Summary
I am a senior hydrogeologist with research interest in groundwater resources and rural water supply in South Asia and East and Southern Africa. I am also interested in water resources and geothermal energy in Scotland. I have experience working with partners and collaborators from academia and research, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector. Much of my work, which is inherently interdisciplinary, focuses on functionality and resilience of rural groundwater supply infrastructure particularly in Ethiopia, Uganda and Malawi and the evolution of groundwater resources in the highly overexploited aquifers of Northwest India and Pakistan. I am also involved in the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow which aims to investigate the feasibility of minewater geothermal for renewable community heating. I am a member of the BGS research ethics committee, BGS representative for the IAPETUS doctoral training partnership (DTP) and a member of the BGS PhD management committee. I am an associate editor for the open access Geological Society of London Journal Earth Science, Systems and Society.
Donald John MacAllister’s biography
- 2012 to 2016 : PhD Hydrogeology and hydrogeophysics, Imperial College London.
- 2009 to 2010 : MSc Water Management – Community Water and Sanitation (WASH), Cranfield University
- 2004 to 2008 : BSc (Hons) Geophysics, The University of Edinburgh
Research interests
- Groundwater in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the context of poverty reduction and climate resilience
- Groundwater resilience in highly exploited aquifer systems, particularly in South Asia
- Groundwater, rural water supply and WASH, particularly in East and Southern Africa
- Mountain hydrology and hydrogeology and it’s role in downstream groundwater resources
- Geothermal energy, particularly minewater geothermal for community heat
- Hydrogeophysics, particularly self-potential
Professional associations
- Fellow of the Geological Society
- Member of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
- Associate Editor of GSL journal Earth Science Systems and Society