Aymere Awoke Assayie, Ph.D.

Research Staff

Research Specialist

Research Interests

Dr. Assayie is an experienced aquatic ecologist and environmental health specialist who has been working in academia for more than 15 years. With a skill in phycology, the taxonomy of diatoms and macroinvertebrates, microscopy, biological sampling, data analysis, and data visualization, my research interest covers the study of the impact of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on water quality of the aquatic system and on the biodiversity in the aquatic ecosystem. Dr. Assayie is interested in studying the status of water bodies as a system using biological quality elements like Diatoms, macroinvertebrates, and Planktons as proxy indicators. He worked on the habitat modeling of these biological elements, especially benthic diatoms and macroinvertebrates. He is also interested in understanding ecosystem services and their management. The treatment of water and wastewater is also the research area he has been investigating for a good share of his research years and wanted to continue with as he believes; this is key to address the gap in water scarcity and integrated water resource management to safeguard both human and environmental health.

Selected Publications

  • Municipal Wastewater Treatment by Membrane Bioreactors. in: Sustainable Membrane Technology for Water and Wastewate... 
    Assayie Aymere Awoke, Gebreyohannes Abaynesh Y., Giorno Lidietta Book Chapter edited by A...
    Springer Singapore. Singapore, pp. 265-294, (2017)
  • Macroinvertebrate community structure and feeding interactions along a pollution gradient in Gilgel Gibe watershed,... 
    Gebrehiwot M, Awoke Aymere, Beyene A, Kifle D, Triest L Limnologica - Ecology and Managem...
    Limnologica - Ecology and Management of Inland Waters 62:68-76 , (2017)
  • River Water Pollution Status and Water Policy Scenario in Ethiopia: Raising Awareness for Better Implementation in ... 
    Awoke Aymere, Beyene A, Kloos H, Goethals PLM, Triest L 
    Environmental Management 58:694-706, (2016)
  • Validation of a quantitative method for estimating the indicator power of, diatoms for ecoregional river water qual... 
    Beyene Abebe, Awoke Aymere, Triest Ludwig
    Ecological Indicators 37, Part A:58-66, (2014)
  • Experimental evaluation of anaerobic digestion for coffee wastewater treatment and its biomethane recovery potentia... 
    Beyene A, Yemane D, Addis T, Assayie Awoke Aymere, Triest L 
    Int J Environ Sci Technol 11:1881-1886, (2014)
  • Estimation of environmental optima and tolerances of diatoms using multifactor multiplicative modelling 
    Beyene Abebe, Awoke Aymere, Triest Ludwig 
    Ecological Informatics 19:53-61, (2014)
  • Assessment on the Approaches Used for Water and Sanitation Programs in Southern Ethiopia 
    Baye S, Kloos H, Mulat W, Assayie Awoke Aymere, Gullis G, Kumie A, Yirsaw B 
    Water Resour Manage 26:4295-4309, (2012)
  • Enhanced disinfection efficiencies of solar irradiation by biogenic silver 
    intubin Liesje, Assayie Awoke Aymere, Yingying Wang, David Van der Ha and Willy Verstraete...
    Annals of Microbiology, Vol 62, no 1, 187-191, (2012)

Education

  • Ph.D., Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, 2017
  • MSc., Environmental Sanitation, Gent University, Gent, Belgium, 2009
  • BSc., Environmental Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia, 2004

Professional Profile

  • 2022-Present: Research Specialist, RSRC, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia​
  • 2019-2022: Laboratory Technician, RSRC, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia​
  • 01/05/2019–30/11/2019: Postdoctoral research assistant, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • 01/04/2018–31/07/2018: Postdoctoral researcher; Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  • 01/11/2017–31/03/2018: Project assistant; Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2009–2011: Lecturer, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia
  • 2004–2006: Assistant Lecturer, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia

KAUST Affiliations

  • ​Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE)
  • Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)

Research Interests Keywords

Environment Aquatic Ecology Water quality Limnology Environmental Health Water and Wastewater treatment Ecosystem services Marine ecology Nature management Biodiversity