SERVIR Profile of Faith Mitheu

Name: Faith Mitheu
Affiliation: SERVIR-E&SA
Role/Title: Water and Hydroclimatic Disasters Lead
Year you joined SERVIR: 2014

Please introduce yourself. What are you passionate about?
Apart from being passionate about my family as a mother and wife, I am passionate about being part of the solutions to water issues facing our society. The application of geospatial data and tools has made it easier for scientists to come up with implementable solutions. However, bridging the gap between science/technical issues and policies has been very critical, but oftentimes goes unresolved. Being able to develop the capacity of institutions to use these geospatial tools and information has really been my drive for the last couple of years. When not dealing with hydrology and the models, I love spending time with my family.

What initially attracted you to this field of work?
Water is life, and since I was in high school I wanted to become a water resources expert/engineer. I love being part of the solution and though the field is quite challenging especially due to the fact that the models have to depict the situation on the ground, it gives me the courage to go to greater heights to provide the products usable for decision making.

What SERVIR activity are you currently working on?
I am the thematic lead for Water and Hydro-climatic Disasters in the SERVIR Eastern and Southern Africa hub. We are working on a couple of tools for water resources management specifically designed to help stakeholders monitor flooding and water scarcity in Kenya and Tanzania.

How does your work generate positive change?
Development of water resources tools and continued capacity building of the stakeholders on how to use these tools brings out changes in the way they approach water management issues. Specifically, since our region lacks in-situ data and monitoring systems, use of earth observation data to complement the in-situ data has achieved a lot in the recent past.