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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. 

Dr Andrea Marais-Potgieter 

Dr Marais-Potgieter brings over two decades of experience in conducting qualitative psychological research across diverse African countries, including South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Angola. Currently her primary focus lies in exploring the human-nature nexus and its implications for climate change risk perception, conservation, ecopsychology, and trans-species accompaniment. Dr. Marais-Potgieter has actively contributed to the environmental non-profit sector for the past decade engaging in matters that will impact wetlands and endangered species (specifically the endangered Western Leopard Toad). She is committed to advancing our understanding of the complex relationships between humans and the natural world to see a future where both humans and nature flourish simultaneously. 

Dr Aweke Mitku

Aweke Mitku earned his PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science. His doctoral research investigated the effects of air pollution exposure on birth outcomes. He is particularly interested in examining the connections between climate, air pollution, and health through spatio-temporal modeling. Dr. Mitku is currently involved in the Sub-Saharan African Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACABII) project, which aims to conduct quantitative research in health to foster a career in Biostatistics in low- and middle-income countries. His primary goal is to apply spatial and temporal methods to enhance understanding and responses to the effects of climate variability and change on human health and development across Africa.

Dr Gwinyai Taruvinga 

Dr Gwinyai Regis Taruvinga is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). His academic work focuses on water governance, colonial legacies, and climate change, with particular emphasis on Zimbabwe and South Africa. He holds a PhD in Political Studies from Wits, where his dissertation explored the intersection of water governance and colonial legacies in Zimbabwe. Dr. Taruvinga has published extensively on governance, decentralisation, and the political dynamics of Africa, contributing to journals such as Politeia and The Strategic Review for Southern Africa. His academic roles include lecturing on topics such as political studies, governance, and research methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Dr Kim Zoeller

Dr Kim Zoeller is an interdisciplinary scientist whose research explores the complex interactions between ecological and social systems that contribute to human wellbeing and conservation outcomes. Her work specifically examines how relationships at different levels of ecological and social organization influence human wellbeing and foster support for conservation and other forms of nature stewardship through the production of Natures Contribution to People.

Currently, Kim coordinates the Future Ecosystems for Africa programme, where she facilitates the integration of cutting-edge scientific research with policy development and practical implementation. Through this role, she helps build collaborative networks across multiple African countries that advance resilient ecosystem management, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable resource practices throughout the continent.

Dr Albert Edgar Manyuchi

Dr Albert Edgar Manyuchi is a transdisciplinary researcher who holds a PhD from University of the Witwatersrand and a DPhil from the University of Pretoria. With the GCI, his research focus is on climate change and health, particularly the effects of extreme weather events on human health. His current research is on the effect of heat on health and climate services for health. From these key research themes, Dr Manyuchi has provided oversight to research focusing on disaster management and pandemic preparedness. As a South Africa expert, Dr Manyuchi contributed to the CARICO SADC Project where he conducted a ‘lessons learned’ exercise from the COVID-19 pandemic, to improve and enhance understanding of the cascading and systemic nature of risks in SADC and enhance disaster risk management and resilience for the region. 

Hannelie Coetzee

Hannelie Warrington-Coetzee is a Johannesburg-based visual artist and honorary research fellow at the Global Change Institute (WITS University). Her relational practice regularly centres on public spaces, where she produces interventions that ranges from ephemeral to permanent. Originating out of her respect and concern for the environment, Coetzee employs nature-based solutions, most often built out of reclaimed industrial waste, to form unlikely partnerships, including with the surrounding land. Research into these materials and the context of their deployment on-site remains a fundamental component of Coetzee’s process, allowing her to orient her work around its immediate community and locate meaning inherent to the materials used, and thus connecting the audience to the intervention. As a transdisciplinarian, Coetzee’s practice seeks to build new creatures marrying environmental science and social action to better encourage empathy for and engagement with nature.  In 2022 she completed her Master of Science dissertation (with distinction) with Prof Coleen Vogel and Prof Lenore Manderson as supervisors. She interrogated the role of art as a medium for social action at the Wits Animal, Plants and Environmental Science School titled: Eco-art for a transformative climate culture. As research fellow she presents ways on how scientists can reach wider climate audiences through interrogating the ways artists have reached audiences in the past. 

Dr Sarah Roffe

Dr Sarah Roffe is a researcher part of the ARC Agrometeorology division and holds a PhD in Climatology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Sarah has a keen research interest on climate changes and impacts across southern Africa, recently considering climate change impacts on agricultural activities across the region. To date her research has focused on a range of topics, including characterising rainfall seasonality and the historical and projected changes thereof, changes and variability patterns in extreme temperature events and severe rainfall events, as well as human thermal comfort in relation to climate change. Recently her interests extended to numerical weather and climate modelling considering simulations of high impact weather events as well as future climate changes. 

Professor Michel M. Verstraete

Michel M. Verstraete received his 'License en Physique' (1974) from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, his 'License Spéciale en Géophysique' (1976) from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and both his M.Sc. in Meteorology (1978) and D.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences (1985) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

He worked for the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and Nairobi, Kenya, from 1979-1981, and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, USA from 1982-1989. He taught at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1989-1990, and worked at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy from August 1990 to August 2013. He then took on the position of Chief Scientist in the Earth Observation Directorate of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) in Pretoria, South Africa, from October 2013 to March 2016.

He has been serving as a Visiting Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, since September 2014. Michel is a member of NASA JPL MISR Science Team since 1995 and has contributed to various other space missions (e.g., MODIS [NASA], MERIS [ESA], Vegetation [CNES], Meteosat [EUMETSAT], GLI [NASDA/JAXA]).
He contributed for many years to the Terrestrial and Atmospheric Panels for Climate, as well as the Steering Committee of the Global Climate Observing System. His initial work on topics such as the modeling of atmosphere-biosphere interactions and desertification led him to his current interest in the exploitation of satellite remote sensing data for the quantitative characterization of terrestrial surface properties. In his current position, he is promoting the exploitation of spacebased assets to support sustainable development in southern Africa, and is engaged in scientific lecturing and capacity building in that region.

Dr Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola

Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola is a specialist in disaster risk reduction and community resilience with cross-cutting research and program experiences on climate change adaptation and inclusive education in the Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and also an active member of the United Nations Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF) Expert Group.

His seminal studies provide empirical evidence and cutting-edge thoughts on levels of disaster resilience with a view to explaining variations that exist in the identification of factors influencing disaster resilience in urban centres. A significant part of his research agenda aimed at offering both sociological and scientific explanations on the trends, patterns, mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change effects in the cities of sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Okunola is currently investigating community resilience to flood disaster in Nigeria and South Africa with a view to developing a community-based resilience framework that can be collaboratively implemented among households, community members, and government agencies in the study area.

He is currently Visiting Researcher at the Global Change Institute (GCI), University of Witwatersrand under DAAD Climate research Alumni and Postdocs in Africa – program (ClimapAfrica) fellowship. Prior to joining GCI, he was the Research Coordinator at Bridge International Academies, Nigeria and serves as a Senior Research Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Specialist at the Institute for Land and Community Resilience (ILCR), Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria.

Percy Muofhe

Percy Muofhe is a specialist in atmospheric dynamics, with a strong focus on temperature variation processes and circulation patterns influenced by atmospheric gas concentrations across different layers. His research examines how these dynamics influence near-surface weather on regional and global scales, using datasets that capture both short-term events and long-term climate trends. With a strong background in interpreting complex atmospheric data within climate models, he is currently contributing to the REPRESA project, which focuses on projecting future tropical cyclone characteristics over southern Africa. His work has advanced understanding of atmospheric processes and their role in climate variability and change, with several papers published in international journals.