UMP - Prof. G.C. O’Brien

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Prof. G.C. O’Brien

Senior Lecturer
Gordon.obrien@ump.ac.za
013 002 0252
Mbombela, Building 6. Annexure 3. Office 114 (first floor)

Aquatic Ecology, Zoology, Water resources Management, Ecotoxicology, Ichthyology and fisheries, Human capacity development and training.

Bachelor of Science (Zoology and Botany) from Rand Afrikaans University in 2001.
Bachelor of Science, Honours (Aquatic Health) from Rand Afrikaans University in 2002.
Master of Science (Aquatic Health) from University of Johannesburg in 2004.
Doctor of Philosophy (Aquatic Health) from University of Johannesburg in 2012.

Regional scale, holistic management of water resources including risk assessments,
Water resource sustainability and protection,
Freshwater conservation including aquatic biology and ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem processes,
Ecosystem services,
Fisheries, ichthyology and fish migration, and
Aquatic ecotoxicology, environmental flows, geomorphology and hydraulics.

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O’Brien GC, Jacobs FJ, Nel L, Wepener W and Smit NJ. 2013. Habitat use, home ranges, migrations and general behaviour of yellowfishes in the Vaal River, with management considerations for the river. South African Journal of Science. 109:7/8. 1-8.
O'Brien, G. C., Dickens, C., Hines, E., Wepener, V., Stassen, R., Quayle, L., Fouchy, K., MacKenzie, J., Graham, P. M., and Landis, W. G.: A regional-scale ecological risk framework for environmental flow evaluations, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 957-975, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-957-2018, 2018.
O’Brien, G. C., Ross, M., Hanzen, C., Dlamini, V., Petersen, R., Diedericks, G. J. and Burnett M. J. 2019. "River connectivity and fish migration considerations in the management of multiple stressors in South Africa." Marine and Freshwater Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF19183
O’Brien G.C., Wepener, W. Smit N.J. (2021) Regional scale risk to the ecological sustainability and ecosystem services of an African Floodplain system. Risk Analysis. RA-00221-2019.R1.
O’Brien, G.C. Dickens, C., Baker, C., Stassen, R. and van Weert, F. 2020. Sustainable Floodplains: Linking E-Flows to Floodplain Management, Ecosystems, and Livelihoods in the Sahel of North Africa. Sustainability 2020, 12, 10578; doi:10.3390/su122410578

South African Council for Natural Scientific Practitioners: Pr. Sci. Nat. (AQUATIC HEALTH).
European Commission expert candidature.
NAEHMP - SASS5 Practitioner (River Health Programme) Department of Water and Sanitation.
Member of the International Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Executive Committee Member of the South African Society of Aquatic Scientists.
Africa Representative of Swimway Africa for World Fish Migration Foundation.
Member of Water Institute of Southern Africa.
Programme Leader: Rivers of Life Aquatic Health Services.
Honorary Research of the School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

African representative of the World Fish Migration Foundation, implementing the African Swimway Programme. Bringing fish, rivers and Africans together for a sustainable future.
UMP representative of the Mpumalanga Aquaculture Forum for the Mpumalanga Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs.
UMP representative of the MOU with the IUCMA to develop research capacity and support the implementation of South African Legislation to manage water resources.
Representative of the MOU with SANPARKS to support aquatic conservation programmes with the Kruger National Park.
Representative of MOU with the Stilbay Tourism Bureu and the Eel Hold education and conservation project in the Western Cape South Africa.
Representative of MOU with Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism and supporting their efforts to conserve aquatic ecosystems in Mpumalanga.

WIOMSA-ROL-UMP project: Slippery resource in peril: ecology of Western Indian Ocean Anguillid eels and their contribution to sustainable fisheries and livelihood along the east coast of Africa.
BRICS-NRF-UMP Multilateral study: Global and local water quality monitoring by multimodal sensor systems.
NBI-ROL project: Nile Basin wetlands of transboundary significance: Inventory, Baseline Study and Framework Management Plan with a nested case study on the Sudd.
IWMI-ROL-UMP project: E-flows for the Limpopo River Basin.
WRC-UMP Project: Risk framework for multiple stressors and integrated sustainability management of the trans-boundary water resources of the inkomati basin, southern Africa.