An international water expert will discuss “Small Reservoirs in Africa” during a free lunch seminar Feb. 23 in Hardin Hall at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln hosted by the University of Nebraska Water for Food Institute.

Marc Andreini’s presentation will be 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Hardin Hall’s second floor lobby on UNL’s East Campus, 33rd and Holdrege streets. Andreini is a water advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Bureau for Economic Growth and Trade. He will describe the small reservoirs, how they are used and areas of research that might be pursued to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

University of Nebraska faculty, staff and students are invited to the seminar and luncheon but must RSVP online by 5 p.m. Feb. 21 at http://research.unl.edu/events/andreini2011.php.

During his UNL visit, Andreini will learn more about the university’s research related to water for food through meetings with faculty and administrators.

Before joining USAID, Andreini was a senior researcher with the International Water Management Institute, where he was the Ghana coordinator of the GLOWA Volta Project and the leader of the Small Reservoirs Project. Andreini has contributed to projects to strengthen basin-level integrated water management and address issues of water productivity. He has worked in California and several African countries and has been involved in a variety of water management and supply projects.

He has studied solute movement under conventional and conservation tillage, and shallow groundwater irrigation in Zimbabwe. He built village water supply systems in Morocco, was a physical planner for the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees in Tanzania, and was a member of the project coordinating unit supervising the construction of Botswana’s North-South Carrier. He is a professional engineer.