South African Expert in Water Resource Management Hosted by HCE
6. August 2012
Owen Horwood wins international competition by the German Federal Ministry of Research
South African researcher Dr. Owen Horwood will be at the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE) through the end of August. The thirty-three year old is an expert for sustainable development with a focus on water resource management. He is completing his two-month research stay at the interdisciplinary centre for environmental research at Heidelberg University as a winner of the international competition “Green Talents – The International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development”, which was established by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The award is specifically designed for young scientists working in sustainability research.
Horwood is one of twenty winners of the competition under the patronage of the Federal Minister of Research, Annette Schavan. The prize includes participation in the “Green Talents Forum”, a ten-day tour of the major sites in Germany for sustainability research and technologies. Dr. Horwood selected the HCE as one stop during his December 2011 tour. Afterward he decided to complete is BMBF-funded research stay at the Heidelberg Center for the Environment. He has been visiting all the institutes affiliated with the Center since the beginning of July, and will be exchanging ideas with researchers there through the end of August. He is also in contact with members of other Heidelberg University facilities, including the Marsilius Kolleg.
“I feel honoured to have the opportunity to visit this world-renowned university, the oldest in Germany”, said Dr. Horwood. “The exchange with colleagues from the different institutes of the HCE is extremely fruitful. Even though the HCE is still relatively young, without a doubt it is already contributing a great deal to fostering holistic interdisciplinary environmental research.” The South African, who works as an independent consultant in sustainable water resource management, is particularly focused on water sector reform in his home country. Dr. Horwood holds three master’s degrees from Oxford University and the South African University of the Witwatersrand in the fields of environmental management, water science and chemistry. His PhD thesis at Oxford dealt with water policy in South Africa. One of Horwood’s most recent publications is a comparative analysis of river basic governance in the Olifants basin of South Africa and the Ruhr and the Rhine basins in Germany.
Eleven institutes and facilities of Ruperto Carola are part of the Heidelberg Center for Environment, founded in 2011. The Center ties together the existing competencies of Heidelberg University in the areas of environmental research and concentrates the environmental research activities in research, teaching and scientific communication.
