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GCI Director

Distinguished Professor Francois Engelbrecht

Climatologist
Francois Engelbrecht is Professor of Climatology at the Global Change Institute (GCI) of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Engelbrecht specializes in numerical climate model development and the simulation of African climate variability and change, in particular, he currently leads the development of an African-based Earth System Model towards participation in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase Six (CMIP6) of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

Engelbrecht’s research has led to new insights into the changing temperature, rainfall and circulation patterns over the continent under enhanced anthropogenic forcing. He served as an invited Lead Author of the IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, which was published in 2018, and he is currently an invited Lead Author of Working Group I of Assessment Report Six of the IPCC. He is also an invited member of the Working Group on Numerical Experimentation of the World Climate Change Research Program (WCRP), and a steering group member of the Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR) project of the WCRP.

Distinguished Professor Coleen Vogel

Climatologist
Professor Coleen Vogel is a climatologist by training and has undertaken research in climate change, climate vulnerability and adaptation, with a particular focus on disaster risk reduction and climate variability. She was one of the key contributors to the writing of the Green and White Papers on South African Disaster Management and was a major contributing author for the Disaster Management Act.

She was one of the Chapter Lead Authors of the Africa Chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC 4th Assessment Report and was also an author of the Synthesis Report for Policy Makers of the 4th IPCC Assessment Report. A Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the author team together with Al Gore for the 4th Assessment Report. Coleen was a Chapter Author on Human Security for the 5th IPCC assessment report. Coleen has also been involved in various international global environmental change activities. She has been Chair and Vice Chair of international committees (for example, the International Human Dimensions Programme, now known together with other international programmes as Future Earth).

She has received an international award, the Burtoni Award, for her work on climate change advocacy and science of climate change adaptation. Her current research interests include transformative education for global environment change and sustainability, climate change in its broader context and adaptation and disaster risk reduction focusing particularly on the interactions between physical and social dimensions shaping change.

Professor Laura Pereira

Professor of Sustainability Transformations and Futures

Laura Pereira is a Professor in Sustainability Transformations and Futures at the Global Change Institute at Wits University and a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. She is an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist, having been trained in ecology, law, zoology and human geography. She completed her DPhil in Geography at Oxford University in 2012, before working internationally at various institutions including the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, City University of London and Utrecht University. Laura was an ICSU Young Scientist and Future Earth fellow in 2012 and has been an Earth Commissioner since 2024, co-leading the workstream on Transformation Pathways. As well as being invited to give various high-level talks, such as for the World Economic Forum, WWF Fuller and Lovejoy symposia, Laura has sat on the IPBES Task Force on scenarios and models since 2019 and has contributed to intergovernmental assessment process in various roles since 2016.

She is interested in the interface between indigenous and local knowledges and innovation, the role of futures techniques and visioning in enabling transformative change and developing innovative methods for knowledge co-production in Global South contexts. She is passionate about making stronger connections between the ocean community and work happening in terrestrial spaces, especially at the intersection between qualitative aspirational futuring and quantitative models, exemplified in her liaison role with the Earth Commission’s Ocean workstream. Laura is the co-PI on the Blue Africa synthesis project that aims to feed outputs on blue carbon, marine biodiversity and livelihoods data from the African continent directly to the African Group of Negotiators for the UNFCC and CBD, and has led various ocean visioning processes, including on the high seas, coral reefs and for ocean civil society leaders in a lead-up to UNOC3.

Operations Manager: Bonita De Klerk PhD

Bonita de Klerk holds a PhD in Palaeoanthropology from Wits University. She joins us from within the Faculty of Science where she worked as Operations Manager for the PVT Chair in Palaeoanthropology and later the CEDHJ. Bonita has thirteen years’ experience within the University driving the project management and strategic growth for a university-based Research Centre. Bonita’s role as Operations Manager at the GCI will utilise her experience in research, project management, collaboration building, stakeholder engagement, and staff administration. Bonita has a personal interest in bridging the gaps between the worlds of science and the public understanding.           

Email: Bonita.deklerk@wits.ac.za

Finance Administrator: Lesley Masemene

Lesley holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and he has completed his SAICA articles. Lesley is a highly motivated, productive, team player with strong interpersonal and organisational skills. He has 12-years' experience in different financial roles, asset management, risk management and internal auditing, external auditing business consultancy and procurement. During his training as an Accounting/Audit Clerk, he learnt compliance law, procedures, and policies and how to analyse financial statements and management accounts. He enjoys meeting new people, taking part in outdoor activities and taking the time to help those around him. 

Email: lesley.masemene@wits.ac.za

Office Manager: Ayanda Bendile

Ayanda holds a Bachelor`s Degree in Arts majoring in International Relations and Media Studies. She has 13 years’ experience as an Administrator within Wits. She is an organized and dependable candidate that is successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude. Willingness to take on added responsibilities to meet team goals and also detail-oriented administrative assistant with experience in customer service, data entry and office management.

Email: Ayanda.bendile@wits.ac.za

Dr Jessica Steinkopf

Jessica Steinkopf is a Carnegie Research Associate at the GCI. Her PhD research focussed on the historical climatology of the southwestern Cape region, working with one of the longest, continuous instrumental weather records for southern Africa. Prior to joining the GCI, she gained some work experience as a Business Analyst, but realised she wanted to get back into climate research. She has a specific interest in climate modelling and is developing her skills as a regional climate modeller. Particularly, she is interested in the downscaling of global models, and its verification and application in regional climate studies over Africa.

Dr Yolandi Ernst

Yolandi Ernst, an associate researcher at the GCI, is mainly focusing her research on vegetation seasonality trends with respect to climate change and land use and what it means for human well-being and the environment in the Lowveld region of South Africa. She is also involved with flood risk assessment of the Hennops River Catchment in Gauteng in collaboration with UNISA where she is putting her geospatial skills to work.

Dr Memory Reid

Memory Reid is a research officer and lecturer at the Global Change Institute who holds a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from Wits and a Postgraduate Diploma in Energy Leadership from the Wits Business School. As an environmental scientist, she conducts interdisciplinary research on societal responses to environmental change, focusing on climate impacts and adaptation, energy systems transitions, resource governance, and the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus with an aim of supporting more just and sustainable livelihoods. Her research examines how societies shift from reactive adaptation to proactive, transformative responses to climate and environmental change. In addition to her research and teaching roles, Memory serves as the Academic Project Coordinator at Wits for GREEN-STEM programme (which is an EU-funded intra-Africa Academic Mobility Grant) designed to strengthen academic collaboration, capacity building, and student mobility across African institutions.

Dr Katharine Vincent (Visiting Research Fellow)

 Katharine Vincent is a geographer who works broadly in the fields of adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction, particularly applying a gender lens. She conducts applied research and undertakes technical consulting through Kulima Integrated Development Solutions. Much of her work is conducted through transdisciplinary partnerships, and she has a particular interest in co-production and brokering of knowledge to help society to manage the risk posted by climate change. She is also committed to critical and social learning to enable more effective and equitable adaptation. 

She works across the global South, with a particular focus on southern and east Africa. Her current projects include WISER Early Warnings for Southern Africa, which aims to co-produce nowcast-informed early warning alerts that are accessible and useable by marginalised urban populations; CLARE BASIN, which looks at behaviour change for inclusive water security in Africa; and Food Systems Transformation for One Health in southern Africa. 

She was a lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (chapter on rural areas, technical summary and cross-chapter gender box), and contributing author to the Sixth (cross-chapter gender box) and Fourth (adaptation) Assessment Reports, and the Special Report on Climate Change and Land.  She sits on the advisory boards for the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton (UK) and the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee (Scotland).

Dr Solomon Dribsa Danga

Solomon Dribsa Danga holds a PhD in Child and Family Studies from University of the Western Cape. He is currently, working under Cascade: Climate and Health risks in African Cities Project, employing a transdisciplinary approach to tackle the complex interplay between climate change and urban health risks. He specifically examines the impacts of extreme heat and health risks in urban informal settlements to inform adaptation strategies. Solomon’s dissertation focused the mental health of adolescent refugees in refugee camps in Ethiopia. His study tested a mental health model to examine how coping and resilience mediate the relationship between potential traumatic experience and mental health outcomes. Dr. Solomon has dedicated his career to understanding the resilience of vulnerable populations.

Dr Caroline Hardy

Caroline Hardy is a creative, hands-on problem-solver with a diverse interdisciplinary skillset. She holds a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering Science from the University of Johannesburg, where she also achieved the award "Best Final Year À×ËÙÌåÓý_À×ËÙÌåÓýÖ±²¥ in Mechanical Engineering" for her B.Ing bachelor’s degree. In addition to engineering studies at UJ, she obtained a BSc degree for studies in Computer Science, Information Systems and Applied Mathematics from UNISA.

In her doctoral thesis, Caroline employed remotely sensed satellite imagery and other geospatial datasets to examine the urban climate, particularly surface micro-urban heat islands. Prior to joining the Global Change Institute (GCI), she worked in industry for 8 years as a data scientist specializing in the identification of geological samples through the analysis of hyperspectral data from the visible range to the thermal infrared.

Caroline's research interests include the analysis and fusion of various datasets for Earth observation and climate studies, applied to the urban environment and forestry contexts. Her current research incorporates climate model downscaling and the study of climate driven change to assess the influence of different climatic factors on plant growth and mortality.

Dr Auther Maviza

Auther Maviza holds a PhD from the Wits’ School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies. His PhD study explored historical and modelled future impacts of climate and landcover – land use change on surface water resources in the northern Limpopo basin (Zimbabwe). His research interests are in exploring climate – landscape - water interlinkages using nexus approaches while leveraging geospatial technology. Currently, he is working on the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL)’s TIPPECC project which seeks to identify critical tipping points in the climate and land use system over southern Africa relative to water, food and biodiversity systems. His focus is to explore and identify the timing and location of potential crossings of tipping point thresholds in southern Africa under climate change using detailed, state-of-the-art regional climate projections, contributing to the development of a regional comprehensive set of climate services and inform adaptation options.