risk ranking and retrofit prioritization App are schools, teachers, children and communities in Malawi followed by expanding to any geographical context. Infrastructure and emergency development organisations will also benefit.
- Schools can be prioritised for retrospective strengthening pre-earthquake based on building fragility, seismic hazard and population exposure saving children's and teachers lives and minimising educational disruption. Educational communities outcomes, social mobility and resilience to cope with both physical and mental challenges will be improved.
- The tool and underlying methodology can also be applied to residential and critical facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, power stations, and administrative building quality thereby saving lives and benefiting the economy.
- Science capacity can be increased through training stakeholders in the App promoting sound scientific and engineering approaches aiding understanding of earthquake hazard and vulnerability and expanding and embedding local capacity to deal with disasters.
- Government and international aid agencies can integrate seismic hazard and risk into policies for long-term infrastructure development and short-term emergency management enabling the prioritisation of their investments and value for money.
Project 2: Mobile phone App Development for Drought Adaptation in Drylands (MAD DAD)
Beneficiaries of the Swahili MAD DAD App will initially be remote, rural agro-pastoral drought-affected communities in Kenya's drylands followed by expansion to the rest of the East African countries. The App will also benefit humanitarian organisations.
- Agro-pastoralists can input into and use a free app transforming decision-making on and drought adaptation to the short- and long-term, improving crop yields, livelihoods, economics and resilience. Designing the app with an understanding of gendered behavioural norms will promote equitable access and empower female agro-pastoralists.
- Humanitarian organisations will be better able to respond to drought-related water scarcity and famine crises, as their interventions will be more accepted by the communities that have access to the relevant information.
- Kenyan ICT for development research capability will be increased enabling sustainable technology solutions to pressing development challenges. Community partnering on the App development helps feed in vital local knowledge, the App's acceptability, and capability for future ICT solutions.
Project 3: Environmental DNA Surveillance for Improved Aquaculture Production
Beneficiaries of the new diagnostic tests to increase Tilapia production are small-scale fish farmers in Tanzania (circa 19,000), hatchery workers, the Government, and the whole population of Tanzania.
Tanzanian Fish farmers will receive written, mobile and face to face communication about their stocks species status. This will encourage them to restock contaminated aquaculture ponds with higher quality fingerlings of high-yielding species from certified sources thereby increasing confidence and fish production.
Tanzanian Government environmental policy can be informed about a sustainable alternative to arable farming and livestock farming. In turn, informing agricultural policy with an aim to exploring further funding with donors.
Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute's (TAFIRI) gender-balanced team will be trained creating in-country infrastructure enhancing national capability for tilapia identification and capacity to use robust DNA monitoring methods for detecting the small-bodied invasive species.
The whole population's food supply will benefit as sustainable Aquaculture expansion is central to Tanzania. The population will increase from 53 million in 2015 to 138 million by 2050 (UN 2017), and smallholders restocking aquaculture ponds will supply sustainable fish protein to the growing population.
Organisations
- University of Bristol (Lead Research Organisation)
- Education Infrastructure Management Unit (Collaboration)
- Global Earthquake Model Foundation (Collaboration)
- Malawi Government (Collaboration)
- Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (Collaboration)
- Addis Ababa University (Collaboration)
- Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Collaboration)
- University of East Anglia (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
- University of Malawi - The Polytechnic (Collaboration)
Publications
Chen S
(2022)
Exploring exogenous controls on short- versus long-term erosion rates globally
in Earth Surface Dynamics
Ciezarek A
(2022)
Whole genome resequencing data enables a targeted SNP panel for conservation and aquaculture of Oreochromis cichlid fishes
in Aquaculture
Cross T
(2023)
Micro-modelling of stone masonry template buildings as a strategy for seismic risk assessment in developing countries
in Engineering Structures
De Risi R
(2020)
The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu valley: Bayesian kriging for data-scarce regions
in Earthquake Spectra
Gilder C
(2022)
Geostatistical Framework for Estimation of VS30 in Data-Scarce Regions
in Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Giordano N
(2023)
Implications of building code enforcement and urban expansion on future earthquake loss in East Africa: case study-Blantyre, Malawi
in Natural Hazards
Giordano N
(2021)
Seismic fragility models for typical non-engineered URM residential buildings in Malawi
in Structures
Goda K
(2022)
Scenario-based earthquake risk assessment for central-southern Malawi: The case of the Bilila-Mtakataka Fault
in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Holmgren J
(2023)
A relocated earthquake catalog and ground motion database for the southern East African rift system
in Earthquake Spectra
Description | Project 1- SAFER prepared We have not yet reached the stage to deliver outcomes, however, we have completed the inventory of structural typologies of schools in Malawi in collaboration with the World Bank which has a similar initiative in this country. The next stage is to develop seismic hazard maps and assess the vulnerability of school buildings in Malawi to be integrated in the Mobile App for quick visual inspection of structural health. We have also initiated our work for assessing the resilience of educational communities in Malawi and the East African region, which will then further inform the database. Project 2- Mobile App development for drought adaptation in drylands (MAD DAD) The project has only just got underway, so there are no findings yet. We are in the planning and development phase of the community-based questionnaires, and in the development phase of background data for the mobile app. The community-based research in Kenya will inform the team of the user information needs with respect to climate adaptation and of the potential design of an app that meets user needs. Project 3- Environmental DNA surveillance for improved aquaculture production The project is in the early stages. The methods for detecting the invasive tilapia have been optimised, which has been challenging because of the genomic similarity between tilapia species. We have provided training in sampling and analytical methods. The next stages of the project are to sample aquaculture ponds, assay those samples, and quantify actions resulting from feedback provided to farmers. |
Exploitation Route | See text above. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment |
Description | This is a multi-project award. Two of the projects have yielded non-academic impacts: 1. Drought adaptation in East Africa (Katerina Michaelides): We have integrated our new water forecasting tool within the regional East Africa Climate Services (ICPAC's) app (the East Africa Hazards Watch app) as a pilot to providing seasonal water forecasts to a wider range of users. We are now in the process of integrating with 3 other apps (one in Somalia, one in Kenya and one in Ethiopia) that target different livelihoods groups and different populations. We plan to operationalise over the next year with a range of modalities of communication (sms, whatsapp messaging, smartphone apps etc). The potential impact of this is that tailored information about the upcoming season will reach a wide range of end-users in rural communities that do not tend to have access to information and assist in decision-making relative to agriculture, pastoralism and access to water for domestic use. So the impact is yet forthcoming, but we are close. 2. Aquaculture (Martin Genner): Our results enabled us to formally characterise the extent that an invasive species has impacted a key inland aquaculture region of Tanzania. Our key message about the widespread occurrence but current low abundance of invasive tilapia species has been widely shared with stakeholders in the form of a report (September 2021), and a presentation at a national fisheries meeting attended by key governmental, industrial, academic and NGO stakeholders (FAR4ViBE, July 2022). There is now a broad understanding at the national level of the need to vigilant about invasive species, to ensure high-yielding species dominate tilapia aquaculture. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | (DOWN2EARTH) - DOWN2EARTH: Translation of climate information into multilevel decision support for social adaptation, policy development, and resilience to water scarcity in the Horn of Africa Drylands |
Amount | € 6,645,664 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 869550 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 08/2020 |
End | 08/2024 |
Description | SAFER BUILD: Novel construction of a low-cost seismically isolated school in Kageshori, Nepal |
Amount | £49,849 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Bristol |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2020 |
End | 03/2022 |
Title | Testing for the presence of harmful species in aquaculture using environmental DNA methods |
Description | We have developed methods for the identification of tilapia species in aquaculture ponds in East Africa. The method involves the collection and extraction of DNA, removal of PCR inhibitors, and the amplification of species-specific mitochondrial DNA fragments. We are now able to confirm the presence of the three main species found in Eastern Tanzania, namely Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Wami tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis) and blue-spotted tilapia (Oreochromis leucostictus). |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The project has implemented the method during 2020 and 2021 to screen aquaculture ponds in Tanzania, and the results are being prepared for dissemination. |
Title | Water forecasts included in ICPAC's East Africa Hazards Watch App |
Description | We have developed a novel water balance model for drylands (DRYP) - https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/14/6893/2021/, and we now have combined the application of this model with seasonal rainfall forecasts to produce novel seasonal water forecasts for soil moisture (affects crop growth), groundwater (affects drinking water availability) and streamflow (affects flooding). Our water forecasts are now embedded within ICPAC's East Africa Hazards Watch app (https://eahazardswatch.icpac.net/) as a new set of layers. This app is used by a range of practitioners and organisations across the region. The plan is to continue rolling this out in the future and embedding our research products within their app. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Too early for impacts, but potentially our research product (water forecasts) may be used by a range of stakeholders for decision making and climate adaptation. |
URL | https://eahazardswatch.icpac.net/ |
Title | DRYP 1.0 |
Description | DRYP is a modular, versatile, and parsimonious Python-based model which can be used to anticipate and plan for climatic and anthropogenic changes to water fluxes and storage in dryland regions. The model incorporates the key processes of water partitioning in dryland regions with limited data requirements and it has been tested in data-rich catchments in the USA and in large (15,000 km2) basins in Kenya. We are now applying it to basins in Ethiopia and Somaliland and it forms the basis for producing seasonal water forecasts. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We now use it to produce seasonal water forecasts for large basins in Kenya and have ran side events at the GHACOF to showcase these to stakeholders (see engagement section). |
URL | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/14/6893/2021/ |
Title | Hourly potential evapotranspiration (hPET) at 0.1degs grid resolution for the global land surface from 1981-present |
Description | Hourly potential evapotranspiration data product from 1981-present with annual data updates each January. Hourly potential evapotranspiration (PET) product derived from using FAO's Penman-Monteith formulation with hourly climate variables from ERA5-Land. This dataset covers the time period 1981-present at 0.1 degs spatial resolution over the global land area. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Many uses around the world - the database is open access and is being downloaded and used by many. |
URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-021-01003-9 |
Title | Malawi Active Fault Database |
Description | First release of the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD) associated with a publication in review with the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geosystems. To reference this database please refer to the latest release of the dataset on Github and Zenodo and prior to publication please also cite: Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N. J., Scholz, C. A., Kolawole, F., Wright, L. J. M., Shillington, D., Fagereng, Å., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P. R. N., Werner, M. J. (2021), The Malawi Active Fault Database: an onshore-offshore database for regional assessment of seismic hazard and tectonic evoultion. PREPRINT Earth and Space Science Open Archive, doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10507158.1 We will update this citation when the manuscript is accepted for publication. For full details of the database, please refer to the journal article above. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A at this stage |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5507190 |
Title | Malawi PREPARE 2016-2019 - GPS/GNSS Observations (Aggregation of Multiple Datasets) |
Description | Aggregate DOI for GPS/GNSS campaigns: Short-term occupations at multiple locations |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A at this stage |
URL | https://www.unavco.org/data/doi/10.7283/FASE-5453 |
Title | Malawi Seismogenic Source Database |
Description | First release of the Malawi Seismogenic Source Database. This release is linked to the associated manuscript, which has been submitted to Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Science. The Malawi Seismogenic Source Database (MSSD) is a geospatial database that documents the geometry, slip rate and seismogenic properties (ie earthquake magnitude and frequency) of active faults in Malawi. Each geospatial feature represents a potential earthquake rupture of 'source' and is classified based on its geometry into one of three types: - section - fault - multi-fault |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A at this stage |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5599617#.Yi9xcXrP2Uk |
Description | Bristol University and Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute |
Organisation | Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute |
Country | Tanzania, United Republic of |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Bristol University is collaborating with the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) to share methodological developments in the diagnosis of the species composition of aquaculture ponds in Tanzania. We are providing training in sampling environmental DNA from aquaculture ponds, the extraction of the DNA and the testing of the species composition. This enables the identification of small-bodied species that compromise aquaculture production. |
Collaborator Contribution | Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) bring core knowledge of the aquaculture industry in Tanzania, and the specific locations of aquaculture ponds. They have the necessary permits and contacts to enable testing of the ponds, and the required infrastructure needed for field sampling and laboratory analyses. They also provide the leadership required to manage technical staff and disseminate results to farmers and governmental policy markers. |
Impact | Although Bristol and TAFIRI have collaborated since 2011, this project is an extension of the collaboration. We have a track record of publication with TAFIRI, currently standing at over 20 scientific papers. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Buildings Department of Malawi, Science and Techology, University of Malawi - The Polytechnic |
Organisation | University of Malawi - The Polytechnic |
Country | Malawi |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | ongoing |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | DRIER collaborative partnership |
Organisation | Addis Ababa University |
Country | Ethiopia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | My research team and I contribute expertise on dryland hydrology, climatology and water balance. We develop models and tools for modelling how climate translates into water in and on the ground in dryland regions. Michaelides is the lead PI on this collaborative grant. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners are social scientists with expertise on climate adaptation in rural drylands in East Africa. We are collaborating to better understand barriers and enablers to climate adaptation in East African dryland regions. |
Impact | Royal Society Challenge-Led grant (Michaelides is PI). Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving hydrologists, climate scientists, social scientists and dryland livelihoods experts. Papers: Quichimbo, E.A., Singer, M.B., MICHAELIDES, K., Hobley, D.E.J., Rosolem, R. and Cuthbert, M.O. (2021) DRYP 1.0: a parsimonious hydrological model of DRYland Partitioning of the water balance. Geoscientific Model Development, 14, 6893-6917, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-6893-2021 Singer, M.S, Asfaw, D.T., Rosolem, R. Cuthbert, M.O., Miralles, D.G., MacLeod, D., Quichimbo, E.A. and MICHAELIDES, K. (2021) Hourly potential evapotranspiration at 0.1° resolution for the global land surface from 1981-present. Scientific Data 8, 224, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01003-9 Adloff, M., Singer, M.B. MacLeod, D.A., MICHAELIDES, K., Mehrnegar, N., Hansford, E., Funk, C., Mitchell, D. (2022) Sustained water storage in Horn of Africa drylands dominated by seasonal rainfall extremes. Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099299 Asfaw, D.T., Singer, M.B., Rosolem, R., MacLeod, D., Cuthbert, M.O., Quichimbo, E.A. Rios Gaona, M.R., MICHAELIDES, K. (2023) stoPET v1. 0: A stochastic potential evapotranspiration generator for simulation of climate change impacts. Geoscientific Model Development https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2022-128. MacLeod, D.A., Quichimbo, A.E., MICHAELIDES, K., Asfaw, D., Rosolem, R., Cuthbert, M.O., Otenyo, E., Segele, Z., Rigby, R., Otieno, G., Hassaballah, K., Tadege, A.., Singer, M.B. (2023, in press) Translating seasonal climate forecasts into water balance forecasts for decision making. PLOS Climate. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | DRIER collaborative partnership |
Organisation | University of East Anglia |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | My research team and I contribute expertise on dryland hydrology, climatology and water balance. We develop models and tools for modelling how climate translates into water in and on the ground in dryland regions. Michaelides is the lead PI on this collaborative grant. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners are social scientists with expertise on climate adaptation in rural drylands in East Africa. We are collaborating to better understand barriers and enablers to climate adaptation in East African dryland regions. |
Impact | Royal Society Challenge-Led grant (Michaelides is PI). Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving hydrologists, climate scientists, social scientists and dryland livelihoods experts. Papers: Quichimbo, E.A., Singer, M.B., MICHAELIDES, K., Hobley, D.E.J., Rosolem, R. and Cuthbert, M.O. (2021) DRYP 1.0: a parsimonious hydrological model of DRYland Partitioning of the water balance. Geoscientific Model Development, 14, 6893-6917, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-6893-2021 Singer, M.S, Asfaw, D.T., Rosolem, R. Cuthbert, M.O., Miralles, D.G., MacLeod, D., Quichimbo, E.A. and MICHAELIDES, K. (2021) Hourly potential evapotranspiration at 0.1° resolution for the global land surface from 1981-present. Scientific Data 8, 224, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01003-9 Adloff, M., Singer, M.B. MacLeod, D.A., MICHAELIDES, K., Mehrnegar, N., Hansford, E., Funk, C., Mitchell, D. (2022) Sustained water storage in Horn of Africa drylands dominated by seasonal rainfall extremes. Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099299 Asfaw, D.T., Singer, M.B., Rosolem, R., MacLeod, D., Cuthbert, M.O., Quichimbo, E.A. Rios Gaona, M.R., MICHAELIDES, K. (2023) stoPET v1. 0: A stochastic potential evapotranspiration generator for simulation of climate change impacts. Geoscientific Model Development https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2022-128. MacLeod, D.A., Quichimbo, A.E., MICHAELIDES, K., Asfaw, D., Rosolem, R., Cuthbert, M.O., Otenyo, E., Segele, Z., Rigby, R., Otieno, G., Hassaballah, K., Tadege, A.., Singer, M.B. (2023, in press) Translating seasonal climate forecasts into water balance forecasts for decision making. PLOS Climate. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | DRIER collaborative partnership |
Organisation | University of Nairobi |
Country | Kenya |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | My research team and I contribute expertise on dryland hydrology, climatology and water balance. We develop models and tools for modelling how climate translates into water in and on the ground in dryland regions. Michaelides is the lead PI on this collaborative grant. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners are social scientists with expertise on climate adaptation in rural drylands in East Africa. We are collaborating to better understand barriers and enablers to climate adaptation in East African dryland regions. |
Impact | Royal Society Challenge-Led grant (Michaelides is PI). Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving hydrologists, climate scientists, social scientists and dryland livelihoods experts. Papers: Quichimbo, E.A., Singer, M.B., MICHAELIDES, K., Hobley, D.E.J., Rosolem, R. and Cuthbert, M.O. (2021) DRYP 1.0: a parsimonious hydrological model of DRYland Partitioning of the water balance. Geoscientific Model Development, 14, 6893-6917, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-6893-2021 Singer, M.S, Asfaw, D.T., Rosolem, R. Cuthbert, M.O., Miralles, D.G., MacLeod, D., Quichimbo, E.A. and MICHAELIDES, K. (2021) Hourly potential evapotranspiration at 0.1° resolution for the global land surface from 1981-present. Scientific Data 8, 224, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01003-9 Adloff, M., Singer, M.B. MacLeod, D.A., MICHAELIDES, K., Mehrnegar, N., Hansford, E., Funk, C., Mitchell, D. (2022) Sustained water storage in Horn of Africa drylands dominated by seasonal rainfall extremes. Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099299 Asfaw, D.T., Singer, M.B., Rosolem, R., MacLeod, D., Cuthbert, M.O., Quichimbo, E.A. Rios Gaona, M.R., MICHAELIDES, K. (2023) stoPET v1. 0: A stochastic potential evapotranspiration generator for simulation of climate change impacts. Geoscientific Model Development https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2022-128. MacLeod, D.A., Quichimbo, A.E., MICHAELIDES, K., Asfaw, D., Rosolem, R., Cuthbert, M.O., Otenyo, E., Segele, Z., Rigby, R., Otieno, G., Hassaballah, K., Tadege, A.., Singer, M.B. (2023, in press) Translating seasonal climate forecasts into water balance forecasts for decision making. PLOS Climate. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) Malawi |
Organisation | Department of Disaster Management Affairs |
Country | Malawi |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | ongoing |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Education Infrastructure Management Unit |
Organisation | Education Infrastructure Management Unit |
Country | Malawi |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | ongoing |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Geological Survey Department of Malawi |
Organisation | Government of Malawi |
Department | Department of Geological Survey |
Country | Malawi |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | ongoing |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Global Earthquake Model (GEM). |
Organisation | Global Earthquake Model Foundation |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | ongoing |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | MAD DAD collaborations |
Organisation | University of Nairobi |
Country | Kenya |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are collaborating with colleagues in the School of Computing and Informatics at the University of Nairobi to co-design and develop a mobile phone app that aids in climate adaptation in rural, dryland agro-pastoral communities in Kenya. We contribute expertise in human-computer interactions (HCI), dryland hydro-climatology and app development. We are collaborating to work together in rural communities to better understand user information needs in the context of climate adaptation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners at the University of Nairobi are contributing expertise in ICT for development and community-based research. They have carried out prior research on the use of technology in climate adaptation within rural Kenyan communities and have experience with local contexts and user information needs. |
Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and dryland hydro-climatologists. Rigby, J.M., Yohannis, M.A., Preist, C., Singer, M.B., Waema, T.M., Wausi, A.N. and MICHAELIDES, K.. (2022) Climate services for the Greater Horn of Africa: interviews exploring practitioner perspectives from Kenya and beyond. Climate and Development, https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2022.2074350 Rigby, J.M., Stawarz, K., Aden, A., Elmi, M., Saeed, A., Stokes, K., Preist, C. and MICHAELIDES, K. Exploring the information needs of Somaliland pastoralists: Design tensions and considerations for climate adaptation technologies (in review) ACM Designing Interactive Systems |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | PREPARE project |
Organisation | University of Bristol |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Organised meetings with the EPSRC funded GCRF project PREPARE, which is lead by colleagues at the University of Bristol. Shared knowledge, informed and updated about research outcomes at various points. Collaborated together to prepare the Translational Award to increase impact of the web app developed through the SAFER project. |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared knowledge, informed and updated about research outcomes at various points. Collaborated together to prepare the Translational Award to increase impact of the web app developed through the SAFER project. |
Impact | Successful application for Translational award which will allow for further development of the SAFER app with the aim for it to rolled out in an alternative context in this case, Malawi. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Title | IP Agreement with the World Bank |
Description | This is a Memorandum of Understanding covering legal issues of Intelectual Property in terms of using data provided by the World Bank or produced by the University of Bristol by using these data. |
IP Reference | |
Protection | Copyrighted (e.g. software) |
Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | This has facilitated the collaboration between the University of Bristol and the World Bank and has seamlessly led to joint publications, papers, presentations and report. |
Description | Aug 2022 - GHACOF side event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We presented our dryland water forecasting capability and its inclusion in the East Africa Hazards Watch app. This generated a lot of interest for further engagement with practitioners and institutions in the wider East Africa region. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | COMET Webinar: Seismic Hazard in East Africa from Continental rifting of thick lithosphere |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | In addition to those attending the webinar live, the talk has been viewed over 150 times on YouTube at the time of writing. The webinar was part of a series run by the Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET): https://comet.nerc.ac.uk/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7lRugJTHBQ |
Description | Conducted survey for school buildings and community resilience using mobile app and paper questionnaire |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Survey conducted by Dr Ignasio Ngoma, Mr Innocent Kafodya and colleagues on the resilience to both school buildings and communities, using a mobile app and paper questionnaire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Deutsche-Welle (DW) live news interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Katerina Michaelides was interviewed live on DW international news channel on the 3rd November 2022 about droughts in East Africa. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Feb 2022 - GHACOF side event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | In Feb 2022 we ran another GHACOF side event. In this event we showcased our new experimental water forecasts based on the upcoming seasonal forecast (in other words, we used rainfall forecasts and coupled with our model, we produced novel water forecasts for soil moisture groundwater and streamflow). This engaged with GHACOF community and led to feedback and discussion. There was a great amount of interest of uptake. Here is a YouTube video of this event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ7BOSwupPw |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ7BOSwupPw |
Description | Joint workshop between PREPARE and SAFER 21 January 2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Joint workshop between two EPSRC GCRF projects lead at University of Bristol. Members form the SAFER team met with the PREPARE project Advisory Board. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | May 2021 - GHACOF side event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We run a participatory side event at the May 2021 GHACOF (Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum) to showcase our novel water balance model and elicit feedback and use cases. The GHACOF is a major regional Climate Outlook Forum for the 11 countries in the Greater Horn of Africa and it takes place 3 times a year in advance of the seasonal rains. It provides a forecast of the upcoming season and participants from Meteorological services and other related organisations (water authorities, disaster management, food security, agriculture) from all 11 countries. Since the pandemic, it has been run virtually which allows a broader international audience. Through our collaboration with ICPAC (the major regional climate services provider) we were given a slot to run an event at the May 2021 GHACOF. We had ~60-70 participants. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation at the FAR4VIBE Conference July 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presentation at the FAR4VIBE Fisheries and Aquaculture Research for a Vibrant Blue Economy Conference in Dar es Salaam 2022. Work from this project was presented as part of a keynote talk, on the opportunities provided by environmental DNA analyses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation titled 'Quantifying school community resilience in Nepal' made at Understanding and Modelling Complex Risks in Coupled Human-Environment Systems workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presentation made at three-day workshop on Understanding and Modelling Complex Risks in Coupled Human-Environment Systems, which sought to bring together scientists and practitioners in the field of modelling risk in human and environmental systems. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to EU H2020 project workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Dr Jake Rigby (PDRA) presented our study on the end-user interviews to a joint seminar/workshop between two EU-funded H2020 projects on climate services in East Africa |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Rifts and Rifted Margins Seminar Series: Rifting and Rheological heterogeneity: from fault damage zones to plate boundaries |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The following seminar was delivered by Dr Luke Wedmore: 'Rifting & rheological heterogeneity: from fault damage zones to plate boundaries' as part of the Rift and Rifted Margins Online Seminar Series (hosted by GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam). In addition to those attending the seminar live, the talk has been viewed over 110 times on YouTube at the time of writing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaJEbXLTd9E |
Description | Rifts and Rifted Margins Seminar Series: Strin localization and inheritance |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The following seminar was delivered by Dr Ake Fagereng: 'How do inherited, ductile structures influence active rifting?' as part of the Rift and Rifted Margins Online Seminar Series (hosted by GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam). In addition to those attending the seminar live, the talk has been viewed over 250 times on YouTube at the time of writing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFIeVK9d-Z8&t=52s |
Description | SAFER PREPARED Webinar: Seismic Safety and Resilience of Schools in Malawi - Feb 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 200 invitees, over 70 attendees, primarily from Malawi. Invitees included District Education Managers, Government officials, Academics, Arup and Advisory Board members from SAFER PREPARED and PREPARE. Excellent feedback and engagement from attendees, reporting that the content was very useful and informative. Recordings published on SAFER PREPARED webpage |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/research/safer-prepared/ |
Description | Short film co-produced with BBC Media Action |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | This short film, co-produced with BBC Media Action, explores how people in rural dryland communities in Kenya access and use different type of climate/weather forecasts to make livelihood decisions. The film was shown at COP27 as part of two side events (WMO and EU) on "Climate Services for Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa". |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEPH8W6msV4 |
Description | Training in environmental DNA sampling |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We provided training in environmental DNA sampling methods for colleagues at the Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute, which enabled them to reliably conduct the fieldwork required for the next steps of the project. The training was orginally planned to take place in person, but was replaced by a video (https://youtu.be/t63fmKdkkUk) and written protocol (https://git.io/JJiSF). The final analyses will be presented and discussed at a stakeholder workshop in March 2022. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://youtu.be/t63fmKdkkUk |
Description | Training to use a mobile and web app for community resilience assessment. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Training for the use of a mobile and web app for community resilience assessment. There were four participants from Malawi who later used the mobile app to collect data through a field survey. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Webinar: Seismic Resilience of School Buildings and Communities in Malawi and East Africa |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This webinar focused on how the seismic resilience of school buildings and communities in Malawi and East Africa can be improved. Over 100 people registered for the event, which featured a range of talks from engineers, earth scientists and stakeholders who are related to the SAFER PREPARED project. The event was predominantly aimed at those based in Malawi and East Africa as well as others who have a research, professional or policy interest in community and infrastructure resilience in the region and beyond. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.saferpreparedafrica.net/safer-prepared-int-workshop.html |