Newcastle University

Roles and Responsibilities

Deputy Director Developing Areas Research Network (DARN)
Director of postgraduate studies for AFRD
Degree Programme Director for environmental science MSc in AFRD
Chair of AFRD postgraduate strategy committee
Member of AFRD research committee
Member of AFRD executive committee

Qualifications

BSc Hons Engineering Science
MSc Agricultural Engineering
CEng Chartered Engineer

Previous Positions

Deputy Director Centre for Land Use & Water Resources Research

Informal Interests

Chair of Governors Chantry Middle School, Morpeth

Research Interests

Much of my research activity is multi-disciplinary. The scientific context can be seen as management of land and water resources.

Irrigated agriculture is a primary interest with a research focus on improved management of irrigation systems, which has involved activity in various countries within the tropics and sub-tropics. Recent activities have explored scope for multi-purpose management of irrigation systems including consideration of non-consumptive water uses such as for fishing and aquaculture.
Interest in agricultural water management extends beyond irrigation and into catchment management and dryland cropping systems. Collaborative research projects with partners in Africa have focussed on interactions between land-use and hydrological response in a semi-arid environment.

My research often brings together elements of soil science and hydrology within broader interdisciplinary approaches to environmental management. This interest is reflected in recent work, which explored indigenous farmers’ knowledge of their soils as an aid to planning soil-water management interventions. It is reflected also in a third focus of research, which has involved a succession of research students in investigation of the soil hydrological processes affecting management of salinity in irrigated land.

Other Expertise

Rural development and sustainable livelihoods.
Soil hydrology and soil physics.

Current Work

1.Salinity management and use of low quality water in irrigated land under shallow watertable conditions.
2.Sustainable intensification of cropping systems through land and water management in semi-arid dryland conditions.
3.Environmental and social impacts of conversion from rice to shrimp production in tropical coastal zones.

Future Research

As above.

Research Roles

Principal investigator for several research projects involving interdisciplinary and international collaboration.

Postgraduate Supervision

Supervised 20+ research students to successful completion of PhD.
Currently director of postgraduate research students within AFRD.

Esteem Indicators

Regular reviewer for several academic journals: Agricultural Water Management, Water Policy, Water Resources Management, Experimental Agriculture, Aquaculture Engineering. I have reviewed book proposals for various publishers: CABI, Spon Press, John Wiley and Thomas Telford. Also acted as external reviewer for various international organisations: International Water Management Institute, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, International Foundation for Science, Flemish Interuniversity Council

Funding

7 grants received since 2001 with total value >£1 million

Keywords

irrigation, agriculture, water, sustainable development

Undergraduate Teaching

ACE2017 Environmental assessment and design (module leader)
ACE3018 Soil & Water Conservation (module leader)

Postgraduate Teaching

ACE8020 Environmental Systems Modelling (module leader)
ACE8021 Sustainable Development & Environmental Change (module leader)
ACE8019 Soil & Water Conservation (module leader)
ACE8027 Farming Systems & Agroecology
ACE8028 Environmental Assessment: land & water resources
ACE8030 Environmental Assessment: field class

• Alataway AA, Ness MR, Gowing JW. Public attitude towards wastewater reuse for irrigated agriculture in Saudi Arabia. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 2011, 145, 9pp.
• Konukcu F, Gowing JW, Rose DA. Dry drainage: A sustainable solution to waterlogging and salinity problems in irrigation areas?. Agricultural Water Management 2006, 83(1-2), 1-12.
• Gowing JW, Konukcu F, Rose DA. Evaporative flux from a shallow watertable: The influence of a vapour-liquid phase transition. Journal of Hydrology 2006, 321(1-4), 77-89.
• Li Q, Gowing J. A daily water balance modelling approach for simulating performance of tank-based irrigation systems. Water Resources Management 2005, 19(3), 211-231.
• Rose DA, Konukcu F, Gowing JW. Effect of watertable depth on evaporation and salt accumulation from saline groundwater. Australian Journal of Soil Research 2005,43 5 565-573.
• Li Q, Gowing JW, Mayilswami C. Multiple-use management in a large irrigation system: An assessment of technical constraints to integrating aquaculture within irrigation canals. Irrigation and Drainage 2005,54 1 31-42.
• Gowing JW, Li Q, Gunawardhana T. Multiple-use management in a large irrigation system: Benefits of distributed secondary storage. Irrigation and Drainage Systems 2004,18 1 57-71.
• Payton RW, Barr JJF, Martin A, Sillitoe P, Deckers JF, Gowing JW, Hatibu N, Naseem SB, Tenywa M, Zuberi MI. Contrasting approaches to integrating indigenous knowledge about soils and scientific soil survey in East Africa and Bangladesh. Geoderma 2003, 111(3-4), 355-386.
• Hatibu N, Young MDB, Gowing JW, Mahoo HF, Mzirai OB. Developing improved dryland cropping systems for maize in semi-arid Tanzania. Part 1: Experimental evidence for the benefits of rainwater harvesting. Experimental Agriculture 2003,39 3 279-292.
• Gowing JW, Young MDB, Hatibu N, Mahoo HF, Rwehumbiza F, Mzirai OB. Developing improved dryland cropping systems for maize in semi-arid Tanzania. Part II. Use of a model to extrapolate and add value to experimental results. Experimental Agriculture 2003,39 3 293-306.
• Gowing JW. Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa: does water scarcity limit the options?. Land Use and Water Resources Research 2003, 3, 2.1-2.7.
• Hoanh CT, Tuong TP, Gallop KM, Gowing JW, Kam SP, Khiem NT, Phong ND. Livelihood impacts of water policy changes: Evidence from a coastal area of the Mekong river delta. Water Policy 2003, 5(5-6), 475-488.
• Young MDB, Gowing JW, Wyseure GCL, Hatibu N. Parched-Thirst: development and validation of a process-based model of rainwater harvesting. Agricultural Water Management 2002, 55(2), 121-140.
• Konukcu F, Gowing JW, Rose DA. Simple sensors to achieve fine spatial resolution in continuous measurements of soil moisture and salinity. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2002, 6(6), 1043-1051.
• Gowing JW, Ejieji CJ. Real-time scheduling of supplemental irrigation for potatoes using a decision model and short-term weather forecasts. Agricultural Water Management 2001, 47(2), 137-153.
• Sam-amoah LK, Gowing JW. The experience of irrigation management transfer in Ghana: A case study of Dawhenya Irrigation Scheme. Irrigation and Drainage Systems 2001, 15(1), 21-38.
• Ejieji CJ, Gowing JW. A dynamic model for responsive scheduling of potato irrigation based on simulated water-use and yield. Journal of Agricultural Science 2000, 135(2), 161-171.
• Gowing J. Limitations of water-control technology. Agricultural Water Management 1999, 40(1), 95-99.
• Gowing JW, Tarimo A, El-Awad O. A rational method for assessing irrigation performance at farm level with the aid of fuzzy set theory. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, 10, 319-330 1996.
• Gowing JW, Lankford B. The impact of design approximations on the operational performance of an irrigation scheme: A case study in Malaysia. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, 10, 193-205 1996.