My Work at the University

A friend wondered if I ever worked since it is not mentioned very often. He wanted to know if I was really on vacation, instead. That's the big secret that I have been trying to keep under wraps; that I am really on vacation (they call it a sabbatical for a reason). To counter that impression, I have added this post, borrowed from the email I sent the friend. (sorry, not many pictures but not everything requires pictures to tell the story).

My work down here is not much different than my work at UNC Charlotte, minus all of the administrative duties. So, in one sense I am on a vacation as I didn't realize how much of my time at UNC Charlotte was actually being taken up with administrative duties.

Currently, I am teaching two courses this term. An undergraduate course in water engineering and a graduate course in environmental fluid dynamics. The undergraduate course is real similar to a course I have taught before and has 36 junior-level students (I am the only Caucasian). The course is taught in a 3-hour block every Monday. The 3-hour block format has been a real adjustment as it is difficult to maintain anyone's attention for that long of a period. I break it up with lots of in-class work exercises.

The students have a really strong work ethic, come to class all the time, call me sir or prof, and seem comparable in analytical skills to those I taught at UNC Charlotte. A third of the class is female which is a really high percentage compared to the States. They are very formulaic in their approach to problems and it is obvious that their Namibian education involves a lot of rote memorization and recitation (we have noticed this in the structure of talks given at Church as well). They seem to have an awareness of current events and issues, both nationally and internationally. I get asked on a regular basis about my opinion on President Trump. I have had a couple of students approach me about doing a study-abroad at UNC Charlotte. So, I think they are warming up to me somewhat. I received applause at the end of class the other day and I bowed in return (the applause likely had less to do with my teaching performance and more with the fact that I dismissed them 15 minutes early).

The graduate course is a topic that falls outside of my expertise and has required a lot of development work. It is a brand new course that has never been taught before so there are no notes to borrow from anyone else down here. The class is taught in block schedule that starts in May. Two weeks of lectures (3-hours per day, Monday through Friday), one week of assessments (time for them to work on homework and projects), and then an examination period during the 4th week. Currently there are 11 students enrolled but I have not met any of them yet since the course hasn't started. Because of the topic and the format, this course causes me the most worry and anxiety. Essentially the turbulent mixing and diffusion of fluids - a water and air pollution process course. Never like to teach a course where you know little more than the students do.

In the Fall, they have me scheduled to teach a hydraulic structures graduate level course in the same type of block format. But, at least I am familiar with the topic. At UNC Charlotte I usually taught 5 courses a year, so 3 courses in a year will feel like being on vacation.

There are 12 lecturers or faculty in my department. Only 3 or 4 currently have PhDs and 4 or 5 others are working on their PhDs. About 80% of the faculty at the University are foreigners or non-Namibian. Most come from South Africa or eastern African countries. Building up the local technical and scientific capacity is one of the many challenges in Namibia.

As far as research, I have started to explore the water resource practices and infrastructure. Being an arid country subject to periodic droughts, water security is a major issue. I have visited their major water treatment plant and they have a very pump-reliant delivery system which consumes a lot of energy. Energy security is another major concern as Namibia imports 50% of their energy from South Africa and brownouts are not uncommon during the winter. During the recent drought, their reservoirs were down to about 9% capacity but have rebounded to about 60% capacity due to the recent rains. They also pump a lot of groundwater but are depleting their aquifers. They also recycle their wastewater into drinking water (the only country in the world that does this). And they have very strict water conservation measures (their water use per capita in Windhoek is significantly less than the U.S.). My goal is to get out to some of the rural areas that are solely dependent on local boreholes or wells and are literally at minimum survival subsistence levels for water. Pricing of water to recover operational and capital costs is a particular challenge, especially when over half of your customers live below the local poverty level (which is about $1.50 USD per day per person). Charging too much for water can actually push people over the edge into poverty.

Clarifier at Water Treatment Plant

Splitter or Flow Divider at Water Treatment Plant

Sedimentation Basins at Water Treatment Plant

By the way, the drought has not broken in Cape Town, South Africa and I have been told that they currently only have a 90-day supply of water left.

I have also been asked to assist with a local research project sponsored by NASA. The project is studying the clouds off the coast of Namibia and the impact of bio-mass burning particulates on cloud formation. There are a lot of natural and man-caused fires (lots of people still use wood-burning stoves) in Africa and the smoke blows out into the southern Atlantic. NASA will be bringing in their airplanes to fly around the clouds to collect data. There are some climate change implications in the study. My role will be to look at some of the data and to determine if there are any correlations with precipitation rates in Namibia. We are scheduled to spend the last week in May in the coastal desert doing field work. Again, this is not really my area of expertise but who am I to turn down a week of field work in the Namibian desert. There is no doubt that it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as I can't ever see myself doing something like that again in the future.

I am also helping some of the faculty working on their PhDs with their work - primarily reviewing and editing their thesis documents. I also have some on-going work with graduate students at UNC Charlotte.

So, I am trying to stay busy - just don't let anybody else know. But I am also trying to reserve time to get out and explore the country while we are here.