Three South African researchers in the water sector – Dr Inga Jacobs, Craig Sheridan and Dr Heidi Snyman– were recently honoured for their contributions to the sector at the Excellence in Water Research Awards at the CSIR Knowledge Commons in Pretoria.

Held on 18 October 2012, the awards were held in honour of Dr Gerrie Stander, described by WISA president Ronald Brown as “one of the greatest aquarians born in South Africa”. WISA, the WRC and the CSIR hosted the awards evening in acknowledgement of focused, productive, multidisciplinary research dedicated to the growth and intellect of the respective research disciplines.

Young researchers

Dr Inga Jacobs of the WRC was honoured as the Female Young Researcher, with a presentation entitled, ‘Bringing the United Nations Watercourses Convention (UNWC) home? A multi-level water governance framework in the Orange-Senqu River Basin in South Africa’. Apart from her current role as research manager: knowledge management at the WRC, Jacobs is also currently on a number of boards, including that of WISA, and is chairperson of the IWA Young Water Professionals.

Dr Craig Sheridan, who was honoured Male Young Researcher, gave a presentation on ‘Water: The intra/inter/cross disciplinary research arena’. Currently registered for a PhD, Sheridan is a lecturer at the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg where he is presently supervising 10 water-related undergraduate research projects and co-supervising eight postgraduate students, seven of which are involved in water-related projects.

Memorial Lecture

The Memorial Lecture, ‘Water for Individual Growth and Development’, was presented by the final honouree for the night, Dr Heidi Snyman, integrated water and waste specialist at Golder Associates and until very recently director of water-centred knowledge at the WRC.

The standard this year was exceptionally high, according to WISA vice-president Jo Burgess. “My personal take home message is one of enormous optimism. There seems to be a belief that locally we are not up to international standards. The reality is that we compare well and South Africans are leading the world in lots of ways, especially when it comes to water. We are a very passionate sector,” said Burgess in closing.