Research Associates

Dr Wendy Foden

Associate Professor: Stellenbosch University
Head:
Cape Research Centre, South African National Parks
Chair:
IUCN Species Survival Commission, Climate Change Specialist Group
Google Scholar

Wendy’s research focuses on climate change vulnerability and adaptation in natural systems. As a researcher in SANBI’s Climate Change and Biodiversity Group, Wendy studied Namib Desert Quiver Trees and documented some of the first evidence of climate change impacts in arid ecosystems and on plants. She led SANBI’s Threatened Species Programme (2003-2007) where she initiated several Red Listing, atlasing and monitoring projects, and founded a scholarship for research on threatened species conservation.  Thereafter, she initiated and led the IUCN Global Species Programme’s Climate Change Unit, based in Cambridge, UK (2007-2013) where she led development of the IUCN’s best-practice guidelines for assessing species’ vulnerability to climate change. Wendy recently won IUCN’s George Rabb award for innovative conservation and the British Ecological Society’s Marsh award for outstanding climate change research. In her role as head of the Cape Research Centre at South African National Parks, she leads development of the organisation’s Climate Change Preparedness strategy, including development of park-level vulnerability assessments, adaptation planning and ongoing climate change monitoring.

Dr Nicola Stevens

Trapnell Fellow for African Systems, ECI, Oxford University
Google Scholar

Nikki’s research interests are centred around understanding vegetation dynamics in African savannas and how they are likely to change given increasing global change pressures like altered fire and herbivory regimes against a backdrop of changing CO2 concentrations. Along this vein she has become particularly interested in the phenomenon of woody encroachment where open ecosystems across the tropics are being invaded by native woody species. ​It has also driven her to improve our ability to predict future species ranges under global change by improving our mechanistic understanding of range edges in disturbance limited systems. She is currently based at the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University but has ongoing projects in Southern Africa with the hopes to expand this research to other tropical savannas.

Dr Warren Joubert

Landscape Scientist: South African Environmental Observation Network

Warren’s work focuses on exchange fluxes between atmosphere, ocean and the terrestrial biosphere. His background is in ocean-atmosphere carbon cycling with a particular focus on CO2 exchange at the ocean-atmosphere interface. His PhD work investigated surface ocean primary productivity in the Atlantic Southern Ocean, using a variety of in situ measurement techniques. His recent work focussed on long-term observation of atmospheric chemicals as part of South Africa’s Global Atmosphere Watch Programme. His current work includes atmosphere-biosphere exchange fluxes using micro-meteorological techniques to monitor various carbon and energy exchanges fluxes in various landscapes in South Africa.