CV: Researcher

Education

1.            PhD Student in Geospatial Science and Engineering. Geographical Information

      Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University.

2.         MSc. Physical Land Resources.  Inter-University Programme between Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium.

Master thesis: “Spatial Information Techniques for Wildlife Habitat Management: Case of Nairobi National Park, Kenya”.

3.         BSc. in Surveying. University of Nairobi, Kenya. Overall Grade: Upper Second Class Honours.

Undergraduate Project: “Vegetation Mapping of Nairobi National Park using Remotely Sensed Data”.

Specialization: Remote Sensing, Geographical Information Sciences (G.I.S.), Geospatial Analysis, Land Evaluation, Plant Ecology, Statistics and Planning.

Professional experience

Intern at the Land Cover Institute, United States Geological Survey-EROS, Sioux Falls.  Task:  Develop a database for validating MODIS products.

Survey Engineer, Roads and Public Works, Kenya. Tasks: Engineering and Cadastral Surveys, Planning, Geographical Information Sciences (GIS).

Projects Completed: Topo Survey for Export Processing Zone in Malaba, Kenya-Uganda border. Design and Survey for the Aga-khan fly-over, Nairobi, Kenya. Land Acquisition/Road Surveys: Nakuru-Molo and Isiolo road projects.  Committee member for preparing “Standards and Specifications for Engineering Surveys in Kenya”.

Partner, Civil Engineering Projects Consultants. consultancy and planning Services. Tasks: Environmental Impact Assessment; Geographical Information Systems; Cost Estimates; Supervision of Construction.

Land Surveyor, Ministry of Land Use and Habitat, Seychelles. Overall Tasks: (i) Provide education, training and research in the lands and survey section. (ii) Provide advice to Director on land titling, registration issues and sustainable land management.

Specific Tasks: (i). Train and assists survey assistants on techniques for conducting and presenting field surveys. (ii) Investigate, develop and implement new and innovative methods of presenting survey data. (iii) Plan and co-ordinate field-work activities. (iv) Provide advice on modern surveying techniques and management. (v) Check cadastral and engineering surveys and forward to Director for approval.

Teaching experience

Department of Psychology and Sciences, United States International University (USIU-Africa), Kenya. Courses taught: Environmental Science, Sustainable Resource Management, and Field Studies. I am a member of the team concerned with setting up an International Centre for Land Degradation at the institution. Program Officer for the project on Land degradation in the Sustainable Development Initiatives Centre.

Selected Publications:

      Obade Vincent de Paul. 2008. Wildlife habitat suitability mapping using remote sensing and geographical information science. African Journal of Ecology   doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00824.x

      Obade Vincent de Paul.  2007.  Remote Sensing: New Applications for Urban Areas.  Proceedings of the IEEE.  Vol. 95, N0 12 pp 2267-2268.

      Obade Vincent de Paul and Hansen Matthew.  2008.  Remote sensing based techniques for monitoring urban growth.  Case study: Mexico city, Mexico.  (accepted)

      Obade Vincent de Paul and Eva De Clercq. 2008.  Environmental factors influencing impala animal distribution patterns in Nairobi national park, Kenya.  (in review)

In addition, I am a reviewer for the African Journal of Ecology; Blackwell Synergy.

Facilitator/Resource Person for the program Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit, at the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. Courses: Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Law, Policy and Institutional Arrangements for EIA systems.

Department of Geomatic Engineering and Geo-Spatial Information Systems. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. Courses taught: Cartography and Land Survey.

Assistant Lecturer and Head of Section- Ministry of Research and Technical Training, Kenya.

Achievement and awards

                    i.            Designed and implemented a curriculum for a pilot surveying and cartography course, for tertiary level institutions in Kenya; this was a World Bank sponsored project.

                  ii.            Awarded certificate of merit for being best student in mathematics in Kenya Certificate of Education Examinations.

                iii.            Awarded a certificate for exemplary leadership skills at Ghent University.

Languages:             I speak, read and write English, Creole, Dholuo and Kiswahili fluently.

International experience: USA, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany, Seychelles.

Activities

i.            Member of commission on programmes “MSc Physical Land Resources” of the inter-university programme between Free University, Brussels and Ghent University, Belgium.

ii.            Member of the financial committee for GIS society in Kenya (affiliate of EIS-Africa).

Other interests

i.            Table-tennis. Patron of Table Tennis Club at the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A).

ii.            Patron of the association “People Living with Challenges” at  the (USIU-A)

References

Available on request.