WaterPower is a junior research group - all of us are highly committed towards an interdisciplinary and collaborative research. From urbanisation and aquatic ecosystems to the political nature of water, our expertise form a multifaceted background for studying the urban water sphere.

Project Leader

Prof. Dr. Antje Bruns

Trained as a geographer (PhD Kiel), Antje's work examines political dimensions of environmental and resource issues in the context of climate change response. Antje's primary research for the past few years has been on environmental governance in coastal zones and coastal cities, whereby her theoretical interests span political ecology, environmental studies, hydrology and debates over development and sustainability transformation.

Antje developed the project idea and is head of the WaterPower Team.

Scientific Staff

Dr. Abubakari Ahmed

Abubakari is a post doc researcher of WaterPower project. He has an interdisciplinary academic background in Planning, Environmental Governance and Sustainability Science. His research over the past years has focused on the sustainability assessment of biomass energy production by bridging natural science and social science perspectives.

John Edem Akubia

John is a doctoral candidate within WaterPower, Trier University. He is a geographer and an environmetal scientist by training from University of Ghana. His current research study focuses on implications of coastal urbanization and land-use change dynamics on urban water management in Accra, Ghana.

Rossella Alba

Rossella conducts her doctoral dissertation in the WaterPower research group. Her main research interests include the politics of water governance and the interactions between nature-society-technology in shaping water flows. Rossella studied land and water management in Wageningen, before she did her Bachelor in Venice.

Lara Esther Bartels

Lara is a doctoral researcher within the WaterPower project. In her work she analyzes how access to and control over land and water shape peri-urbanization dynamics and peri-urban spaces. Trained as a sociologist in Bielefeld, Lara completed her M.Sc. in Social- and Human Ecology in Vienna.

Lisa Polizzi

Lisa is a research assistant in the WaterPower team. She received a M.Sc. in Sustainable Development from the University of St. Andrews and a B.A. in International Relations. During previous placements at Eurostat and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Lisa focused on the Agenda 2030 and implications of the Sustainable Development Goals for German and European policy making.

Maria Kondra

Maria Kondra is a researcher within the WaterPower project, working on the political ecology of urban wetlands in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. The main focus lies on analyzing value articulations of ecosystem services generated in urban wetlands in Greater Accra.

Management and Support Team

Anja Hasselberg
Project Manager
Anja is a Geographer by training with considerable experience in science management, education and outreach. Anja is extremely organised and structured - therefore she is the ideal person for managing a dynamic and diverse team as ours.

Jonathan Hassel
Student Assistant
Jonathan is studying human geography (B.Sc.) at Trier University since 10/2015. He is interested in urban development, resource management and sustainability.