Leah Oyake-Ombis

Dr. Leah Oyake-Ombis is currently providing consultancy services on a number of environmental issues within the East African region and more so, on solid waste management issues affecting the urban settings. She is also a part time lecturer in two Universities: The University of Nairobi, at the Institute of Climate Change and Adaptation, and Machakos University's School of Environment and Resource Conservation.

Dr. Oyake-Ombis was until July 2016 the Chief Officer for Environment & Forestry at Nairobi City County where she was providing leadership and policy direction in environmental services including solid waste management, urban greenery and aesthetics, steering the City’s agenda for environmental monitoring, compliance and enforcement.

Oyake-Ombis has about 20 years of experience in environmental governance, waste water management, solid waste management, urban greenery and climate change. Her current consulting activities are geared towards informing and guiding to create a difference in environmental governance and climate change while focusing on waste management through research, training and policy-making processes in order to attain productivity and sustainability of world resources.

Oyake-Ombis besides being an authority in solid waste management through her PhD research (Managing Plastic Waste in Urban Kenya: Niche Innovations in Production and Recycling) (2008-2012) that was obtained from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, has developed waste management and faecal sludge management training manuals, conducted several trainings and solid waste management assessments as a consultant for the UN-Habitat in several towns of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. In addition, she has conducted a number of assessments of other developments on environment, socio and economic domains.

Dr. Oyake-Ombis is a Ford Foundation Fellow and it is through the International Fellowship Programme of the Ford Foundation that she obtained her PhD. Besides, she also obtained a World Bank Scholarship for her Masters of Science Degree in water pollution focusing on rivers traversing the City of Nairobi.

Dr. Oyake-Ombis has severally been a guest speaker on forums of waste management in African cities, Universities and schools. She is a registered lead environmental impact assessment and audit expert registered with the National Environment Management Authority of Kenya. Recently, she consulted for EX-Research Institute of Japan on Kenya’s technical needs for Management of Mercury under the Minamata Convention and for UN-habitat on the currently solid waste management situation of Kisii Town in Kenya resulting in development of a waste management strategy. Dr. Oyake-Ombis is looking for opportunities at other levels of societal development in order to encounter new challenges for integrated and faster growth of Kenya, Africa and the world at large.