Nelson Ekane joined SEI Stockholm in 2007 and has been working with sustainable sanitation and sustainable agriculture related programmes and projects since then. Nelson has an academic background in: Environmental Sciences and Botany (Bsc. University of Buea, Cameroon); Regional Planning - Teknologie Magisterexamen inom Huvudämnet Samhällsbyggnad med Inrikning mot Regional Planering (Msc. KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden); and Project Management and Operational Development (Msc. KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden).
 
Within the ecological sanitation programme (EcoSanRes), Nelson co-authored an SEI/IWA report generated as a visions document by SEI within the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) in 2008 - the International Year of Sanitation. Nelson participated in the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) project that involved a global organic fertilizer survey and a case study in China. Nelson co-authored the SEI report on Microbial Exposure and Health Assessment in Sanitation Technologies and Systems.
 
Nelson is the lead researcher of the SEI programme support project: Rules, Roles, and Resources of sanitation in Rwanda. The aim of this project is to improve understanding on safety, dignity and cost-effectiveness of waste management systems by comparing the institutions, organization and economics of productive and conventional on-site sanitation systems. The project also aims to improve understanding on the contradictions between sanitation and hygiene policy and practice and the implications.
 
He is developing project ideas on multi-level sanitation governance with the intention of performing a comparative multi-level sanitation policy and practice study in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
 
Nelson also researches on risk perception, risk management and risk communication. He is developing psychometric approaches to evaluate perceived risks and benefits of different situations; different courses of action e.g. use of productive sanitation, chemical fertilizers and animal manure; different groups of people e.g. experts and laypeople; and in particular assess the role of affect in judgment processes e.g. using human excreta as fertilizer for food crop production. Questionnaires have been pretested in Rwanda.
 
Nelson has been involved in a number of Sida International Training programmes (ITP) as a participant, facilitator and lecturer. These programmes include: Financing and Management of Local Infrastructure Initiatives; Ecological Alternatives in Sanitation; and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.