Dr Frank Masese is a Senior Lecturer of Aquatic Science in the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Science at the University of Eldoret, Kenya. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Fisheries and Aquatic Science from Moi University, Kenya, and a PhD in Freshwater Ecosystems from Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands. In 2017-2019, Dr Masese was a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany. Dr Masese’s research interests lie primarily in freshwater ecosystems in fields of aqueous biogeochemistry and aquatic ecology where he is researching community ecology (invertebrates and fishes), energy sources and flow in food webs, land use influences on nutrients and carbon dynamics, water quality and biomonitoring, watershed management and biodiversity conservation. Dr Masese has co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed research articles and has attended and given presentations at many international conferences. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Freshwater Biology, PLOS One and PeerJ journals, and has guest-edited special issues for Hydrobiologia, Frontiers in Water, Frontiers in Environmental Science and Freshwater Biology.

Dr. Masese has collaborated with local, regional, and international researchers on various research projects and programs to improve tropical aquatic ecosystem understanding for sustainable management and capacity building of African aquatic scientists. His research projects include the Dutch Government-funded Sustainable Waterpans Project (2023-2027) and the NRF-funded Kenya Invertebrates Scoring System (KISS), which is developing a biotic index for monitoring streams and rivers in Kenya. He also coordinates the EU-funded COTRA Project under the Intra-Africa Academic Mobility. Professor Phillip Raburu (PI and initial coordinator) and Mr. Vincent Chesire (Project Accountant) are other members of the COTRA project team. Dr. Masese is also the PI of the multi-institutional GRESOL Project, financed by RUFORUM from 2021 to 2023. The Sondu-Miriu River case study is part of the "Global change impact on hydro-biogeochemical processes in tropical Kenyan catchments" project. The DFG funds this project, which is being implemented by the University of Eldoret in partnership with Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany. Finally, Dr. Masese has received several small grants for postgraduate training, research and capacity building. The Fish for Peace Project with Southampton University, UK, is one. Another small-grants project is “Strengthening Postgraduate Research Training in Aquatic Sciences in East Africa (SPORT-EA)” with Egerton University, University of Rwanda, Addis Ababa University, and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. Currently, these projects are funding a total of 4 PhD and 12 MSc students at the University of Eldoret.