About Mark Olokotum
Dr Mark Olokotum is a Senior Research Officer at NaFIRRI where he heads the Fish Habitat Management (FHM) research programme. He has a 14-years of experience in Fisheries Research (Aquatic Resources Assessment and Monitoring, Fish Biology & Ecology, and Water Environment). Mark has PhD in Zoology from Makerere University, a Master of Science in Limnology and Wetland Management jointly offered by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, and Egerton University, a second Master of Science in Zoology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture, both from Makerere University, Kampala.
At the workplace, Mark is keen to understand the interactions between fish stock dynamics, ecosystem functioning, data quality and management actions. He has led several projects to rescue freshwater biodiversity data and made it freely accessible to the public. His position at NaFIRRI has helped him work on several other projects (both with national and international collaborators) that have collected freshwater biodiversity information across the country, and his current interests relate to creating tools for freely sharing this data. Some tools created include the online freshwater biodiversity data portal for Uganda (https://freshwaterbiodiversity.go.ug/), where he's a scientific data manager and editor before publication.
Mark has updated knowledge of the ecological state of northern Lake Victoria, integrated local knowledge in the conservation of threatened fish species, assessed the ecological integrity of affluent rivers of the Albertine graben, and currently updating our knowledge on the forgotten fish habitats and fishes of Uganda. Additionally, he is involved in aquatic biodiversity and ecological assessment of rivers and wetlands for human development including hydropower plants. Over the years, he ensured the “Ecological good status/potential” and compliance of the seismic activities within national legislation and the Environmental Management Plans during oil & gas exploration along the Nile River and northern Lake Albert.
Mark is a member of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) regional working groups such as Fish Biological Studies, Fish Genetics and Biodiversity, and Stock Assessment. In addition, he is a member of the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE) African and North American Genomics Working Group, The International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR), and the Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
He has also participated in executing numerous consultancies and project assignments, information, and knowledge dissemination at several scientific conferences and workshops, and widely published in peer-reviewed journals.
