Announcing the 2018 Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women recipients

06 Sep Announcing the 2018 Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women recipients

Posted at 13:21h in IRF news by Patricia Dalby 0 Comments

We are pleased to announce the Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women recipients for 2019; Charity Mundava from Zimbabwe and Carmina Rivera from the Philippines.

Charity has a combined background in natural and geo-spatial sciences. She is passionate about the sustainable management of our planet. She works with WaterNSW as a spatial scientist in the water industry providing advice for projects relating to water quality and catchment management. Previous to this role, Charity worked for Curtin University, Perth with the Photogrammetry unit and also the Remote Sensing Laboratry at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Over the years, Charity has been the recipient of various awards, including research scholarships, travel grants, student citation awards and industry scholarships for her excellence in the field of spatial sciences.

Carmina grew up in a small town south of Metro Manila in the Philippines. Carmina has a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Carmina started her career as a Project Associate in a human capital and organisational development consulting firm that helped her engage with a wide array of private and public organisations. After a couple of years, Carmina briefly worked as a Research Assistant under the Urban Development and Water Division of the Asian Development Bank – Viet Nam Resident Mission. Her work was mainly focused on conducting preliminary economic analyses for water supply and wastewater projects located at the Mekong Delta. Fuelled by her desire to pursue a meaningful path towards creating a positive impact to the environment and communities, Carmina pursued further studies and recently completed a master’s degree in Integrated Water Management at the University of Queensland, Australia. She seeks to expand her career in the water sector through her interests in sustainable development, policy and governance, and alternative financing for water supply and sanitation.

Through the Vera Thiess Fellowship program, Carmina and Charity will measure the impact of IRF’s programs. We look forward to working with Carmina and Charity over the next twelve months.

The International RiverFoundation’s Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women gives women from developing countries the opportunity to gain valuable work experience through the IRF and its partners, with the goal of advancing women’s participation in water and river management. This fellowship goes not only towards supporting the selected candidate, but towards continuing the important work of bridging the gap in women’s participation in river basin management.

Awarded in the name of the late Vera Thiess, a long-time supporter of the IRF, the Fellowship recognises Vera’s and the Thiess family’s long-time philanthropic support and commitment to forward-looking initiatives of the International RiverFoundation. Through the Fellowship, we honour Vera’s legacy by supporting women’s involvement in river basin and water management. We also acknowledge the inspirational role of the Thiess family, whose story began with five brothers who started a small earthmoving business that then grew into a globally respected establishment that overcame hardship, broke boundaries and forged new ground. Read more about the late Vera Thiess here.

Unlike a research fellowship, the selected candidate will have a unique opportunity to gain valuable work experience with the IRF and its alumni and partners worldwide.