Angela Bayona-Valderrama

Profile

I have a BSc in Biology from Universidad Nacional de Colombia. My first steps after undergrad focused on developing water quality assessments in Colombian aquatic ecosystems. During these years, I became interested in the interlinkages between aquatic ecosystems and water and wastewater management in cities and small towns. So, to advance my understandings of water quality I obtained an MSc in Water Quality Management at IHE-Delft, in the Netherlands. There, I studied more about the range of complexities of water quality and my understanding went beyond my original niche of biology. I became interested in urban water governance, political ecology, and the influence history has on our built environments. After finishing my MSc, I worked at IHE-Delft as a lecturer and researcher in water quality management for two years, where I led course content design and developed a number of research projects in Mozambique, Lebanon, Palestine, and the Netherlands.

Research interests

My research lies at the intersection of water security, public health and behavioural understandings of water quality. The aim of my PhD project is to investigate the multiple pathways that generate disease risk, specifically associated with the consumption of faecally contaminated stored water, in communities with intermittent water supply (IWS). The main objective is to develop an approach to multidimensional risk characterisation of IWS, with specific consideration of water storage behaviours. The results of this research will help to develop safer ways of storing water in homes, schools, workplaces and health facilities. My intention is to contribute to the development of a risk assessment approach that addresses water insecurity in cities where water supply is often unreliable.

Qualifications

• BSc in Biology (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
• MSc in Water Quality (IHE-Delft, The Netherlands)

Research groups and institutes

• Water, Public Health and Environmental Engineering