Saskia works on understanding, measuring, and communicating water risks and trade-offs, especially as they relate to environmental health. She applies an interdisciplinary systems-based approach to research, drawing on a background in environmental science (BSc 2008-12) with specialisation in water science, policy and management (MSc 2015-16) and health risk in complex adaptive rural water systems (DPhil 2017-21). Her current research focuses on drinking-water safety in rural low-income contexts, using mixed-methods to seek insight at multiple levels from the molecular to the institutional.
Saskia is working with the REACH water security programme and the Water Programme of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and is co-chair of the Oxford Water Network leadership team. She is invested in learning about and applying feminist and anti-racist approaches to research and participates in the Community of Women in Water (CWiW) and anti-racism activity within SOGE. Through a knowledge-exchange funded Water Learning Partnership, Saskia has also been working on developing teaching resources and activities with schools in Kenya and Cameroon.
Research Projects
Journal Articles
- Nowicki, S., Bukachi, S.A., Hoque, S.F., Katuva, J., Musyoka, M.M., Sammy, M.M., Mwaniki, M., Omia, D.O., Wambua, F. and Charles, K.J. (2022) Fear, Efficacy, and Environmental Health Risk Reporting: Complex Responses to Water Quality Test Results in Low-Income Communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1). 597.
- Nowicki, S., DeLaurent, Z.R., de Villiers, E.P., Githinji, G. and Charles, K.J. (2021) The utility of Escherichia coli as a contamination indicator for rural drinking water: Evidence from whole genome sequencing. PLoS One, 16(1).
- Charles, K.J., Nowicki, S. and Bartram, J.K. (2020) A framework for monitoring the safety of water services: from measurements to security. Npj Clean Water, 3. 36.
- Nowicki, S., Koehler, J. and Charles, K.J. (2020) Including water quality monitoring in rural water services: why safe water requires challenging the quantity versus quality dichotomy. npj Clean Water, 3. 14.
- Nowicki, S., Lapworth, D.J., Ward, J.S.T., Thomson, P. and Charles, K. (2019) Tryptophan-like fluorescence as a measure of microbial contamination risk in groundwater. Science of The Total Environment, 646: 782-791.
Book Chapters
- Charles, K.J., Nowicki, S., Thomson, P. and Bradley, D. (2019) Water and Health: A Dynamic, Enduring Challenge. Chapter 6 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.) Water Science, Policy, and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 97-116. ISBN: 9781119520603.
- Johnstone, D.W.M., Nowicki, S., Narayan, A.S. and Sinha, R. (2019) Wastewater: From a Toxin to a Valuable Resource. Chapter 16 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.) Water Science, Policy, and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 291-307. ISBN: 9781119520603.
Reports
- Fischer, A., Hope, R., Thomson, P., Hoque, S.F., Alam, M., El Achi, N., Charles, K., Hakim, S., Islam, S.M., Nowicki, S., Salehin, M., Bradley, D., Ibrahim, M. and Chowdhury, E.H. (2021) Policy reform to deliver safely managed drinking water services for schools in rural Bangladesh. University of Oxford and UNICEF, Oxford, UK. REACH Working Paper 11.
