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Kunnen, Travis (Mr)

Research Assistant

  • +2784 340 8804
  • kunnent@ukzn.ac.za
  • BSc, BSc(Hons), MSc
  • Research Interests:
    Water and Wastewater Treatment, Water Security, Water and Wastewater Chemistry, Environmental Analysis, Environmental Chemistry, Water Quality, Microscopy (stereo & electron), Microbiology, Ecology, Flow Cytometry, Spectroscopy, Programming (script), Marine Science / Biology
  • “The world belongs to the very small - and it has done for a very long time.“ - Bill Bryson

Travis Kunnen is a trained Marine Biologist who specialized in Marine Bacterial Ecology with a drive in discovering “why and how”. With many years of dynamic laboratory experience and understanding he brought his skills and knowledge into the Waste Water sector.

He obtained his undergraduate and higher degrees at UKZN (Westville), working on many ecology projects and mapping bacterial population ecologies along the Eastern South African coastline and estuaries. This allowed him to participate in and contribute too many local and international Research Cruise’s. Travis has teaching experience and has written Macro script’s to automate counting and sizing methods to vastly speed up image analysis techniques, as well as written software guidelines.

Since joining the WASH R&D center, he has been the principal RA on the DEWATS project and lab leader on the SaniPath project.

His current role is paired RA for the Unilever Microbiome project.

External links

LinkedIn
UKZN ResearchSpace
ResearchGate
ORCID
Semantic Scholar

Publications

 

·     Ayers, M.J. Scharler, U.M., Barlow, R., Huggett, J.A., Muir, D.G., Fennessy, S.T. Smit, A.J., de Lecea, A., Lamont, T., Pretorius, M., Kunnen, T., and Omarjee, A. (in prep) Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus distribution and stoichiometry within the KwaZulu-Natal Bight, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science (Special edition on the KZN Bight).

·       Ayers, M. Scharler, U. de Lecea, AM. Fennessy, S. Lamont, T. Omarjee, A. Pretorius, M. Kunnen,, T. Barlow, R. Huggett, J. Smit, AJ. Muir, D. and Mackay, M. (2014) Elemental stoichiometry (C, N, P) and biomass distribution within the KwaZulu-Natal Bight ecosystem, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science.

·    Fennessy, ST. Ayers, M. Barlow, R. Kunnen, T. de Lecea, AM. deCharmoy, L. Guastella, L. Hein, L. Huggett, J. Lamont, T. Mackay, F. Meyer, A. Mkize, N. Muir, D. Nieuwenhys, C. Omarjee, A. Ovechkina, MN. Pretorius, M. Roberts, M. Scharler, U. Smit, AJ. Taljaard, S. Untiedt, CB. Uken, R. van Ballegooyen, R. and van der Molen, J. Ecosystem processes in a river-influenced Bight: linking geological, biological and physical processes to understand ecosystem functioning. WIOMSA book series

·       Muir, D. and Kunnen, T. A seasonal comparison of bacterial numbers, biomass and production in waters of the KwaZulu-Natal Bight, winter and summer 2010. African Journal of Marine Science Special Issue.

·        Muir, D. Kunnen, T. and Scharler, UM. 2016. A seasonal comparison of prokaryote numbers, biomass and heterotrophic productivity in the waters of the KwaZulu-Natal Bight, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 38:sup1, S123-S138. DOI: 10.2989/1814232X.2016.1146630.

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