Dr. Sandow Mark Yidana holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Geology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management with concentration in Hydrogeology from Montclair State University in New Jersey, USA. His research interests are in groundwater flow simulation and optimization, general hydrochemistry, contaminant transport modeling and remediation, and the effects of climate change scenarios on surface and groundwater budgets. He is currently applying the numerical techniques and general knowledge of hydrogeology to the new field of Petroleum hydrogeology research at the Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana. Dr. Yidana is a specialist in the use of the Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) developed by the Aquaveo in Utah. In addition to the doctoral research assistantship award which was merit based, he won two prestigious awards in the course of his doctoral research and graduated as the most outstanding student on the doctoral program in Environmental Management at Montclair State University, and graduated Phi Kappa Phi. Dr. Yidana won the Margaret and Sokol International research award from the College of Science and Mathematics in 2005 and the International research award from the Global Research Center at Montclair State University in 2006. He taught various courses at the undergraduate level for three years, as part of his assignments during the course of his doctoral studies and research at Montclair State University. Prior to his appointment as a lecturer at the Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana in August 2009, Dr. Yidana was employed as a Project Geologist and Groundwater Modeler for the state of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, where he was attached to the state’s Geological Survey unit. He assisted in the completion of such important projects as the Salt Lake Valley project which assessed the effects of prolonged droughts and increased groundwater abstraction on the conditions of the Salt Lake Wetlands. Dr. Yidana also played a key role in the construction and calibration of the Cedar Valley steady state and transient state models, which will be used to assist in the management of groundwater resources in the Cedar Valley area in Utah. He also took part in the supervision of groundwater drilling projects in the Snake Valley area in Western Utah, USA. As a numerical modeler, Dr. Yidana is currently involved in the assessment of various climate change scenarios on water budgets and the availability of water resources in the White Volta basin for irrigation and domestic uses. He has recently won one of the competitive research grants from the Office of Research Innovation, and Development, ORID, of the University of Ghana to undertake a study on the possible short term effects of climate change on groundwater recharge in the Nabogo sub-catchment of the White Volta Basin, Ghana. Dr. Yidana is also working with a PhD student to investigate the possible connection between surface water in Lake Busumtwi and the groundwater system under the Lake, using isotope and general hydrochemical data. He is also a co-Investigator on ‘Integration of surface and sub-surface water flows in assessing climate change impacts on water resources and sustainable rural livelihoods – The White Volta Basin, Ghana’ sponsored by the PSEG Sustainability Institute of Montclair State University, USA. Dr. Yidana has applied advanced statistical approaches such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, ARIMA and ARMA models, discriminant analyses amongst others to the detailed assessment of geo-environmental datasets, and has produced several articles on such applications. He has published widely on the hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, and groundwater management in Ghana, and has over 47 published articles in international peer reviewed journals, two contributions to books, and a book, and has attended several local and international conferences. Dr. Yidana has also been very well cited by his peers in several international journals of significant global impact. He is on the review boards of over 10 international journals including the Journal of Hazardous Materials, Resources Recycling and Conservation, Environmental Earth Sciences among others, and reviews an average of 20 manuscripts annually. He is also on the editorial boards of the The Scientific World Journal (Hindawi Publishers) and The Legon Journal of Science and Technology. Dr. Yidana is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of African Earth Sciences (Elsevier). Dr. Yidana has successfully co-supervised over 20 graduate students at the MSc, MPhil, and PhD levels, and is currently supervising three PhD students, and three MPhil students, in various aspects of hydrogeology and geostatistical applications in geology. He has served and continues to serve on three boards namely, the Faculty of Science Examiners’ Board, the Faculty of Science Board, and the Academic Board of the University of Ghana, where he represents the Department of Earth Science.

Dr. Sandow Mark Yidana’s research interests involve Impacts of Climate change on groundwater and surface water budgets, Subsurface flow phenomena: general groundwater flow systems in fractured and unfractured systems, contaminant transport in groundwater systems and remediation of contaminated groundwater reservoirs; petroleum resources studies using numerical and advanced statistical methods,Hydrochemistry of surface and groundwater systems: the application of multivariate statistical methods, isotope and mass balance methods to determine the major controls on the quality of surface and groundwater systems and Watershed management: the use of flow simulation models to develop decision support systems for the effective management of watersheds under arid to semiarid conditions