Denis Worlanyo Aheto is an Associate Professor at the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and Director of the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM) at the University of Cape Coast. Prof. Aheto has a broad academic training and international exposure. He has participated in scientific researches in his home country, Ghana and elsewhere notably Sweden, Thailand, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa and presented papers at meetings or conferences in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Japan and Germany and has attended professional training programs in Australia and the United States of America.
He holds a PhD Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Bremen (Germany) and two Masters Degrees in Rural Development Studies and Tropical Aquatic Ecology obtained from the Swedish Agricultural University (Sweden) and University of Bremen (Germany) respectively. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast.
He is Project Manager and UCC’s authorized representative of a five-year fisheries and coastal management capacity development project (2014-2019) worth US$ 5.5 million funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future Initiative of the American Government. He is lead consultant to the DFID funded project of the Ghana Inshore Trawlers’ Association (GITA), providing technical advice on relevant amendments to the Fisheries ACT 625 and the Ghana Environment Protection Laws relative to oil and gas exploration impacts on marine fisheries.
In the past, he coordinated other institutional projects including the World Bank/Danida and Government of Ghana funded aquaculture program financed through the Skills Development Fund (SDF) of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education & Training (COTVET). The SDF Project is an innovative public-private partnership project between Ainoo-Ansah farms and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Among others, he was co-principal Scientist of AUSAID-funded Fishing for Security Project, which investigated drivers of piracy and other social and environmental factors influencing maritime security; Co-principal Scientist that investigated PAH levels and microbial content of fish from selected markets funded by the USAID/SFMP and the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV).
Prof. Aheto is recipient of several academic awards of honour worth over US$ 90,000 including the German Exchange Academic Service (DAAD) for outstanding academic merits, and social engagement at the University of Bremen. His most recent being the Distinguished Lecturer Award at the University of Cape Coast (2015/2016). He served and continues to contribute to the work of some university-wide Boards including his membership on the search committee for the Vice-Chancellor for the University of Cape Coast (2015/2016). He is a member of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) National Committee under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana. He has written several technical reports for donor agencies and has over 30 scientific articles in indexed journals such as Ocean and Coastal Management, Nature, Regional Studies in Marine Sciences, Environmental Sciences Europe, Sustainability, Journal of Coastal Conservation, Plos One, and Wetlands to his credit, with 150 academic citations on Google Scholar.