MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN .
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT(FERD)
Egerton University is a World Class University for the Advancement of Humanity.
In Egerton University we professionally mentor you to be a good steward of the environment and manager of renewable and non-renewable natural resources for the advancement of humanity.
The university academia within the FERD Division has mandates in the following areas:
- Educate, train and develop human capacity for leadership in the management of Earth resources. These resources are the pillars of life-support systems that sustain biological organisms as well as minimizing adverse impacts of anthropogenic activities on the environment.
- Provide advisory services necessary in mainstreaming research activities, training, products and services that interact with the environment in keeping with the principles for sustaining a health environment. These include green house gases, discharges to wetlands and waterbodies and use of natural resources and materials.
- Create awareness on the subjects of ecosystem health, best practices on environmental management, environmental legislation and policy to our student clients, staff, local community and other stakeholders.
- Seek to inform and enlighten natural resource users in the process of mainstreaming human related environmental impacts toward low carbon development initiatives/climate resilient development focusing on enhancement of carbon sinks through environmental greening activities.
- Lead university process owners and external stakeholders through procedures and processes for training staff, monitoring, summarizing and reporting of specialized environmental performance and ultimate ISO 14001:2015 certification symptomatic of fulfillment of the requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS)
We invite you to join us in this noble endeavour of mentoring you to become an effective custodian of our environment and a good manager of natural resources for the development of humanity.
Prof. ELIAS K. MARANGA
Dean, Faculty of Environment and Resources Development, Egerton University
P.O BOX 536-20115,
FERD ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES
FERD hosts a web of academic activities embracing training at the Diploma, Bachelors, Master and PhD levels. The undergraduate degree programs emphasize “hands on” broad based training in the management of Natural Resources, training in Forestry with strong entrepreneurial components, Ecotourism and Hospitality Management, Dry-land Resources Management, Fisheries and Wildlife Resources and Non-renewable Resources, Environmental Science, Environmental Health and Occupational Safety, Geography of pollution and Urban Geography and Geospatial technologies among others. Msc. and PhD programmes embrace thematic areas such as Rangeland Resources, Forest Resources, Wildlife Resources and Human Ecology, Urban Geography, Environment and waste management, Ecology and Environment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit among others.
Postgraduate research and human capacity development at the Msc and PhD levels is heavily poised on development of innovations for sustainable management of Natural Resources. Research initiatives focus on ecosystem research underpinning Environmental Degradation and Food Production, Environmental Planning and Management, Environmental Impact studies, Human settlement, Population and Development , Environmental Pollution Control, Desertification and methods of control, Demography and land use, Ecosystem Management and Modelling of Habitat change, Nature, Technology and Society, Environmental Policy and Advocacy, Effects of Agrochemicals and Ecosystems and Waste Management.
COLLABORATIVE TRAINING INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
FERD has initiated discussions on potential research collaborations between Stockholm Environment Institute (SIE) and Egerton University. Key areas for potential collaboration include training and capacity development using SIE tools such as WEAP, LEAP, REVAMP and EWI. In the collaborative arrangement, there is a proposal for creation of a Centre of Excellence in Egerton University for public education and demonstration on WASH and environmental issues.
The Department of Geography has initiated a post-doctorate training on policy briefs writing involving staff of Egerton University. The Post doctorate training is sponsored by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as part of the AgiFoSe 2030 Project. The project targets recent PhD graduates with a desire to undertake policy relevant research and analysis; and disseminate research findings to policy makers and practitioners. Four members of staff of Egerton University are participating on the project. These are Dr. Amon Karanja, Dr. Humphreys Obulinji (Geography), Dr. Grace Kibue (NARE) and Dr. Olivier Kashongwe (ANSCI). As part of the initiative, the department organized a one-day workshop on systematic review on May 6th 2019 where twenty-four members of staff were trained. The members were largely drawn from the faculties of Environment and Resources Development, and Agriculture. We take this opportunity to thank the Office of the DVC-AA for facilitating the one-day workshop event.
The Department of Natural Resources is in its initial stages of evolving an agreement with North East Forestry University of China for Capacity development of Kenyan professionals who wish to develop careers in Forestry Engineering and Forestry Economics Management.
The NorthEast Forestry University of China and Egerton University have submitted a joint proposal to china, Scholarship Council aimed at securing thirty (30) students scholarships each year for the next three years.
FERD SCOOPS TOP NOTCH RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AWARD
Dr. Wilfred Odadi is the proud recipient of the Future Leaders – African Independent Research Fellowship grant (FLAIR). The FLAIR fellowship programme is funded by the UK Government through the GLOBAL CHALLENGES RESEARCH FUND to support science tackling global development challenges and strengthen research capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Odadi will access Kshs. 35,000,000 from FLAIR to conduct research on Laikipia Rangelands in Kenya for a period of two years. The research activities will address socio-ecological effectiveness of cooperation between private ranchers and communal ranchers as well as determine optimal grazing intensities for livestock production and biodiversity conservation.