The Biological and Environmental Sciences Department at Qatar University College of Arts and Sciences (QU-CAS) and TOTAL E&P GOLFE LIMITED QSTP-B had an agreement to collaborate in finding environmental-friendly solutions for the re-use of produced waters for irrigation purposes.
The signing ceremony attended by CAS Dean Dr. EimanMustafawi, VP for HR, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at TOTAL E&P GOLFE LIMITED QSTP-B Mr. Christophe Eon, CAS Associate Deans -- for Academic Affairs Dr Hassan Abdulaziz, for Planning and Quality Assurance Dr. Steven Wright and for Outreach and Engagement Dr. Khalifa Al Hazaa, and the Head of the Biological and Environmental Sciences Department Dr. Fatima AmmarAl-Naemi, as well as and CAS faculty members.
The agreement included a fund of 100,000 US dollars offered by TOTAL E&P GOLFE LIMITED QSTP-B for the project titled “Innovative environmental-friendly solutions for the re-use of produced waters for irrigation purposes and its effects on plant and soil characteristics”, in which two master students from the Biological and Environmental Sciences Department will be involved as part of their master thesis.
In her welcome remarks, Dr. EimanMustafawi said: “I’d like to thank Total Qatar for being with us today and I’d like to thank the department of biological and environmental sciences for being so active and eager to establish such collaboration with the industry the department has been so active this year and the year before and previously in working with the industry to provide the opportunities to help students get hands-on experience.”
“We really appreciate Total for collaborating with us and providing us with this grant for this very critical research project which addresses water scarcity in Qatar as clean resources of water is very limited in Qatar and the region in general so the normal solution is recycle the available resources we have in irrigation and other applications.” Dr. Mustafawi added. Mr. Christophe Eon said: “This year is a very special for Total as our Company celebrates 80 years of Presence in Qatar. Actually, in Total we prefer to say 80 years of presence with Qatar as it seems a better way to underline the fact that we have a built such a long relationship based on fruitful interactions and partnerships with various stakeholders.”
“Today we celebrate one type of these partnerships with Qatar University and the College of Arts & Science. The MOU that was signed in 2011 by both parties, Total and QU put an emphasis on the two sides of a fruitful collaboration: the academic cooperation and the development of the students. This is what we tend to valorize and promote at Total as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility policy particularly by reinforcing the links between the education system and the industry. It is also very much in line with the QNV 2030 as two of its pillars are about Human Capital and the Environment”. He added
Mr. Christophe Eon stated further: “TOTAL is committed to a large R&D program for water management with strong links and interactions with our R&D teams in France. In Qatar, where water scarcity is a very important issue, we are focusing on the beneficial re-use of produced water for irrigation. The general idea is to find the most adequate combination between suitably treated water from our operations, local plants and soils, in order to achieve a sustainable irrigation system. Today, as a first step, we are funding a study with Qatar University to screen plants and soils for their properties, based on the knowledge of the water quality that we produce.”
Dr. Fatima AmmarAl-Naemi said: “The agreement aims to promote the research in the field of reusing water as well as providing students with hands-on experiences in the field of water applications and we’re looking forward to expand our collaboration.”
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