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.
