I am a highly motivated naturalist with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental Science from Rhodes University (2006), an M.Sc. in Conservation Biology from the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town (UCT; 2008), and a Ph.D. from the Plant Conservation Unit at the University of Cape Town (2018). Through my academic and professional experiences to date, I observed knowledge gaps within field-based positions and in the academic literature and identified my career interest in social-ecological systems and applied conservation management. My professional interests are founded upon understanding the interactions between people, biodiversity and conservation policies and ecology in environments under the threat of global environmental change.

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the African Climate Development Institute (ACDI) in the Towards Equitable and Sustainable Nature-Based Solutions TES NbS project. My research is centered on understanding the socio-economic benefits and constraints of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) in achieving social equity in southern Africa. Recent work has involved in-depth case studies using interviews with NbS project stakeholders and rural communities to determine the constraints and opportunities for achieving equity in NbS projects in the Umzimvubu catchment (Matatiele and Maclear, South Africa). The next stage of the project will involve mapping socio-economic indices at a subnational level to identify the constraints to achieving social equity in Southern Africa.