Ghent University welcomes Catherine Mathenge

Catherine Mathenge is a Ph.D. student at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, sponsored by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). She is supervised by Dr. Cargele Masso from IITA, Dr. Stephen Mureithi from the University of Nairobi and Dr. Benjamin Nyilitya from the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Kenya. For her thesis, Catherine is looking at quantifying nitrogen flows within the Lake Victoria basin.

Catherine recently visited Prof. Pascal Boeckx and colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium, as part of the INSA secondment program (3 November 2021 – 10 March 2022). While in Ghent, Catherine worked primarily in the ISOFYS Lab with Katja Van Nieuland, Dr. Ivan Lizaga and Dr. Samuel Bode. She performed isotopic analysis of nitrate sources and other nitrogen species in River Kagera, which is the main surface inflow into Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is experiencing impacts from increased nitrogen content, including eutrophication and invasive weeds proliferation. The results of the analysis will provide insights into understanding full nitrogen species in the lower River Kagera, which later drains into Lake Victoria.