On September 10, Aura Christopher Mulanda, Director of Freshwater Systems Research and Chief Research Scientist at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), visited the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences and gave a seminar on the current status and water quality of Kenya’s inland-water systems. Researcher Min Yang convened the seminar, which was held in Room 601 of the Ecology Building. Professor Shuang Chen and Dr. Zheng Guo from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Senior Engineer Guoqin Wang from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, and Researcher Yu Zhang from RCEES also joined the exchange.
Professor Aura introduced the fisheries resources, environmental pressures, and management challenges of Lakes Victoria, Turkana, Naivasha, and Baringo. Researcher Ming Su then presented progress on the international collaboration project investigating the drivers and early warning of cyanobacteria-related water-quality degradation in typical bays of Lake Victoria. Doctoral student Joseph shared field and laboratory work in Winam Bay, while Dr. Zheng Guo reported on terrestrial nutrient inputs and nitrogen and phosphorus cycling.
The discussion covered changes in lake water quality, cyanobacterial blooms, watershed nutrient inputs, field monitoring, nutrient thresholds, and the practical needs of cross-border water-environment management.
The exchange gave both sides a clearer view of the ecological challenges facing Lake Victoria and Kenya’s inland waters. It also helped align future work on bloom mechanisms, water-quality risk warnings, watershed nutrient transport, and lake management. The teams will continue combining field surveys, control experiments, and modeling to develop monitoring and management approaches suited to large lakes in East Africa.
