Background

The Water Research Group forms part of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management (UESM) and the School of Biological Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom Campus. The areas of specialisation that the members of the group have include aquatic ecology, aquatic ecotoxicology, aquatic ecosystem conservation and management, risk management, freshwater and marine parasitology, fish biology, and inland fisheries management. In addition to the core areas of specialisation that the Water Research Group contains, various specialist support is made available to the group by multiple collaborators from NWU, as well as other local and international universities and private specialist scientists.

Established in 2012 by Professors Nico Smit, Victor Wepener, and Dr Gordon O’Brien, the Water Research Group quickly developed into a productive research group with numerous research projects funded by local and international funders. Following his Postdoctoral fellowship in the Water Research Group, Dr Wynand Malherbe was appointed in 2017 as a Subject Specialist at North-West University and thus joined the Water Research Group management team as a permanent staff member. Dr Kerry A. Malherbe and Dr Courtney Cook were both appointed in 2018 as Senior Lecturers at North-West University and thus also become permanent members of the Water Research Group’s management team. This report on the progress made by the Water Research Group includes an overview of the studies undertaken by members of the group from 2012 to 2022. Over the last 10 years, studies were carried out across South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique, and further throughout the world. These studies include research on the ecology and biodiversity of important species, as well as conservation and management aspects of the systems in which they occur.

Additional aspects included risk assessment methods used to characterise the environmental performance of ecosystem users and management plans for ecosystems. Research also focused on fish health, behaviour, parasite diversity, alien invasive species, river health, and the use of macroinvertebrates and fish as indicators of ecological health. Within its decade of existence, the group has already been able to make important contributions to aquatic ecosystem management within South Africa, Africa, and abroad. This momentum is being maintained into 2022 with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research within the One Health framework.

Vision

The vision of the Water Research Group is to make a significant contribution to the scientific understanding of the ecological processes of freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems on local, regional, and international scales.

Mission

The mission of the Water Research Group is to develop a research profile in the following identified focus areas:

• Use of risk to contribute towards the management and conservation of freshwater and marine ecosystems and their biodiversity.
• Effects of pollution to surface freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems, emphasising on the responses of organisms, populations, and communities.
• Biodiversity, systematics, ecology and conservation of marine and freshwater parasites.
• Contribution to the local, national, and regional science of aquatic ecosystem health.

Last updated: February 2025

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