Simon M. Onywere is since 1st August 2018, the Director, Capacity Development and Consultancy Services (CDCS), Kenyatta University and Associate Professor of Environmental Planning and Management in the School of Environmental Studies. Before his appointment to CDCS he served as the Director, Research Dissemination and Uptake between 25th May 2016 and 31st July 2018. He also served as the Deputy Director, Research Capacity Building and Dissemination at the then Institute of Research, Science and Technology, Kenyatta University from 20th Sept 2011 – 2nd April 2014.
Before Joining Kenyatta University in 2001, he was the Head of the Department of Geography, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya (1998-2001). He made his PhD in 1997 in Structural/Remote Sensing Geology from the University of Nairobi with postgraduate research support from Universities Science Humanities and Engineering Partnerships in Africa (USHEPiA) to the University of Cape Town, South Africa at the Centre for Interactive Graphical Computing (Geological Science) where he partly worked on the Godwana GIS Database.

Onywere is trained through University Staff Development Programme, (UNISTAFF-2006) on Organizational Development, Quality in Teaching and Learning, and Research Management supported by DAAD at Witzenhausen (Kassel, Germany). And has organised and participate in organising a number of meetings and forums in Eastern Africa on quality in higher education.
In July 2018, Onywere was nominated by Esri President Jack Dangermond as a GIS Ambassador for his contribution to GIS Education in Eastern Africa. He was named the ESRI Geospatial Knowledge (GIS) Champion in Eastern Africa in 2014 for his role in institutionalising the use of GIS and Technology of Knowledge and implementation of ESRI’s 100 African Universities Programme in Kenyatta University and advocating for the knowledge in Eastern Africa. The programme makes available ArcGIS and Remote Sensing Tools and expands access and use of GIS for teaching and Research. For this effort the Kenyatta University was recognised and awarded Special Achievement in GIS (SAG-2015) during the annual Esri International User Conference in 2015. His earlier training in GIS saw him participate in the Ninth United Nations International Course (1999) on Remote Sensing Education for Educators, at Stockholm University, Sweden (Sponsored by the United Nations Space Agency and SIDA).

Onywere was from June 2012 to April 2014, the Kenyatta University Champion in the Programme on Development Research Uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa (DRUSSA); a Twenty-four African universities partnership and collaboration between Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), the Association for Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and Organization Systems Design (OSD) and funded by DFID, United Kingdom. He has been involved and champions research management and quality in higher education through the Kenya DAAD Scholars Association (KDSA) where he was the Chairperson between 2010 and 2015)

He is involved in Integrated Watershed/Environmental Management Planning and has participated and trained communities in water resources and catchment management with 7 participatory catchment management plans to his credit. He was a cluster team leader of 15 projects of the Lake Victoria Research Initiative (VICRES) supported by SIDA-SAREC through the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) on Heavy Metal Pollution. In 2010 he led a team of researchers from Kenyatta University and undertook “A Regional Disaster Risk Management Mainstreaming Study in 5 IGAD Members States (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda)”. In the same year he was the Lead Resource Person for IGAD Regional Workshop on Community Based Disaster Risk Management Training in Hawassa, Ethiopia, where 35 participants were exposed to technical approaches on Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CDRM) planning. In 2011 to 2013 he led a team from Kenyatta University in Risk, Hazard, and Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment/Mapping in Support of Disaster Risk Reduction in all 8 Provinces of Kenya for the Ministry of State for Special Programmes. He has done a number of other projects in the Rift Valley of Kenya and is widely travelled in the East Africa Region. He was involved in comprehensive mapping of the Geospatial Extent of 2011-2014 Flooding of the Eastern African Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya and its Implication on the Ecosystems with a focus on lakes Naivasha, Nakuru, Bogoria and Baringo.

Prof. Onywere is a Member of Kenya’s National Platform on Disaster Risk Management. His Memberships to regional networks include: the Geological Society of Kenya (GSK); the Regional Eastern Africa DIES Alumni Networking (REAL) on Quality in Higher Education; Water Capacity Building Network (WaterCap); and the UN University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa.

His research interest is on the use of GIS and Technology body of knowledge in global problem solving. He has researched and published on the subject and in applications for integrated environmental/watershed management and disaster risk management. His concern on the expansion of the use of Geospatial knowledge for teaching and research saw him Spearhead the Establishment of Linkage between Kenyatta University and ESRI Eastern Africa under the 100 African Universities programme and Between Kenyatta University and Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for development. He has also been key in the organization of Esri Eastern Africa GIS Education Users conferences for the Users conferences for the last since 2013 and has hosted the annual salute to GIS during the Global GIS Day.

He teaches and researches in GIS and Remote Sensing for Environmental Planning and Management; Wetland Resources Management; Integrated Environmental Management; Planning for Disaster Preparedness and Management; Planning for Waste Management, Research Methodology and Project Planning.

Recent Publications

• Joy A. Obando, S. Onywere, C. Shisanya, A. Ndubi, D. Masiga, Z. Irura, N. Mariita, and H. Maragia, (2016). Impact of Short-Term Flooding on Livelihoods in the Kenya Rift Valley Lakes. In M.E. Meadows, J.-C. Lin (eds.), Geomorphology and Society, Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-56000-5_12, Pg 193-215. Springer Japan 2016.
• Shisanya, C.A., Onywere, S.M. and Obando, J.A. (2017) Sustainable Water Resources Management for Food Security in Kenya: Case of Bwathonaro Catchment. Open Access Library Journal, 4: e3524. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1103524
• Susan Malaso Kotikot and Simon M. Onywere (2014), Application of GIS and remote sensing techniques in frost risk mapping for mitigating agricultural losses in the Aberdare ecosystem, Kenya, Geocarto International, DOI: 10.1080/10106049.2014.965758, Article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2014.965758
• Bunyasi, M. M., S. M. Onywere and M. K. Kigomo (2013), Sustainable Catchment Management: Assessment of Sedimentation of Masinga Reservoir and its Implication on the Dam’s Hydropower Generation Capacity, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, May 2013, Vol. 3 No. 9, 166-179; Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA, www.ijhssnet.com
• Mironga, J. M., J. M. Mathooko and S. M. Onywere (2012), Effects of spreading patterns of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) on zooplankton population in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, paper accepted for publication by the Biodiversity Journal, Taylor & Francis Publishers.
• Mironga, J. M., J. M. Mathooko and S. M. Onywere (2012), Effect of water hyacinth infestation on the physicochemical characteristics of Lake Naivasha, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, April 2012, Vol. 2 No. 7, 103-113. Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA, www.ijhssnet.com http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_7_April_2012/11.pdf
• Onywere, S. M., J. M. Mironga and I. Simiyu (2012), Use of Remote Sensing Data in Evaluating the Extent of Anthropogenic Activities and their Impact on Lake Naivasha, Kenya, The Open Environmental Engineering Journal, 2012, 5, 9-18, Bentham Science Publishers [DOI: 10.2174/1874829501205010009]