CURRICULUM VITAE MISS V MEYER
SUMMARY
Ms VERENA MEYER
Nationality
South African
Profession
Lecturer
Position in Company
Principal Lecturer, Niche Area: Water Quality Management, Faculty of
Sciences, Department Water Technology, Tshwane University of
Technology (TUT)
KEY AREAS OF EXPERIENCE
Aerobic treatment of effluents
Water and wastewater microbiology
Biodegradation and bioaugmentation studies
Sludge bulking
Biosupplementation of treatment systems to enhance biodegradation of pollutants
Bioremediation of contaminated soils
Anaerobic treatment of effluents
Anaerobic activity tests
Biological sludge identification
Colour removal from wastewaters
Water and Water Services Acts and prosecution
Water quality monitoring
Education on pre-graduate level (National Diploma and B.Tech)
Disinfection of drinking water with UV and air - photo-oxidative disinfection
Microbiology of drinking water in storage containers
Research capacity building (Staff development, B.Tech and Post-graduate level)
Project Oriented Learning and Problem Based Learning
Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Auditing
Environmental Education – ABET, primary and secondary rural schools
Education material development for UNISA (OBE format)
QUALIFICATIONS
BSc (Agric) Microbiology, 1987 (UP)
BSc (Hons) Water Utilisation, 1999 (UP)
MSc Water Utilisation, 2001 (UP)
MEd Environmental Education – 2004 (UNISA)
MEMBERSHIPS
Water Institute of South Africa (WISA) –member and co-opted member of the WISA council (2003/2004)
South African Association of Science and Technology Centres (SAASTEC)
South African Association for Women Graduates (SAAWG)
South African Association for Environmental Education (SAAEE)
South African Research and Innovation Managers Association (SARIMA)
PROFESSIONAL
Steering Committee of the WRC projects
Evaluation of WRC and WRFSA research proposals
Examination of M Tech theses (TUT)
Co-supervisor for a M.Tech Entrepreneurship student in the Tabeisa consortium – Green walls: towards a
sustainable
Supervisor for BTech and 3 MTech Water Care students at TUT
SAQA EDTP registered assessor, facilitator and moderator (EWSETA registered)
Reviewer for Water Research Journal
Involved with SGB of the ESETA
Co-opted member/Alternate for WISA on the ESETA board
Organising committee – ESETA conference 2006.
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY - 15 years experience in
1988 – 1989 Microbiology of bacterial diseases of various agricultural products, National
Institute for Plant Research, Pretoria
1989 – 1993 Division of Water Technology, CSIR, Pretoria as Applied Microbiologist in
the Water, Waste and Effluent Treatment Programme: Effluents treated
include those from the pulp and paper, textile, dye-house, abattoir, wool
scouring, food and vegetable, petrochemical, and gasification industries.
1994 -
Lecturing at Technikon Northern Gauteng: National Diploma Water Care, B.Tech Water Care,
B.Tech Civil Engineering, B.Tech Mechanical Engineering. Subjects include: Water care
technology (potable and wastewater treatment); water biology (limnology); industrial effluents;
microbiology; engineering aspects; environmental engineering; research methodology;
groundwater; hydraulics; control and legal aspects: water; principles of water management;
water practicals; water project); environmental biotechnology.
Project leader of both internal and external research projects.
Involved in Research Capacity Building (RCB) of staff members at Technikon Northern
Gauteng (USAID – Telp, ASD, Tabeisa and MHO programmes).
Research team member for support of M.Tech students in the Technical and Business Education
Initiative In South Africa (Tabeisa) in collaboration with the University of Greenwich and the
University of Coventry, UK.
POL and PBL project development and implementation.
Curriculum development.
Current Research: Alternative disinfection methods for drinking water; Investigation into the
microbiology of drinking water in storage containers in rural areas; Environmental Education
implementation; Effectiveness of available EE resource materials; EIA of poorly managed
landfills in Soshanguve (WRC project); Afrifilter as a method of potable water supply in rural
areas, Non-point pollution assessment in Soshanguve (WRC project); Environmental Education
and the Ecological Footprint; Arsenic removal from drinking water; Audit of small water
treatment plants in Limpopo and Mpumalanga (WRC project).
** TNG merged with Technikon Pretoria and Technikon North West in 2004. We are now known as
Tshwane University of Tecxhnology (TUT)
COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
I have attended many workshops and courses for life skill development. A list can be supplied on request.
PUBLICATIONS
14 Full-length articles in refereed scientific journals and subject magazines
29 Contract reports
25 Poster and paper presentation at national and international conferences
2 Books
REFERENCES:
Prof P Kok (Director Research – TUT) 012 382 9078
Mr S de Vos (HOD – TUT) 012 382 9098
Ms N Ngozwana (IDT) 082 3788737
Ms A Vogel (TUT) – 012 382 9594
Please feel free to contact any of the references given above.
Verena Meyer contact information:
012 382 9023/9098 (work)
012 548 5649 (home)
083 660 6729
0832327095 (leave message)
Postnet Suite 111
Private Bag x504
Sinoville
0129
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
SOLAIR water disinfection: A South African perspective - V Meyer.
Poster presented at Intescience’98, University of the North, Pietersburg, South Africa, 5 - 7 October
1998.
Technikon Northern Gauteng: learning by doing - V Meyer and B J Mankanzana.
Poster presented at the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, Cape
Town, South Africa, September 1998.
Special methanogenic activity test (SMA) - V Meyer and R A Oellermann.
Isolation, culture and performance of volatile fatty acid producing microorganisms from primary
sludge and sewage - V Meyer, R A Oellermann and H A Greben.
Isolation of microorganisms from the hindgut of termites and preliminary investigations into their
lignin biodegradation potential - V Meyer and R A Oellermann.
Pilot-scale evaluation of anaerobic treatment of abattoir effluent using an upflow fixed film reactor - V
Meyer and F H H Carlsson.
A laboratory comparison of support media for biomass immobilization in anaerobic wastewater
treatment - R A Oellermann, V Meyer and F H H Carlsson.
The 5 papers were presented at IAWQ 7th Anaerobic Digestion Conference, Cape Town, South
Africa, 23 - 27 January 1994.
Biosupplementation: An emerging technology for the degradation of selected pollutants in wastewaters
- V Meyer and R A Oellermann.
Paper presented at the Third Biennial Conference of the Water Institute of South Africa, Durban, South
Africa, 24 - 26 May 1993.
Decolourization of textile effluent using a low cost natural adsorbent material - V Meyer,
F H H Carlsson and R A Oelermann.
Paper presented at the IAWPRC Sixteenth Biennial Conference and Exposition, Washington, D.C.,
USA, 24 - 30 May 1992.
Biodegradation of wool-scouring effluent on a laboratory scale - R A Oellermann,
T Ronen and V Meyer.
Poster presentation at IAWPRC Sixteenth Biennial Conference and Exposition, Washington D.C., USA,
24 - 30 May 1992.
Meyer, V., Machaba, J. and Baloyi, M J. 2000. Using digested sludge-clay balls as an alternative
medium for trickling and/or bio-filters.
Poster presented at the sixth biennial conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, 28 May –
1June 2000, Sun City. The co-authors were students of TNG, Department Chemistry, National
Diploma Water Care.
Meyer, V and Reed, R H. 2000. SOLAIR disinfection of hand drawn drinking water.
Poster presented at the sixth biennial conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, 28 May –
1June 2000, Sun City.
Meyer, V. 2000. Trends and developments of education and training in the water sector.
Poster presented at the sixth biennial conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, 28 May –
1June 2000, Sun City.
Meyer, V. 2000. Training and education system options available towards a compendium of water
related competencies in the new millennium.
Paper presented at a conference on Managing Water and Waste in the New Millennium, May 2000,
Eskom Centre Midrand.
Darkey, D., Donaldson, S.E., van der Linde, C. and Meyer, V. 2000. Water pollution and community
perceptions in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
Paper presented at the sixth biennial conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, 28 May –
1June 2000, Sun City.
Mokotedi, E.M. and Meyer, V. 2002. The microbiological quality of drinking water collected and
stored in informal settlements in Soshanguve.
Poster presented at the seventh biennial conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, 19 –
23 May 2002, Durban.
Ngozwana, M. and Meyer, V. 2002. Peer mentoring for Research Capacity Building.
Conference on Quality in Postgraduate Research: Integrating Perspectives, Adelaide, Australia,
April 2002.
Meyer, V. 2002. Research Capacity Building at a historically disadvantaged tertiary institution in South
Africa.
Conference on Quality in Postgraduate Research: Integrating Perspectives, Adelaide, Australia,
April 2002.
Entrepreneurial opportunities within Research Capacity Building projects at TNG – V Meyer
Tabeisa International Conference 2002, Higher education and economic regeneration. Cape Town, 30
to 31 October 2002.
Trends and developments of education and training in the South African water sector towards
sustainable water usage - V Meyer
The effectiveness of the SOL-AIR water disinfection process in a typical South African rural scenarioV Meyer
International Conference on Sustainability of Water Resources, Murdoch University, Western
Australia, 13-14 November 2002
Project oriented learning (POL) as a tool for communicating environmental chemistry in the
department of chemistry, Technikon Northern Gauteng - C M van der Linde and V Meyer
Project oriented learning (POL) as a communication tool of environmental sciences in the community
of Soshanguve: a case study - Verena Meyer
These two papers were presented at the Conference on Communication in the SET, Cape Town, 4 –
7 December 2002
Full-scale application of the SOL-AIR water disinfection in a typical South African and Indian rural
scenario - V Meyer
The Valley Trust Conference on Primary Health Care and the Environment, 20 – 23 July 2003,
Durban
A Research Capacity Building model applied at a historically disadvantaged tertiary institution in
South Africa. – V Meyer.
Research Capacity Building (RCB) at Technikon Northern Gauteng - V Meyer and N Mantsho
The African University in the 21st Century, 26 – 29 June 2005, Durban. (paper and poster)
PAPERS ACCEPTED FOR FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES:
-
PUBLICATIONS
Meyer, V and Oellermann, R.A. 1994. Special methanogenic activity test (SMA).
Meyer, V., Oellermann, R.A. and Greben, H.A. 1994. Isolation, culture and performance of volatile
fatty acid producing microorganisms from primary sludge and sewage.
Meyer, V. and Oellermann, R.A. 1994.Isolation of microorganisms from the hindgut of termites and
preliminary investigations into their lignin biodegradation potential.
Meyer, V. and Carlsson, F.H.H. 1994. Pilot-scale evaluation of anaerobic treatment of abattoir effluent
using an upflow fixed film reactor.
Oellermann, R.A., Meyer, V. and Carlsson, F.H.H. 1994. A laboratory comparison of support media
for biomass immobilization in anaerobic wastewater treatment.
Published in Water, Science and Technology (1994): special edition of the conference proceedings
of the IAWQ 7th Anaerobic Digestion Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, 23 - 27 January 1994.
(accredited/peer reviewed international journal)
Meyer, V., Carlsson, F.H.H. and Oelermann, R.A. 1992. Decolourization of textile effluent using a low
cost natural adsorbent material. Wat.Sci.Technol., 26 (5,6), 1205 – 1211. (accredited/peer reviewed
international journal)
Oellermann, R.A., Ronen, T. and Meyer, V. 1992. Biodegradation of wool-scouring effluent on a
laboratory scale. Wat.Sci.Technol., 25 (5,6). (accredited/peer reviewed international journal)
Meyer, V. 1992. Treatment of poultry processing wastewater: an overview, Poultry Bulletin,
December, 497 - 498. (subject magazine, non-accredited)
Reed, R.H., Mani, S.K. and Meyer, V. 2000. Solar photo-oxidative disinfection of drinking water:
preliminary field observations. Letters of Applied Microbiology, 30, 432-436. (accredited/peer
reviewed international journal)
Meyer, V. and Reed, R.H. 2001. SOLAIR disinfection of coliform bacteria in hand drawn drinking
water. Water SA, Jan/Feb 2001. (accredited/peer reviewed national journal)
Holtzhausen, L., Reed, R.H. and Meyer, V. 2002. How sunlight can save lives. Water, Sewage and
Effluent, 22(2): 46-48, May 2002. (subject magazine, non-accredited)
Meyer, V. 2003. Fluid water education mooted. Water, Sewage, and Effluent, 23 (5): 57-58, September
2003. (subject magazine, non-accredited)
Meyer, V. 2003. Training needed to enhance skills base. Water, Sewage and Effluent, 23(6): 48.
(subject magazine, non-accredited)
Meyer, V. 2004. Trends and developments of education and training in the South African water sector
towards sustainable water usage. Sustainability of Water Resources, International Conference on
Sustainability of Water Resources, Murdoch University, Western Australia, 13-14 November 2002.
ISBN 1 84339 5029.
Meyer, V. 2004. The effectiveness of the SOL-AIR water disinfection process in a typical South
African rural scenario. Sustainability of Water Resources, International Conference on Sustainability
of Water Resources, Murdoch University, Western Australia, 13-14 November 2002. ISBN 1 84339
5029.
PAPERS CURRENTLY UNDER REVISION FOR PUBLICATION IN ACCREDITED
SUBJECT JOURNALS:
The current trends and developments in the education and training within the global water sector – V
Meyer (submitted to South African Journal for Environmental Education)
The formal and non-formal training and education system options available towards achieving a
compendium of water related competencies for the South African water sector – V Meyer (submitted to
South African Journal for Environmental Education)
Statistical data on issues relating to water resources, water collection and storage practices, domestic
environments, sanitation practices, and solid waste generation and disposal in an informal settlement E Mokotedi, C Mmekoa and V Meyer (submitted to Journal for Environmental Health).
Research Capacity Building at a historically disadvantaged tertiary institution in South Africa. – V
Meyer. (submitted to the South African Journal for Higher Education).
The Ecological Footprint as an Environmental Education tool for knowledge, attitude and behaviour changes
towards Sustainable living. A case study.
- V Meyer and EJ van Niekerk (submitted to the South African
Journal for Higher Education).
RESEARCH AND/OR TECHNICAL REPORTS:
Commissioned and industrially financed research:
Bioremediation technology for the treatment of contaminated seepage water and soil in South Africa H A Greben, K Pearce, V Meyer and R A Oellermann.
Uptake of oil from water by a granular product - R A Oellermann, V Meyer and M Lebone.
Bioreactor design for bioremediation in soils - K Pearce and V Meyer.
Assessment of the technologies and economic feasibility of treating Tongaat Mushrooms’ composting
leachate in a closed recirculation system - D C Whyte, V Meyer, C van der Walt and J Schoeman.
Knowledge base for aerobic treatment processes - guidelines on operational trouble shooting for
activated sludge and biotower processes - R A Oellermann and V Meyer.
Report on colour removal from dyehouse effluent through adsorption onto braai brickettes –
V Meyer.
Assessment of biosupplement CWS2 on domestic effluent from Gabarone, Botswana –
V Meyer and R A Oellermann.
Market survey on commercial biosupplements - V Meyer.
Assessment of commercial biosupplements - V Meyer.
Removal of colour and COD from pulp and paper effluent by adsorption and anaerobic digestion on
braai charcoal - V Meyer, C Jackson-Moss and Y Singmin.
Guidelines on the application of immobilised fungi for colour removal - V Meyer.
Selection, culturing and assessment of colour removing organisms - V Meyer and S Iberler.
Process for the removal of colour from wastewaters by natural products - V Meyer.
Microscopic examination and identification of activated sludges - V Meyer.
Report on the biological batch treatment of a mixed effluent from the Cato Ridge abattoir effluent
treatment plant - V Meyer.
Report on the critical design and operational features to ensure successful treatment of pulp and paper
effluent - T Ronen and V Meyer.
Report on critical design and operational features to ensure successful treatment of textile effluent - V
Meyer.
Microscopic examination of sludge samples from Hedera, Israel - V Meyer.
Report on biological phosphate removal at the Cato Ridge abattoir effluent treatment plant – V Meyer.
Short term biodegradation batch experiments on AFI effluent - V Meyer.
Start up and running of a fully operating laboratory scale plant for treating pulp and paper effluent – V
Meyer.
Short term biodegradation batch experiments on Mondi effluent - L Eagle and V Meyer.
Investigation into biological phosphate removal at the effluent treatment plant, Cato Ridge abattoir – L
Eagle and V Meyer.
Methods for the removal of colour from lignin and molasses containing wastewater - a literature
overview - V Meyer.
Research report of Water Research Commission funded projects:
Alternative disinfection treatment method of faecal contaminated drinking water: the feasibility and
applicability of the SOLAIR process in the South African scenario - V Meyer. WRC report, published
2000.
An investigation into the impact of landfill leachate on the physical, chemical, and microbiological
quality of the Soutpan stream and its immediate surroundings – V Meyer, CMM van der Linde. WRC
Report.
TNG funded research projects:
Evaluation of digested sludge-clay balls as an alternative medium in biological filters –
V Meyer. TNG internal research fund.
Full-scale application of the SOLAIR hand drawn drinking water disinfection process –
V Meyer. TNG internal research fund.
Thesis:
The feasibility of solar photo-oxidative disinfection on hand drawn drinking water in the South African
rural scenario – V Meyer. M Sc (Water utilization) thesis, UP, Department of Chemical Engineering.
The Ecological Footprint as an environmental education tool for knowledge, attitude and behaviour
changes towards sustainable living – V Meyer. ME d (Environmental Education) thesis. UNISA,
Department of Education.
BOOKS:
Meyer, V. 1999. Guidelines for writing laboratory and project reports. Technikon Northern Gauteng,
Department Chemistry. ISBN 0-620-24357-0.
Meyer, V. 1999. Limnology. Technikon Northern Gauteng, Department Chemistry. ISBN 0-62024358-9.