© 2015 Sarah E. Rich

Paul Kojo Mensah

RISE Degree(s) 

PhD in Water Resource Science from the Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University

RISE Network(s) 
SSAWRN
Nationality 
Ghanaian
Employment 

Researcher, Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality, Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University

He is working on an IWR-led project to develop a co-operative integrated water quality management process (IWQMP) for the Crocodile River Catchment. He is also currently co-supervising, along with Prof. Palmer, a new RISE PhD student who just began his research at Rhodes, Emmanuel Vellemu.

Dr. Mensah was a Spring 2015 Duke University Africa Initiative Visiting Scholar.

Research 

Broad interests: ecotoxicology; environmental water quality; environmental health; freshwater ecology; integrated water resources management.

Specific project areas: assessment of environmental pollutants such as pesticides, metals and EDCs on freshwater ecosystems using histopathology, acetylcholinesterase activity and lipid peroxidation in aquatic animals as biomarkers; salts ecotoxicology and freshwater salinisation; ecotoxicological studies of acid mine drainage; development of aquatic ecosystems water quality guidelines and resource quality objectives; resource classification for effective management of freshwater resources; development of ecologically-oriented methods for monitoring surface water quality and wastewater effluents; biomonitoring and ecological assessments of aquatic ecosystems; environmental and water science education.

Read more about his PhD research here.

News & Blogs 

Developing Guidelines for Roundup in South Africa

Selected Publications 

Vellemu EC, Mensah PK, Griffin NJ, Odume ON, Palmer CG, Dowse R. 2017. Using a risk-based approach for derivation of water quality guidelines for sulphate. Mine Water Environ., pp. 1–8

Odume ON, Palmer CG, Arimoro FO, Mensah PK. 2016. Chironomid assemblage structure and morphological response to pollution in an effluent-impacted river, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Ecol. Indic. 67:391–402.

Mensah PK, Palmer CG, Odume ON. 2014. Ecotoxicology of Glyphosate and Glyphosate-based Herbicides: Toxicity to Wildlife and Humans. In Pesticides: Toxic Aspects, ed ML Larramendy, S Soloneski, pp. 163–85. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech Publications.

Mensah PK, Palmer CG, Muller WJ. 2014. Lethal and Sublethal Effects of Pesticides on Aquatic Organisms: The Case of a Freshwater Shrimp Exposure to Roundup®. In Pesticides: Toxic Aspects, ed ML Larramendy, S Soloneski, pp. 163–85. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech Publications.

Mensah PK, Palmer CG, Muller WJ. 2012. Lipid peroxidation in the freshwater shrimp Caridina nilotica as a biomarker of Roundup herbicide pollution of freshwater systems in South Africa. Water Sci. Technol. 65(9):1660–6.

Mensah PK, Muller WJ, Palmer CG. 2012. Using growth measures in the freshwater shrimp Caridina nilotica as biomarkers of Roundup® pollution of South African freshwater systems. Phys. Chem. Earth, Parts A/B/C 50:262–68.

Mensah PK, Muller WJ, Palmer CG. 2011. Acute toxicity of Roundup® herbicide to three life stages of the freshwater shrimp Caridina nilotica (Decapoda: Atyidae). Phys. Chem. Earth, Parts A/B/C 36(14):905–9.

RISE Degree(s) Completed 
April 2013