Biography
Terefe Hanchiso Sodango holds PhD in GIS and Cartography, Masters Degree in Geoinformatics, BSc in Computer Science. He is currently serving as Asst. Professor at Wolkite University, Department of Natural Resource Management, Ethiopia. He has experience of teaching, conducting research and delivering community services for more than 18 years at Haramaya and Wolkite Universities. He taught many courses in GIS & Remote Sensing, Computing & Informatics, and Agricultural streams for more than 12 years (2002-2014) at Haramaya University. Courses he delivered include, Applied GIS, Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Advanced Remote Sensing, Surveying and Mapping, Environmental data analysis and modeling, advanced database systems, and Computer Programming.
Since 2014, he has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses at Wolkite University. He conducts research and delivers community, consultancy and capacity building services as well as trainings to government and non-governmental line offices. Additionally, serves as examiner, major and co-advisor for MSc students. He is involved in various collaborative projects on the national and international level, e.g., ERASMUS+ project of “Innovation on Remote Sensing Education and Learning (IRSEL) Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education, Key Action 2 project (ID: 586037-EPP-1-2017-1-HU-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) from 2017-2020. He closely worked with teams with rich research experience and diverse backgrounds contributing to proposal writing, module preparation, and coordination of various tasks including coordinating kick-off meeting of the project. He is also involved in SUFOGIS and IUCLAND ERASMUS+ projects with various involved universities and partners from Europe and Asia.
In addition to his regular activities, he serves as:
- Leader of Earth Observation Training, Education and Capacity Development Network (EOTEC DevNet) Africa Region Community of Practice Task Team (March 2022-Present)
- Technical team member and coordinator of Project Development Team of Rift-Valley Lakes Basin Development Project 2021-2035, where he developed; Ziway-Shalla Lakes Sub-Basin Strategic Plan (2021-2035), Rift valley Lakes Basin Watershed Management Thematic Plan 2021/2022, Rift valley Lakes Basin Watershed Management Implementation Plan 2022/2023, One Mega Project 2022/2023, and Five Project Plans on Rift valley Lakes Basin Watershed Management 2022/2023.
- Faculty advisor and Representative for YouthMappers Chapter at Wolkite University (2019-Presnt)
- Mentor in humanitarian open mapping under open street map (OSM) project (2023)
- Mentor in URISA Geospatial Mentorship program (2022-2023)
Terefe has established collaboration between Wolkite University and Volga state University of Technology, Russia. The MoU between the universities defines work on teaching, research and capacity development. He published his research in peer-reviewed and reputable journals, national and intentional conferences and workshops. Additionally, he serves as reviewer for various reputable journals.His research interests include environmental remote sensing, GIS, Deep Learning, machine-learning, Web-GIS, Geo-spatial data visualization, and Urban remote sensing.
