People

Jeffrey C. Davids

President

Jeff’s educational background, professional experience, and dedication to developing human resources from diverse backgrounds demonstrate his commitment to the co-equal goals of (1) providing the food and fiber the world needs while (2) sustainably managing the Earth’s limited natural resources. Jeff is an Assistant Professor at California State University Chico, a Water Resources Engineer with Davids Engineering, Founder and President of SmartPhones4Water and H2oTech, a guest researcher at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), and a Water Resources Consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO). Jeff has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Water Management) from Delft University of Technology and is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of California. Jeff’s research interests focus on how sustainable management of water, energy, and food are supported by education, innovative sources of data, integrated systems thinking, modeling tools, social engagement, and outreach. He has consulted for a variety of water managers and suppliers (local, state, and federal) in all the major irrigated regions of California, including the Imperial, San Joaquin, Sacramento, and Shasta Valleys. Jeff has also consulted for the UN-FAO in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and China, along with various clients in Nepal, Ghana, Thailand, Israel, Palestine, and the Netherlands.

Kristina M. Davids

Member

Kristi graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.A. in English, and minors in Spanish and Linguistics.  She has worked at the ground level of several successful businesses, and has a wide range of entrepreneurial and social talents.  In addition to her vision casting role at SmartPhones4Water, Kristi currently raises three wonderful children, teaches Spanish to elementary school children, and manages sales and accounting for H2oTech.

Brandon A. Ertis

Member

Brandon Ertis is a licensed professional engineer in the state of California and has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from UC Davis and a Master of Science in Environmental Science from CSU Chico. He has over ten years of experience working with water resources and water management in California, including agricultural water management, watershed-scale planning, environmental monitoring, abandoned mine remediation, and flow measurement. He also has experience working in cross-cultural settings through participation and collaboration on projects based in Kenya and Nepal. He has a strong interest in how wise stewardship of natural resources, innovative technologies, and creative solutions can be used to better understand and manage water resources and improve people’s quality of life in locations around the world ranging from his home in northern California to places abroad.

Matthew V. Thiede

Member

Matthew Thiede is a licensed professional engineer in the State of California, obtaining his bachelors of science degree from California State University, Chico. Matt spent nearly the first decade of his career working with water management agencies, reclamation districts, and farmers in Northern California. Matt’s primary focus was on measurement and monitoring systems, including flow measurement, establishing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems, water control structure design, water resources accounting, and environmental monitoring. Matt currently spends the majority of his efforts toward local economic development and revitalization efforts in Northern California, including property development, business development, and supporting non-profit initiatives. Matt’s interests lie in strengthening the relationship and engagement between people and their environment, utilizing new technologies and communication pathways to assist in improving economies and communities while better managing the natural resources surrounding them.

Er. Rajaram Prajapati

Global Ambassador

Mr. Prajapati is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He completed his M.Sc. in Water Resources Engineering from the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus in Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr. Prajapati is a co-founder of S4W-Nepal and he also worked as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of S4W-Nepal for five years and he has two years of teaching experience in hydropower and irrigation engineering as an assistant lecturer at Khwopa Engineering College. Rajaram’s research interests focus on developing new ideas to fill the hydro-meteorological data gaps in data-scarce regions through remote sensing and citizen science approaches. At present, Rajaram is looking over a citizen-science-based project in the Kathmandu Valley as a Country Director. Besides, Mr. Prajapati is representing Nepal in CitizenScience.Asia as a country ambassador. Rajaram has always had a passion for research in these areas and is excited to supervise the works of the S4W team!

Brandon A. Ertis

United States

Brandon Ertis is a licensed professional engineer in the state of California and has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from UC Davis and a Master of Science in Environmental Science from CSU Chico. He has over ten years of experience working with water resources and water management in California, including agricultural water management, watershed-scale planning, environmental monitoring, abandoned mine remediation, and flow measurement. He also has experience working in cross-cultural settings through participation and collaboration on projects based in Kenya and Nepal. He has a strong interest in how wise stewardship of natural resources, innovative technologies, and creative solutions can be used to better understand and manage water resources and improve people’s quality of life in locations around the world ranging from his home in northern California to places abroad.

Bijay Shakya

Nepal

Dr. Shakya obtained his Ph.D. at the Department of Natural, Biotic, and Social Environmental Engineering from the University of Yamanashi, Japan in March 2020. He completed his Master’s degree with a specialization in Hydrogeology from the Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. With the combined support of the University of Yamanashi, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Japan Science and Technology (JST), and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) he is eager to connect the dots in identifying the groundwater system of the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Dr. Shakya is also undertaking research on municipal tap water systems of the Kathmandu valley using isotopic approaches with the aid of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). Besides that, he has gained experience in restoring the mountain springs and designing deep tube wells for deep groundwater extraction and water management practice for irrigational purposes in Nepal. He has collected various national and international working experiences on research and management of surface and subsurface water resources. He is dedicated to research activities for the sustainable watershed management practice in Nepal and is delighted to be a part of S4W-Nepal in linking the ideas of the citizen scientist and young scientist for the broader scientific research.

Tran Huan

Vietnam

Huan Tran is a Ph.D. student at the University of Rostock, Germany. He has worked as a lecturer at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment since 2013. Huan completed his B.Sc and M.Sc in fields related to Hydrology and Water Resource Management at Thuyloi University, Vietnam. He has almost ten years of experience in Water resources in Nhue – Day River Basin, from students to international projects. He desires to contribute his knowledge to address water-related problems in this basin, where he grows up and works. He is interested in numerical modeling, remote sensing, and GIS application to analyze, assess, and plan water resources. In addition, he enjoys activities related to water resource communication among young generations and local residents.

Nick van de Giesen

Nick van de Giesen received the Kandidaats B.S. degree and the M.Sc. degree in land and water management from Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, in 1984 and 1987, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1994. After a postdoctoral position with the West Africa Rice Development Association, Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, he was a Senior Researcher for six years with the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, where he was the Scientific Coordinator of the Global Change in the Hydrological Cycle Volta Project. Since 2004, he has been with the Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, where he currently holds the “Van Kuffeler” Chair of Water Resources Engineering. Since January 2015, he is chairman of the Delft Global Initiative. He is co-director of the Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (www.tahmo.org) and member of several international scientific advisory boards. He is scientific head of Sustainable Development Goals route of the Netherlands National Science Agenda. His research interests concern new environmental observation methods, such as Distributed Temperature Sensing, and computational hydrology (www.ewatercycle.org).

Steve Lyon

Steve Lyon was born and raised in Navarre, Ohio, USA. He attended Purdue University and graduated with a BSc (1997-2001) in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. Steve completed his MSc (2001-2003) and PhD (2003-2006) both in Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University looking at how we incorporate the spatial structure of shallow water tables into hydrology. He continued with postdoctoral research (2006-2008) at the University of Arizona focusing on the evolution of land-water interaction in space and time. Steve joined the Department of Physical Geography at Stockholm University in 2008 promoting to Associate Professor (2010) and then Full Professor (2016). During this period, he also worked with The Nature Conservancy (2017-2019) as a Freshwater and Conservation Scientist. 

In August 2019, Steve joined the faculty in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State University as an Associate Professor. Working in hydrology and water resources, Dr. Lyon’s research targets characterization of land and water interactions. Unraveling feedbacks across scales has significant implications for the viability of strategies associated with the current and future sustainability of coupled terrestrial and aquatic systems – particularly those for improving water quality in working landscapes.

Martine Rutten

Martine Rutten investigates how information systems (combination of models, remote sensing, and ground data) can effectively support adaptive delta and water management in developing countries. Key elements of this research include developing systems together with local parties and providing actionable perspectives. Case studies of this work are underway in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Nepal. Work includes inclusive development paths for Red River Landscapes based on ecosystem services reservoirs management for the Day River, a Red River sub-basin reservoir management for flood control in the Sittaung-Bago River in Myanmar-Coastal squeeze in the Ayarawady delta analyzed from remote sensing.  Martine is also currently advising students at universities in Vietnam (HUNRE, Hanoi), Kenya (SEKU), Armenia, Georgia (TSU), Azerbaijan, and Myanmar (YTU) on the development and improvement of water management curricula at undergraduate and graduate level.  Martine is also developing entrepreneurship courses for TU Delft, HRO, and, UNESCO-IHE for the Valorisatie programma Delta technology en Water (VPDelta).