Prof. Daniel Nupkezah (PhD)


An IESS Faculty Member

Director 

Professor Daniel Nukpezah is an interdisciplinary scholar, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Director, Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS), University of Ghana (UG). He has research and teaching interests in low-carbon technologies adoption in developing countries; climate change adaptation; environmental governance; ecosystem-based disaster risk assessment and management and freshwater protection at the catchment scale. He supervises graduate students and also teaches several courses at the graduate level. In addition to his academic work, Dan has consulted for several organizations including Grid-Arendal, an agency of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment on wastewater treatment and sanitation provisioning in Africa; Institute for Water Education (IHE, Delft, Netherlands), Tax Policy Unit of the Ministry of Finance (Ghana), Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Research (BCR, Ghana) and the Water Resources Commission (WRC) of Ghana.  

On the national front, he currently serves as a member of the Hazardous Waste Committee of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the 2025 State of the Environment Report Technical Working Group. He has served in the past as on the National Technical Committee on Quality, Environmental and Occupational Health Management Systems of the Ghana Standard Authority and contributed to the State of the Ghanaian Environment Report (EPA, Ghana, 2017). Further, he provided expert knowledge pro bono on Water Law and Policy to the World Bank Group’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) 2019 report. He is the Deputy Editor of the West African Journal of Applied Ecology and served as a board member of the Ecological Engineering Institute of Africa (EEIA) at the University of the Free State (South Africa). Professor Nukpezah was a visiting lecturer at the Pan African University’s Institute for Water and Energy Sciences (including climate change) (PAUWES) at the University of Tlemcen, Algeria. He is a strong advocate for the circular economy in Ghana and a steering committee member of the Circular Economy Club, Accra. 

 He holds degrees from the University of Ghana (B.Sc, MPhil), Brandenburg Technology University in Cottbus, Germany (M.Sc and PhD) and Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (MBA). 

Research Areas

  • Circular economy and industrial symbiosis
  • Climate change, vulnerability, and adaptation research
  • Nature-based solutions for coastal and freshwater ecosystems resilience
  • Environmental governance and policy research
  • Mining and sustainability of water resources
  • Ecosystem disaster risk assessment and management
  • Pollution control in inland waters and wetlands
  • Large dams’ impact on Ecosystems functioning and community livelihoods 

Recent Publications

  1. Mawusi, SK., Prabin S., Nukpezah D., Kemausuor F. (2025): Clean cooking transition in Ghana: Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic pathways for sustainable development. Energy for Sustainable Development 87 (2025), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2025.101727. Elsevier. 

  2. Nukpezah, D., Owusu, S.Y. and Fosu-Mensah B. (2025): Firm-Level Environmental Management and Industrial Symbiosis Among Selected Enterprises in the Agro-Food Value Chain in Ghana. In Marx Gómez, J., et al.(eds) Advancement in Embedded and Mobile Systems. Springer Nature. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-031-99219-3. Springer Nature. 

  3. Mawusi, SK., Nukpezah D., Awudor, P., Oppong, J.C., Asare-Ansah, A.B., and Annang, T.Y (2024): Reduced Indoor Air Pollution but Increased Cooking Time and Fuelwood Consumption of Improved Local Cookstoves in Asuogyaman, Ghana: Implications for Appropriate Stove Design. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 32(2), 2024: 45 – 58. 

  4. Lente, I., Heve, W.K., Owusu-Twum, M.Y., Gordon, C., Pabi, O., Nukpezah, D. and Thompson-Hall, M. (2024): Vulnerabilities of Smallholder Farmers' Livelihoods and Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Semi-Arid Northwestern Ghana: Observations and Perspectives. Sustainability and Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2023.0109. Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers. 

  5. Alemagi, D., and Nukpezah, D., Duguma, L. and Fobissie, K. (2023). An analysis of the institutional framework for REDD+ implementation in Cameroon. International Forestry Review, Vol. 25 (1), 2023. 

  6. Osae, R., Nukpezah, D., Darko, D. A., Koranteng, S. S., & Mensah, A. (2023). Accumulation of heavy metals and human health risk assessment of vegetable consumption from a farm within the Korle lagoon catchment. Heliyon, 9(5), e16005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16005. 

  7. Osae, R., Nukpezah, D., Darko, D.A. & Mensah, A (2022): Heavy metal mobility, bioavailability, and potential toxicity in sediments of the Korle lagoon in Ghana, International Journal of Environmental Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2022.2042971. Taylor and Francis. 

  8. Anuga, S. W., Gordon, C., Fosu-Mensah, B. Y., Nukpezah, D., & Ahenkan, A. (2022): Climate-Smart Agriculture: Greenhouse gas mitigation in climate-smart villages of Ghana. Environmental Sustainability. DOI: 10.1007/s42398-022-00243-8.Springer. 

  9. Mohammadpourkarbasi, H., Jackson, I., Nukpezah, D., Appeaning Addo, I.,  Assasie Oppong, R. (2022): Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in Library Buildings in the Tropical Climate of Kumasi, Ghana. Energy & Buildings (2022), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112210. Elsevier. 

  10. Nukpezah, D., Quarshie, J.T., Nyarko, E. and Hogarh, J.N. (2022): Characterisation of litter and their deposition at the banks of coastal lagoons in Ghana. Heliyon, Volume 8, Issue 3, 2022, e08997, ISSN 2405-8440, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08997. 

Teaching Programmes

  • Environmental Management
  • Emerging Environmental Issues
  • Sustainable Sanitation and Health
  • Water Resource Management
  • Environmental Law and Policy
  • Information Systems and Corporate Environmental Management
  • Sustainability and Industrial Ecology
  • Water Governance for Sustainability
  • Natural Resource Governance, Policy & Administration  

Recent Research Projects

  1. UG-Africa Collaborative on Climate Resilience and Sustainability, Partnered by Mastercard Foundation. Built Environment Activity Lead (2024-2033). 

  2. Carbon Stock and Ecosystem Assessment for Climate Mitigation in the Volta Gorge Area in Ghana Project. Funded by the Volta River Authority, Ghana (2024-2026). 

  3. Network for Labour-Market oriented Education in Waste and Water Management for the Sub- Saharan Region (NEWW; 2023-2026) 

  4. Coastal Community Resilience to Climate and Diarrhoea (C2RCD) Project. Funded by DANIDA (2020-2025). 

  5. Impact of Climate Change on SMEs in the Ho Municipality (2024) 

  6. Feasibility Study: Value Chain Assessment of Recyclables in the Solid Waste Stream in the Greater Accra Region (2024) 

  7. Benefiting from Global Carbon Trade: The Case of Green Businesses in Ghana (2023) 

Selected Students Supervision

  • Gifty Jiagge (PhD, 2024/2025) ‘Leadership in Global Climate Action: The Role of the Ghanaian Parliament’ (Principal Supervisor).
  • Pearl Awudor (PhD, 2024/2025) ‘Carbon Stock and Ecosystem Assessment for Mitigating Climate Change: A Case of the Volta Gorge Protected Area’ (Principal Supervisor).
  • Bright Frimpong (PhD, 2024/2025) ‘Impact of Illegal Mining on Surface Water and Soil Quality: Chemical Fractionation of Heavy Metals in Sediments of Owerri River, Asante- Akim Municipality, Ghana’ (Principal Supervisor).
  • Richard Osae (PhD, 2023/2024) ‘Environmental and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution of Sediments of the Korle Lagoon in Accra, Ghana’ (Principal Supervisor).
  • Millicent Amekugbe (PhD, 2023/2024) ‘Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems: The Case of Odaw River Basin, Ghana’ (Co-supervisor).
  • Nancy Abrahams (MPhil, 2023/2024) ‘Assessment of Plastic Accumulation in the Densu Delta Ramsar Site in Ghana: A DPSIR Approach’ (Principal Supervisor).
  • Caleb Acquah-Harrison (MPhil, 2022/2023) ‘Morphometric and Physicochemical Characterisation of the Weija Reservoir: Implications for Water Resource Management at the Catchment Scale’ (Principal Supervisor).