Grite N Mwaijengo
Dr Mwaijengo holds a PhD in Biology (Freshwater Ecology and Water Resources Management) from KU Leuven, Belgium; an MSc in Environmental Engineering from Chongqing University, China; and a BSc (Hons) in Aquatic Environmental Sciences and Conservation from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She works as a Lecturer at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), in Arusha, Tanzania. Dr Mwaijengo also serves as Vice Chairperson of the Water Research Group at NM-AIST.
Dr Mwaijengo is an expert in the field of freshwater ecology and water resources management. Her research interests span the areas of freshwater ecosystem health, biomonitoring, restoration of aquatic ecosystems, water quality, bioinformatics, river network models, environmental flow assessment, biostatistics, and integrated water resource management. She is also interested in the application of GIS and Remote Sensing and the development and use of eco-hydrological tools in the assessment and monitoring of freshwater ecosystems. Dr Mwaijengo is keenly interested in using her expertise to influence policy and decision-making processes on sustainable management of the freshwater ecosystems in Tanzania and the East African Great Lakes region through sound scientific research and information.
With a GBIF/BID-funded project, she has mobilized baseline freshwater biodiversity data from northeastern Tanzania, identified strategic long-term monitoring sites and mainstreamed freshwater biodiversity information into the heart of the decision-making process. She is currently developing a freshwater biodiversity information portal (FBIP) for Tanzania. FBIP aims to provide Tanzania’s first platform for hosting, visualizing and sharing freshwater biodiversity information for rapid and reliable assessments of change in freshwater biodiversity and associated ecosystem condition. Thereby supporting better-informed freshwater management decisions and conservation planning projects. With the VLIR-UOS project, she uniquely studied the influence of land use on river health conditions in the upper Pangani Basin. She is using her research results, together with the VLIR-OUS team, to develop policy-brief to inform policy and decision-makers on sustainable management of river ecosystems in the basin.
Dr Mwaijengo works with river basin management authorities and local government to conduct river health assessment, river biomonitoring, water quality assessment and land-use management and provide training on biodiversity data mobilization and publication and water resources management. She is a member of the Lake Victoria Advisory Group where she brings her expertise to contribute to strengthening the capacity in research, policy, programs, and the overall conservation and management of East African Great Lakes particularly the Lake Victoria Basin. Dr Mwaijengo has authored and co-authored multiple scientific contributions in international peer-reviewed journals.
Abstracts this author is presenting: