On joining eWater in October 2019, Russell Rollason brought 14 years’ experience in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade designing and managing international development programs in water resource management in the Indo-Pacific region.  He was instrumental in establishing the DFAT funded Australian Water Partnership.

A science honours graduate from the University of Queensland (Geology and Mineralogy), Russell also holds a Master in General Studies from the UNSW.  In 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, for services to international development and humanitarian aid through the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA) and promotion of social justice in Australia.

In 2010-13, Russell served as First Secretary in the Australian High Commission to India where he expanded Australia’s technical cooperation program with India in water resource management.  He managed Australia’s partnership with the World Bank regional South Asia Water Initiative.  After joining AusAID/DFAT in 2005, Russell drafted Australia’s first Mekong Water Resources Strategy and strengthened relations with the Mekong River Commission.

Russell has more than 20 years’ experience in civil society organisations, having served 12 years as Executive Director for ACFOA (now the Australian Council for International Development) and four years as the elected Chair of the Geneva based International Council for Voluntary Agencies.  He has also worked as a consultant and team leader for two Asian Development Bank technical assistance projects in Asia.

Dr. Mukta Sapkota is a Civil and Water Engineer. Mukta is an experienced water modeller, who has worked in urban water systems and hydrology in Australia and Overseas.

Mukta has advanced skills in the use of simulation models and Arc GIS for evaluating urban water systems and is skilled in working with large datasets and numerical tools to solve complex hydrological problems for strategic decision making.

Juanita is a Hydrologist and Spatial Scientist with 35 years’ experience in the water resources sector, in Australia and South Africa.

For 24 years, Juanita worked at the South African Department of Water Affairs, where she was involved in projects applying hydrological modelling, water quality analysis, monitoring network design and the provision of spatial solutions for aquatic habitat assessments and information to support catchment- and national-scale decision making. This often required working in multidisciplinary teams with scientists from various universities and research institutions to achieve technical solutions.

From 2010 to 2012 she was part of the team which produced the Bureau of Meteorology’s first Australian Water Resources Assessment report. She also has experience as a trainer and in providing client software support.

Education: 

• BSc(Hons) Hyd, BSc(Hons) / MSc Geog
• 2012  MSc (Geography), University of the Free State, South Africa
• 2005  Higher Diploma in Education, University of Natal, South Africa
• 1998  BSc (Hons) Geography-GIS, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• 1984  BSc (Hons) Hydrology, University of Natal, South Africa

Dr Paradis Someth specialises in Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering with nearly two decades of experience working on water resources management issues in the Greater Mekong region.

Paradis is a principal hydrologist at eWater, specialising in the Greater Mekong. Previously, Paradis held senior roles at the Mekong River Commission Secretariat and the Institute for Technology Cambodia. Paradis has a deep connection with water resource engineering and profound understanding of the work of the Mekong River Commission and water resource development in the individual Mekong countries.

Paradis’ expertise includes water balance analysis from plot-scale to basin-scale, irrigation and hydropower development, hydrological analysis and modelling of the Tonle Sap Lake and Mekong Basin. He is also interested in scientific data/information management, web-based river monitoring, basin development and planning, Decision Support System.

Paradis holds an Engineer Diploma in Rural Engineering from Cambodia/Belgium, Master’s degree and PhD in International Environmental and Agricultural Engineering from Japan.  

Trudy Green has worked in water resource management and policy for 20 years.

She has worked across the water industry, including in urban water and wastewater management, catchment management, river operations and water policy. Trudy brings to eWater extensive experience working in bringing together diverse parties to solve complex water management issues.

Trudy holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Hons) from the University of Wollongong and a Masters of Natural Resource Management from the University of New England.