Rhoda Odongo
- PhD candidate at VU Amsterdam
Rhoda A. Odongo is a PhD researcher in the Water & Climate Risk group at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Amsterdam. Her work focuses on investigating the extent to which climate variability and anthropogenic activities on the hydrological system can influence sub-surface droughts (a combination of soil moisture and hydrological drought) and their impacts in the Horn of Africa Drylands. Her research involves using a combination of machine learning techniques and hydrological modelling to consider the interactions between climate, drought, water and land use/management, and society. The research is part of the DOWN2EARTH project, an EU-Horizon 2020 funded project on translating climate information into multilevel decision support for social adaptation, policy development, and resilience to water scarcity in the Horn of Africa Drylands.
Rhoda holds a Cum Laude MSc degree in Water Resources Engineering from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium and a First-Class Honors BSc degree in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenya. Her master thesis focused on comparing and analysing different model setting up configurations and sewer inlet representation in urban drainage modelling in Antwerp, Belgium. Rhoda is interested in understanding the inherent interconnectivity of the hydrological system with the climate system, environmental and social system with a focus on drought risk. She believes understanding the changes in these systems will lead to better future drought risk assessments and sustainable mitigation measures.
