502 Bad Gateway

Document >> format pdf

The International Center for Training and Exchanges in the Geosciences (CIFEG) has introduced a CIFEG Prize in order to honour each year the contribution of an African student or a young researcher in the field of Earth sciences or Environment, with regard to the social and economic frame of his/her country.

The CIFEG Prize bears the name of the Foundation as a reminder that, since its creation in 1981, CIFEG has been involved in co-operation and support to development, as well as in geoscientific knowledge sharing, most particu­larly on the African continent.

Seifu Kebede,

Addis Ababa University, first CIFEG prize

Professor Felix Toteu, President of the Geologi­cal Society of Africa (GSAf) and François Pinard, Director of the International Center for Training and Exchanges in the Geosciences (CIFEG) awarded on November 6, 2008, the 1^st CIFEG Prize to Seifu Kebede, assistant professor of the Addis Ababa University. This prize rewards this young 35 year-old Ethiopian geoscientist for his remarkable personal contribution in the so vital field of water resources. The ceremony proceeded at the time of the 22nd Colloquium of African Geology (CAG 22) which was held in Hammamet, Tunisia (3-7 November 2008).

Professor Toteu made a point of stressing that the selection committee, made up of professors Jacques Lang, Alain Durand, Joel Rolet and him­self, had assessed the great quality of the candi­datures and regretted not being able to award a second price. A unanimity however emerged around the name of the prize winner.

As soon as he obtained his Master degree in 1999, Seifu Kebede undertook an intense field ac­tivity while taking part in many international pro­grams. Its research, focused in the East-African rift, was dedicated essentially to the functioning of multi-level Ethiopian lakes whose inter-relation­ships are particularly compli­cated by the volcanic substratum.

After having defended his PhD thesis on these topics at the University of Avignon in 2004 and then joined the IAEA in Vienna for one year devoted to the techniques of isotopic chemistry, Seifu Kebede, after his return in Ethiopia in 2006, diversified his activities: teaching at the Addis Ababa University, co-managing the MAWARI regional project of edu­cation by research (sustainable management of groundwater resources of the East-African rift), delivering regularly first-class papers, animating a regional group of researchers and very recently accepting the presidency of the Ethiopian Associa­tion of Hydrogeologists.

The attribution of this 2000 euros prize thus encourages a young researcher-professor who distinguishes himself by an exemplary scientific career as well in the delivery of quality teaching as in the implementation of innovative research pro­jects with regular production of first rank publica­tions.

After the thanks expressed by Seifu Kebede, François Pinard concluded by underlining the sup­port brought by companies which joined the award of this prize, making thus possible the organization of the event: BRGM, la Compagnie française de géothermie (CFG), Dunois voyages, the French committee of the international year of planet earth (IYPE), Iris instruments and TOTAL. A rendez-vous was taken for the second edition foreseen in 2011 during CAG 23 in Johannesburg.

The ceremony ended with a cocktail party which gathered a great number of participants around the prize winner.

François Pinard (Cifeg), Seifu Kebede (AAU) and Prof. Felix Toteu (GSAf)