Qondisa Mbekwa-Chairperson & Secretariat

I am a first year MSc student registered at the University of the Western Cape. My thesis project aims to model the demand and supply of water in non-perennial rivers and assess how they affect the availability of water for ecological purposes in these rivers. I joined SAEON as a hydrology intern in 2017, I’m fascinated by surface water hydrology. I’ve been involved in various projects at SAEON, mostly field work. I’ve participated in a project which assessed water quality and quantity of wetlands at the Cape Agulhas. I’ve provided fieldwork assistance and did maintenance on our field equipment. I’ve also carried out a soil moisture project, with the aim of assessing soil moisture patterns over a five-year period. Outside my academia, I enjoy reading novels, enhancing my sewing skills and encouraging primary school kids to read through our reading club, with a mandate of instilling the reading culture at a very young age to improve vocabulary.