Climate change | Sustainability | Water | Ecology | Conservation
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Professor Mary Scholes
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Improving the productivity and sustainability of South African plantation forests and natural savanna ecosystems by applying ecosystem based scientific approaches.
Improving the understanding, at the process level, of the factors controlling trace gas emissions from soils and vegetation and the extrapolation of these data to the Southern African region and globally.
The development of a strong, cohesive postgraduate school and research network of national and international scientists in which I act as both a supervisor and advisor.
+27 11 717 6407
+27 82 889 8670
Mary.Scholes@wits.ac.za
Professor Graham Alexander
Wits Herpetology Laboratory, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Importance of snakes and predators; Zoology; Ecophysiology Herpetology; Using reptiles as model organisms for understanding processes that limit species to particular places and performances.
+27 11 717 1000
+27 83 393 8809
Graham.alexander@wits.ac.za
Professor Norman Owen-Smith
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Ecology of large mammalian herbivores, their interactions with vegetation, applications of optimal foraging theory to consumer-resource interactions and population dynamics, with special reference to African savanna ecosystems.
+27 11 717 6454
Norman.owen-smith@wits.ac.za
Nic Venter
Wits Insectary and Quarantine Facility, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Orchid pollination
+27 11 717 6403
+27 72 5959 382
Nic.venter@wits.ac.za
Professor Ed Witkowski
Head of the Restoration and Conservation Biology Research Group, and Professor of Plant Ecology in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: The population dynamics and regeneration of savanna trees, including fire and browse utilisation by large herbivores in savanna ecosystems; Conservation biology of rare and endangered plants; Restoration of degraded ecosystems; Plant ecophysiology and stress ecology; Sustainable renewable resource use in relation to human livelihoods; Ecology and ecophysiology of sclerophyllous shrubs in mediterranean ecosystems; The biology of problem alien plants and the vegetation of gold slimes dams.
+27 11 717 6428 (preferred)
+27 72 414 4535
Ed.witowski@wits.ac.za
Dr Vivienne Williams
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Red Listing, risk assessment and threats to medicinal plants; The ethnobotany, ethnoecology and distribution of the root holoparasite Hydnora abyssinica, especially in Zimbabwe; Using ethno-ecological information collected from medicinal plant markets and rural resource users to assess the condition of resources in the wild; The use and trade of an animals for traditional medicine; The trade in alien plant species for traditional medicine; The trade in lion bones from South Africa to Asia.
Vivienne.Williams@wits.ac.za
Global Change Institute
Professor Coleen Vogel
A world leader in climate science and Distinguished Professor at the Global Change Institute and the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Climate science; Climate change; the human side of climate change; Trans-disciplinary research to better understand how we can engage the wider public, society and business to make decisions around climate change.
+27 11 717 6603
+27 82 953 9601
Coleen.Vogel@wits.ac.za
Gauteng City-Region Observatory
Christina Culwick
Gauteng City-Region Observatory
Areas of interest and research: Urban sustainability transitions; Resilience; Environmental governance; Transforming Gauteng towards a liveable, inclusive and just city-region.
+27 11 717 7296
+27 83 458 3543
Christina.Culwick@wits.ac.za
Darlington Mushongera
Gauteng City-Region Observatory
Areas of interest and research: Municipal governance and service delivery, particularly water; State function and state practice; Service delivery priorities, outputs and outcomes.
+27 11 717 7295
+27 73 370 9219
Darlington.Mushongera@wits.ac.za
Wits School of Governance
Adjunct Professor Mike Muller
Wits School of Governance
Areas of interest and research: Water infrastructure; Water management; Water delivery; Food and water security; transboundary water management; Intersectoral and regional aspects of water allocation; Sustainable water management; water governance.
+27 11 717 3101
Mikemuller1949@gmail.com (preferred way of communication)
http://wits.academia.edu/MikeMuller
School of Geosciences
Professor Tamiru Abiye
Groundwater expert and Professor in the School of Geosciences
Areas of interest and research: Community water supply problems (availability, pollution assessment, management); Water quality assessment (chemical, bacteriological, organic) and monitoring; Groundwater management and modelling; Groundwater flow and transport; Hydrogeological mapping; Wetland hydrology.
+27 11 717 6586
+27 76 282 0659
Tamiru.Abiye@wits.ac.za
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
Professor Stefan Grab
Professor in Physical Geography and climate historian in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
Areas of interest and research: Monitoring contemporary climate change and extremes, and impacts on biosystems and agriculture.
+27 11 717 6521
Stefan.grab@wits.ac.za
Professor Jasper Knight
Professor in Physical Geography and geoscientist in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
Areas of interest and research: Climate change impacts on glaciers, mountains, rivers and coasts; Climate change and sustainability; Water/food resources; Climate hazards (floods, droughts, sea level rise and landslides).
+27 11 717 6508
+27 71 819 5413
Jasper.knight@wits.ac.za
Professor Danny Simatele
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
Areas of interest and research: Climate change adaptation in urban areas of the developing South Urban and peri-urban transformations; Rural and urban agriculture; Environment and migration; Community-based development and institution building in sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable development.
+27 11 717 6515
+27 83 383 6884
Danny.Simatele@wits.ac.za
Dr Raeesa Moolla
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
Areas of interest and research: Climatology and synoptic meteorology; Meteorological processes; Issues surrounding air quality; Environmental health risks.
+27 11 717 6522
+27 82 314 4588
Raeesa.Moolla@wits.ac.za
Associate Professor Craig Sheridan
Director of the Centre in Water Research and Development (CIWaRD) and Associate Professor in the Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit.
Areas of interest and research: Water; Processing and treatment of agricultural, industrial and mine effluent streams; Ways to reduce or mitigate the impact of man on the water resource; Sustainability.
+27 11 717 7592
+27 84 706 7525
Craig.Sheridan@wits.ac.za
School of Social Sciences
Dr Muchaparara Musemwa
School of Social Sciences
Areas of interest and research: Environmental history of Africa; History and politics water in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe; History and impact of droughts/water scarcity and climate change on small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe; Intra-white settler contestation over resources such as minerals, water, timber and grazing in colonial Zimbabwe.
+27 11 717 4311
+27 82 826 4935
Muchaparara.Musemwa@wits.ac.za
Wits School of Law
Professor Tracy-Lynn Humby
Wits School of Law
Areas of interest and research: Regulating the environmental and social impacts of mining, the resilience of social-ecological ecosystems, urban resilience and climate change; Law; Sustainability
+27 11 717 8460
+27 82 777 1713
Tracy-Lynn.Humby@wits.ac.za
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr Precious Biyela
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Areas of interest and research: Waste Water Engineering; Municipal waste water from collection through treatment to final disposal; Review of wastewater quality; Impact of wastewater disposal on the environment.
+27 11 717 7152
+27 83 860 6609
Precious.Biyela@wits.ac.za
Associate Professor Adesola Ilemobade
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Areas of interest and research: Water and infrastructure engineering; Water reuse; Water supply and distribution systems design and operation; Developing software based decision support systems; Water demand modelling.
+27 11 717 7153
+27 72 128 2903
Adesola.Ilemobade@wits.ac.za
Professor Chris James
Co-director of the Centre for Water in the Environment and Emeritus Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Areas of interest and research: River and wetland hydraulics; Hydraulic structures; Fluvial geomorphology; Eco-hydraulics; Sediment dynamics.
+27 11 717 7115
Chris.James@wits.ac.za
Associate Professor John Ndiritu
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Areas of interest and research: Water distribution; Flood hydrology; Hydrologic modelling; Integrated water resources systems planning and analysis; Hydroinformatics.
+27 11 717 7134
+27 83 742 8701
John.Ndiritu@wits.ac.za
Professor Akpofure Taigbenu
Professor of Water Engineering, Head of the Water Research Group and Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Areas of interest and research: Hydraulics; Hybrid computational and integrated modelling applied to various water resource problems, particularly those affecting vulnerable groups of society.
+27 11 717 7136
+27 72 959 6740
Akpofure.Taigbenu@wits.ac.za
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering
Dr Kevin Harding
Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering
Areas of interest and research: Cross-disciplinary water related issues; Reduce environmental burdens through the use of biotechnology; Life Cycle Assessment; Cradle to grave environmental impacts; Industrial water related issues; Water treatment.
+27 11 717 7576
+27 84 646 4840
Kevin.harding@wits.ac.za