By: Eng. Ata Aboushi

After I got my Bachelor degree in civil engineering with distinction, I got support from ‎An-Najah's Water and Environmental Studies Institute to study Masters in Water and ‎Environmental Engineering at the University. This discipline merges water and ‎environmental engineering with environmental science. The scholarship was financially ‎and technically supported by (UNESCO – IHE), which is one of the largest institutes ‎specialized in water and environmental engineering. My master’s thesis titled: “an ‎Exploratory Study of Areas of Overlap between Surface and Groundwater in Dry and ‎Semi-arid Areas: Al Faraa Basin in Palestine as a Case Study” was classified by the ‎French website (Secheresse‏‎) as one of the researches that contribute in developing the ‎dry and semi-arid areas in all over the world. This success is attributed to the advanced ‎technical abilities and the excellent research experience of the teaching and scientific ‎research staff at the Institute. ‎

During my Masters I worked at the Institute as a research assistant on a project titled: ‎‎“The Impact of Untreated Wastewater on natural Water Bodies: Risk Assessment”. And ‎while I was working, I published a joint scientific research titled: “Overview of Quantity ‎and Quality of Water Resources in the Faria Catchment, ‎Palestine”.‎

During this period, I was appointed at the Palestinian Water Authority. I was also ‎nominated by the Institute as ‘Palestine’s Ambassador for Water Affairs of ‎Mediterranean Countries’”. And I have represented Palestine in the sixth Global Water ‎Forum which was held in Marseille, France in 2012. ‎

Throughout my study and work at the Institute, I have learned ‎ several research, ‎scientific, technical skills, communication skills and logical analysis skills that ‎qualified me for special job opportunities. After I finished my work at the Institute, I ‎worked as an environmental and social awareness lecturer at the Palestinian ‎Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC). I also worked as a hydrologist in some ‎engineering centres and companies in Palestine. During that period, I published two ‎scholarly researches; the first titled: “Developing Quantitative and ‎Qualitative ‎Relationships of Wadi-Aquifer Interaction in the Semi-Arid ‎Watershed of Faria, ‎Palestine” and the second titled: “A Preliminary Investigation of ‎Wadi-Aquifer ‎Interaction in the Semi-Arid Watershed of Faria, Palestine Using ‎Tracer-Based ‎Methodology”, which was published by the Environmental Earth Sciences ‎Journal‏‎.‎

In 2014-2015, I worked again at the Institute as a researcher engineer on a project titled: ‎‎“Developing Agricultural Best ‎Management Practices to Preserve Groundwater Quality ‎in the Faria Catchment, ‎Palestine”. And it is one of the pioneering projects that is ‎applied in (‎‏PADUCO)‎‏‎; the Palestinian- Dutch Academic Cooperation. A joint scientific ‎paper was published about the project titled: “Developing a GIS-Based Agro-Land ‎Suitability ‎Map for the Faria Agricultural Catchment, Palestine”, and it was published ‎by the International Journal of Global Environmental Issues‏‎ in th U.K in 2017. ‎

In 2015 I worked in the UAE in which I was in charge of the industrial wastewater ‎treatment plant in Alserkal Group. Since 2016 until now, I have been working in waste ‎management in Dubai municipality. I have been elected as the best specialized engineer ‎and as a direct administrator of the Scientific Innovation Forum in its second session. I ‎have also published my first specialized report on environmental- social sustainability. ‎In Dec, 2017 I was honoured by his Excellency, the General Director of Dubai ‎Municipality for my contribution that paved the way to the department for many global ‎prizes. I was also elected in Feb, 2018 as an innovated administrator.‎

It is worth mentioning that I was appointed to work in revising and evaluating the ‎international scientific articles that are to be published in two journals; namely, the ‎Environmental Earth Sciences Journal in Germany and the Arabian Journal of ‎Geosciences in Saudi Arabia. I am also a member of the editorial board for EnPress ‎Publisher in the U.S, which consists of 25 academics and researchers. ‎

I thank Allah for all of his blessings, and my mother for all her support. I also thank the ‎Civil Engineering Department, Water and the Environmental Studies Institute at An-‎Najah and all of the tutors. ‎

Dubai – United Arab Emirates.‎