Bio

My scientific and research interests are catchment modeling (rainfall-runoff processes), floodplain and lakes, erosion processes and sedimentation and water resources management. Since 2011, my works have concentrated entirely on the understanding of the hydrology of the Lake Tana basin in Ethiopia. Major contributions include determination of the water balance terms of the lake, understanding of the impacts of the floodplain on river discharges into the lake and development of a decision support for an integrated management of water resources in the basin.

Trajectory

• 2011-2015       PhD student at Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia) and Ghent University (Belgium)
• 2008-2011       Lecturer and researcher at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
• 2006-2007       Design engineer and Project coordinator at WWDSE (Water Works Design and Supervision  enterprise), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• 2003-2005       University Luneburg, Niedersachsen, Germany: MSc in water resources management
• 1996-2003       Senior design engineer at Co-SAERAR (Commission for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Rehabilitation in Amhara Region), Ethiopia

Ongoing projects

• WASE-TANA Water and sediment budgets of Lake Tana for optimisation of land management and water allocation (Ethiopia) (2011-2015)

Selected publications (complete list here)

• Dessie, M., Verhoest, N.E.C., Pauwels, V.R.N., Adgo, E., Deckers, J., Poesen, J., Nyssen, J., 2015. Water balance of a lake with floodplain buffering: Lake Tana, Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrology 522: 174-186. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.12.049.
• Dessie, M., Verhoest, N.E.C., Pauwels, V.R.N., Poesen, J., Adgo, E., Deckers, J., Nyssen, J., 2014.  Analyzing runoff processes through conceptual hydrological modelling in the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 5149-5167, doi: 10.5194/hess-18-5149-2014.
• Dessie, M., Verhoest, N.E.C., Admasu, T., Pauwels, V.R.N., Poesen, J., Adgo, E., Deckers, J., Nyssen, J., 2014.  Effects of the floodplain on river discharge into Lake Tana (Ethiopia). Journal of Hydrology, 519: 699-710. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.08.007.
• Monsieurs, E., Poesen, J., Dessie, M., Adgo, E., Verhoest, N.E.C., Deckers, J., Nyssen, J., 2015. Effects of drainage ditches and stone bunds on topographical thresholds for gully head development in North Ethiopia. Geomorphology, 234, 193–203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.01.011.
• Monsieurs, E., Dessie, M., Poesen, J., Deckers, J., Verhoest, N.E.C., Nyssen, J., Adgo, E., 2014. Seasonal surface drainage of sloping farmland and its hydrogeomorphic impacts. Land Degradation & Development. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2286.
• Poppe, L., Frankl, A., Poesen, J., Admasu, T., Dessie, M., Adgo, E., Deckers, J.  Nyssen, J., 2013. Geomorphology of the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia. Journal of Maps, DOI:10.1080/17445647.2013.801000.