Julian Conrad, Hydrogeologist and GIS Analyst
Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research, South Africa
I work for the Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa as
a hydrogeologist and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyst.
The CSIR is a national science council of about 2,500 people. Approximately
40 percent of the CSIR funding is provided by government grants
for research, and the balance is secured by consulting contracts.
My work concentrates on ground water exploration, development, management,
and protection. I use GIS as an analytical tool for addressing,
analyzing, and visualizing groundwater problems.
I was interested in studying further
in the fields of both hydrogeology and GIS at a master's level when
I met Dr. Mandy Lombard at a GIS User Group meeting here in Cape
Town. She had just returned from completing post-doctorate work
at the Environmental Data Center (EDC) at URI. She spoke very highly
of her time there. After I met Professor Peter August while he was
teaching a course at the University of Cape Town, my mind was made
up that URI was the place I wanted to be.
I was employed by the CSIR prior to
attending URI (from 1994 to 1995), and so I returned here after
completing my studies. In the three years since my return, the nature
of my work has changed. I now manage our GIS lab and am a project
leader (i.e., responsible for securing projects and completing them
according to the Terms of Reference, on budget and on time) for
both GIS and non-GIS projects.
The skills I obtained at URI include
a solid grounding in hydrogeology, soil science, and GIS. It also
benefited me to observe how a large GIS laboratory is operated and
managed. Teaching undergraduates for a semester was a big boost
for my confidence and my public speaking skills. Professor August
generated an atmosphere of hard work whilst ensuring it was enjoyable
and fun. I sometimes face situations where I am not sure how to
respond, and then I think "Well, how would Pete handle this?"
His openness in the management of the lab was outstanding, and I
have tried to replicate those attributes in running the GIS lab
at CSIR.
Being involved in projects that entail
both groundwater supply and groundwater protection is satisfying
because basic human needs are being met and environmental concerns
are being addressed. I am currently involved in research (non-GIS-based)
that explores the impact of agriculture on groundwater quality.
One of the resulting products is a "Good Farming Practice Guide"
handbook that will be widely distributed across the country. There
has been a lot of interest in this work from Australia. Another
project uses GIS to map the vulnerability of our groundwater resources
to contamination (very important for land-use planning). We are
also developing a methodology to determine the safe (sustainable)
yield of our country's aquifers. This is important for meeting the
needs of people who are without 25 liters/day of drinking water
within 200 m of their homes (an estimated 12 million South Africans
fall into this category). This minimum requirement has been introduced
as part of the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) implemented
in 1994 by the new government. Another of my projects uses GIS to
select large regional waste disposal sites to be serviced by a "waste
by rail" scheme. I have completed this work for one province
and the work is to be expanded nationally. We have built a GIS-based
aquifer management system (customized using Avenue, a computer programming
language) for a sole-source aquifer that we manage. This aquifer
contains more than 200 boreholes and in excess of 15 years of data.
We also carry out en-vironmental (groundwater) impact monitoring
at a number of very large waste sites throughout the country. My
work is varied and of national and environmental importance. It
is particularly satisfying to apply modern technologies to address
these issues.
To be competitive in the marketplace
today, you need to have a number of skills. In no particular order
you require the following: writing (scientific reporting) and communication
skills, competence and confidence in making presentations, and information
technology (computing) skills. I would say it is important to gain
and learn as much from your studies as possible-good grades will,
of course, help. However, a varied and balanced lifestyle is healthy
and desirable. If one has the opportunity to take leadership roles,
these experiences will always be valuable.