Staff


Head Of Department


Fred Ellery - Professor
 

Academic staff


James Gambiza – Senior Lecturer
Sheona Shackleton – Professor
 Charlie Shackleton – Professor

Gladman Thondhlana - Lecturer

Georgina Cundill - Senior Lecturer

 

Technical and administrative staff


 Zelda Kirstein – Departmental Administrator
Kathy Cassidy – Senior Technical Officer

Monde Ntshudu - Technical Officer

 


Charlie Shackleton
Professor

Contact Details
Phone: +27-046-603-7001
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: c.shackleton@ru.ac.za

 

Biography

 

Charlie Shackleton currently occupies a fulltime research chair in Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods with the department. This is a nationally funded Chair whose objective is to develop interdisciplinary understandings of and methods to reveal the role, value and importance of natural resources in rural and urban livelihoods for poverty alleviation (see Research Projects page for more details).

Charlie's research interests centre of the links between landscapes, biological resources and peoples’ uses thereof. Trained as a plant ecologist he soon broadened his perspective (prompted by his spouse, Sheona) to include social and resource valuation perspectives on how biological resources are used or abused, and how in turn resource supply enhances or constrains local livelihoods options and peoples’ wellbeing. Charlie has extensive field research experience in interdisciplinary projects in rural areas of South Africa, and over the past few years has begun to apply these models and lessons to urban systems as well, which is underpinning his growing interest in urban forestry. He continues work on the ecology of individual plant species, typically those used by local people, including fuelwood, wild fruits, weaving fibres and vegetable species, and includes both indigenous and alien species. Charlie has supervised or co-supervised 8 PhD and 34 Masters students. He has over 160 peer-reviewed journal papers to his name, six books and 31 book chapters.

 

·       Recent Publications

 

Shackleton, C.M. 2012. Is there no urban forestry or greening in the developing world? Scientific Research & Essays, 7(40): 3329-3335.

Shackleton, S.E. & Shackleton, C.M. 2012. Linking poverty, HIV/AIDS and climate change to human and ecosystem vulnerability in southern Africa: consequences for livelihoods, sustainable ecosystem management and development. International Journal of sustainable Development and World Ecology, 19: 275-286.

Mahapatra, A.K. & Shackleton, C.M. 2012. Exploring the relationship between trade and natural products, cash income and livelihoods in tropical forest regions of Eastern India. International Forestry Review, 14: 62-73.  

Kaschula, S. & Shackleton, C.M. 2012 How do HIV and AIDS impact the use of natural resource by poor rural communities? The case of wild animal products. South African Journal of Science, 108: 46-54.

Davenport, N.A., Shackleton, C.M. & Gambiza, J. 2012.  The direct use value of municipal commonage goods and services to urban households in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Land Use Policy, 29: 548-557.

Pandey, A.K. & Shackleton, C,M.  2012. The effect of harvesting approaches, fruit yield, embelin concentration and regrowth dynamics of a forest shrub, Embelia tsjeriam-cottam in central India. Forest Ecology & Management, 266: 180-186.

Schlesinger, J., Drescher, A.W., Shackleton, C.M. & Karg, H. 2011. Locating the margin? Agriculture and livelihoods along the rural-urban continuum of African mid-sized towns. On-line proceedings of the Annual Tropentag Conference “Development of the margin”, 5-7th October, Bonn (Germany). [http://www.tropentag.de/2011/abstracts/full/967.pdf] 

Paumgarten, F. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. The role of non-timber forest products in household coping strategies in South Africa: the influence of household wealth and gender. Population & Environment, 33: 108-131.

Kull, C.A., Shackleton, C.M., Cunningham, P., Ducatillon, C., Dufour Dror, J.M., Esler, K., Friday, J.B., Gouveia, A., Griffin, R., Marchante, E., Midgley, S., Pauchard, A., Rangan, H., Richardson, D., Rinaudo, A., Tassin, J., Urgenson, L., von Maltitz, G., Zenni, R. & Zylstra, M. 2011. Adoption, use and perceptions of Australian Acacias around the world. Diversity & Distributions, 17: 822-836.

Mahapatra, A.K. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. Has deregulation of non-timber forest products controls and marketing in India affected local livelihoods? Forest Policy & Economics, 13: 622-629.

Downsborough, L., Shackleton, C.M. & Knight, A.T. 2011. The potential for voluntary instruments to achieve conservation planning goals: the case of conservancies in South Africa. Oyrx, 45: 357-364.

Paumgarten, F. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. Household vulnerability and the safety-net function of NTFPs in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces of South Africa. In: Geldenhuys C.J, Ham C, & Ham H (eds.). Sustainable forest management in Africa: some solutions to natural forest management problems in Africa. Proceedings of the Sustainable Forest Management in Africa Symposium. Stellenbosch, 3 – 7 November 2008. pp. 337-350.

Kuruneri-Chitepo, C. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. The distribution, abundance and composition of street trees in selected towns of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 10: 247-254. 

Shackleton, C.M., Scholes, R.J., Vogel, C., Wynberg, R., Abrahamse, T., Shackleton, S.E., Ellery, W.N. & Gambiza, J. 2011. The next decade of environmental science in South Africa: a horizon scan.  South African Geographical Journal, 93: 1-14.

Davenport, N., Gambiza, J. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. Use and user of municipal commonage around three small towns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Environmental Management, 92: 1149-1460.

Shackleton, C.M. & Scholes, R.J. 2011. Woody community biomass and carbon stocks along a rainfall gradient in the savannas of the central lowveld, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany, 77: 184-192.

Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, C.M., & Shanley, P. (eds). 2011. Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer. Heidelberg. 285 pp. (ISBN 978-3-642-17982-2). 

Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M. (eds). 2011. Reforming land and resource use in South Africa: impacts on livelihoods. Routledge, London 336 pp. (ISBN 978-0-415-58855-3).

Shackleton, C.M., Shackleton, S.E. & Shanley, P. 2011. Building a holistic picture: an integrative analysis of current and future prospects for non-timber forest products in a changing world. In: Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, C.M., & Shanley, P. (eds). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. pp. 255-280.  

Ticktin, T. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. Harvesting non-timber forest products sustainably – opportunities and challenges. In: Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, C.M., & Shanley, P. (eds). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. pp. 149-170.

Shackleton, C.M., Delang, C., Shackleton, S.E. & Shanley, P. 2011. Non-timber forest products: concept and definition. In: Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, C.M., & Shanley, P. (eds). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. pp. 3-21.

Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M.  2011. Livelihoods, resources and land reform. In: Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M. (eds). Reforming land and resource use in South Africa: impact on livelihoods. Routledge, London. pp. 1-32.

Shackleton, S.E. & Shackleton, C.M. 2011. Exploring the role of wild natural resources in poverty alleviation with an emphasis on South Africa. In: Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M. (eds). Reforming land and resource use in South Africa: impact on livelihoods. Routledge, London. pp. 209-234.

Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M.  2011. Land and resource reform in South Africa: multiple realities, contradictions and paradigm shifts. In: Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M. (eds). Reforming land and resource use in South Africa: impact on livelihoods. Routledge, London. pp. 315-330.

 

   Fred Ellery

      Professor & HOD

 

      Contact Details

        Tel:+27-046-603-7003    

         Fax +27-046-603-7574  

         email: f.ellery@ru.ac.za 

 

      

Biography

Fred Ellery has spent much of his working life examining the structure and functioning of wetlands in southern Africa, with a particular emphasis on the links between wetland ecology, hydrology geomorphology and biogeochemistry, and how these affect and are affected by human interactions with wetland systems.  His view is that unless one understands wetlands within the landscape context in which they are situated, including the human dimension of landscapes, one cannot hope to manage them wisely or sustainably. 

Southern Africa’s largest wetland ecosystem, the Okavango Delta, is where Fred has worked as part of a multidisciplinary team on generating broad understanding of how this system is structured and why it is such a dynamic ecosystem over timescales of seasons, years, decades and centuries.  His research has allowed him to work across spatial and temporal scales and develop broad understanding of this remarkable ecosystem.  He has done similar work in wetlands in northern KwaZulu-Natal, and here he started developing an interest in the geomorphic controls on wetlands.  This work has been innovative as the geomorphology of wetlands has been ignored globally, and Fred has explained why wetlands form along a number of valleys in KZN and elsewhere. 

Fred’s current work tends to have a geomorphic bias, as he believes that this sort of understanding is vital if ecosystems and human livelihoods that rely on the land are to be more sustainable, and also because ecosystem restoration needs to understand the landscape context in which it is being undertaken.  He has co-authored a book, published many chapters in edited books and peer-reviewed articles, and he has written and edited many research reports, including the Water Research Commissions “Wetland Management Series” of 11 handbooks.  Postgraduate supervision is something that has occupied much of Fred’s time, and he has supervised or co-supervised 27 Masters students and 6 PhD students.

Recent publications 

Grenfell SE, Ellery WN & Grenfell MC. 2009.  Geomorphology and dynamics of the Mfolozi River floodplain, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Geomorphology 107:226-240.

 

Grenfell SE & Ellery WN. 2009. Hydrology, sediment transport dynamics and geomorphology of a variable flow river: The Mfolozi River, South Africa. Water SA 35:271-281.

 

Grenfell M, Ellery WN & Grenfell SE. 2009. Valley morphology and sediment cascades within a wetland system in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg Foothills, Eastern South Africa. Catena 78:20-35.

 

Humphries MS, Kindness A, Ellery WN and Hughes J. 2010.  Sediment geochemistry, mineral precipitation and clay neoformation on the Mkuze River Floodplain, South Africa. Geoderma 157:15-26.

 

Humphries MS, Kindness A, Ellery WN, Hughes J and Benitez-Nelson CR. 2010.  137Cs and 210Pb derived sediment accumulation rates and their role in the long-term development of the Mkuze River floodplain, South Africa. Geomorphology 119:88-96.

 

McCarthy TS, Ellery WN, Blackwell L, Marren P, de Klerk B, Tooth S, Brandt D and Woodborne S. 2010.  The character, origin and palaeoenvironmental significance of the Wonderkrater spring mound, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 58:115-126.

 

Grenfell SE, Ellery WN, Grenfell MC, Ramsay LF and Flugel TJ. 2010.  Sedimentary facies and geomorphic evolution of a blocked-valley lake: Lake Futululu, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Sedimentology 57:1159–1174.

 

Sinchembe M and Ellery WN. 2010. Human impacts opn hydrological health and the provision of ecosystem services: a case study of the eMthonjeni-Fairview Spring Wetland, Grahamstown, South Africa. African Journal of Aquatic Science 35:227-239.

 

Shackleton CM, Scholes RJ, Vogel C, Wynberg R, Abrahamse T, Shackleton SE, Ellery WN and Gambiza J.  2011.  The next decade of environmental science in South Africa: A horizon scan.  South African Geographical Journal 93:1-14.

 

Sieben EJJ, Ellery WN, Kotze DC and Rountree M. 2011.  Hierarchical spatial organization and prioritization of wetlands: a conceptual model for wetland rehabilitation in South Africa. Wetlands Ecology & Management 19:209-222.

 

McCarthy TS, Tooth S, Jacobs Z, Rowberry MD, Thompson M, Brandt D, Hancox PJ, Marren PH, Woodborne S and Ellery WN. 2011.  The origin and development of the Nyl River floodplain wetland, Limpopo Province, South Africa: trunk-tributary river interactions in a dryland setting. South African Geographical Journal 93:172-190.

 

Humphries MS, Kindness A, Ellery WN, Hughes J, Bond JK and Barnes KB. 2011.  Vegetation influences on groundwater salinity and chemical heterogeneity in a freshwater, recharge floodplain wetland, South Africa. Journal of Hydrology 411:130-139.

 

Humphries MS, Kindness A, Ellery WN and Hughes J. 2011. Water chemistry and effect of evapotranspiration on chemical sedimentation on the Mkuze River floodplain, South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments 75:555-565.

 

Ellery W, Grenfell S, Grenfell M, Humphries M, Barnes K, Dahlberg A and Kindness A. 2012.  Peat formation in the context of the development of the Mkuze floodplain on the coastal plain of Maputaland, South Africa.  Geomorphology 141-142:11-20.

 Kotze DC, Ellery WN, MacFarlane DM & Jewitt, GPW. 2012.  A rapid assessment method for coupling anthropogenic stressors and wetland ecological condition.  Ecological Indicators 13:284-293.

 

 


Dr James Gambiza
Senior Lecturer

Contact Details:
Phone: +27-046-603-7010
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: J.Gambiza@ru.ac.za
 

 

Teaching
I teach undergraduate courses in land degradation; ecological systems; ecological modeling; and policy and adaptive management.

Research
Fields of expertise
• plant population ecology
• rangeland ecology
• fire ecology

Students supervised:
Over ten MSc and BSc Hons students (University of Zimbabwe)( 1996-2003). Currently (Rhodes University): two third-year honours students; one PhD student (potential students: 1 MSc and 1 PhD -- these are currently working on their project proposals).

Current projects:
I am working on the socio-economic aspects and ecology of medicinal plants.


Sheona Shackleton
Professor

Contact Details:
Phone: +27-046-603-7009
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: S.Shackleton@ru.ac.za

Biography

Sheona's research and academic interests are broad with most of her work in the past 30 years being at the interface between rural livelihoods and natural resource management. She has have undertaken research in such wide ranging areas as community conservation, natural resource governance, rural livelihoods and vulnerability, ecosystem services and human-well-being, non-timber forest product use and commercialisation, and climate change adaptation. She enjoys working in interdisciplinary teams, and has participated in several large international and inter-institutional research programmes, most of these culminating in several books as well as multiple journal papers. Her work is focussed at the nexus between environment/ecosystem services, people, change and sustainability, and she believes that the global environmental challenges we are encountering today can only be addressed through integrated, inter- and transdisciplinarity research approaches.

She teaches these approaches and the theory of complex social-ecological systems in her undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In addition to research in the areas of vulnerability, adaptation and resilience, she has also worked with colleagues on Higher Education approaches to learning and research in sustainability and complexity issues, and has supervised students working in such diverse areas as ecoliteracy, conservation and development, natural resource governance, carbon markets, urban forestry, and non-timber forest product. Other areas of interest include social learning and gendered aspects of natural resources use and adaptation to climate change. She has some 100 peer reviewed journal, books and book contributions to her name, a similar number of research reports and she is a B3-rated scientist with the South African National Research Foundation. She has had a long collaborative association with the Centre for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia.  

Recent Publications

Book contributions

Shackleton S.E. and Gumbo, D. (2010). Chapter 4: Contribution of non- wood forest products to livelihoods and poverty alleviation.  In: Chidamayo, E, (ed). Africa's dry forests: Managing the forests for products and services. Earthscan, London.

 

Shackleton, S.E., Cocks, M., Dold, A., Kaschula, S., Kokwe, G., Mbata, K. and von Maltiz, G. (2010).  Chapter 5: Non-wood forest products: Description, use and management.  In: Chidamayo, E, (ed). Africa's dry forests: Managing the forests for products and services. Earthscan, London.

 

Shackleton, S.E. (2010).  Over-regulation and complex bureaucratic procedure: A disincentive for compliance?  The case of kiaat, a valuable carving wood, in Bushbuckridge, South Africa.  Case study D. In:  Laird, S.A., McClean, R. & Wynberg, R.P. (eds). Wild product governance: finding policies that work for non-timber forest products. Earthscan, London.

 

Shackleton, C.M., Shackleton, S.E., Gambiza, J., Nel, E., Rowntree, K., Urquhart, P., Fabricius, C. and Anilsie, A. (2010).  Linking ecosystem services and poverty alleviation in the arid and semi-arid lands of southern Africa. Nova Publishers, New York.

 

Shackleton, S.E. & Shackleton, C.M. (2010). Exploring the role of wild natural resources in poverty alleviation with an emphasis on South Africa. In: Hebinck, P. & Shackleton, C.M. (eds). Reforming land and resource use in South Africa: impact on livelihoods. Routledge.

 

Wollenberg, E., Campbell, B., Shackleton, S., Edmunds, D. and Shanley, P. (2010).  Collective action and collaborative management of forests.  Resources, Rights and Cooperation: A source book on property rights and collective action for sustainable development. CAPRI, Washington DC.

 

Lund, J. F.,Shackleton, S.E.  and Luckert,, M. (2011). Chapter 11. Getting quality data. In: In:  Angelsen, A., Carsten Smith, O., Overgaard Larsen, H., Lund, J. F. and Wunder, S. Measuring livelihoods and environmental dependence: Methods for research and field work. Earthscan, London. ISBN 978-1-84971-132-6 (hb); 978-1-84971-133-3 (pb).  263 pp. 

 

Cundill, G., Shackleton, S.E., Overgaard Larsen, H. (2011). Chapter 5. Collecting contextual information. In: In: Angelsen, A., Carsten Smith, O., Overgaard Larsen, H., Lund, J.F. & Wunder, S. (eds). Measuring livelihoods and environmental dependence: Methods for research and field work. Earthscan, London. ISBN 978-1-84971-132-6 (hb); 978-1-84971-133-3 (pb).  263 pp. 

 

Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, CM. and Shanley, P. (eds). (2011). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-642-1798-2; e-ISBN 978-3-642-17983-9. 280 pp.

 

Shackleton, S.E., De Lang and Angelsen, A. (2011). From subsistence, to safety nets and cash income: exploring the diverse values of non-timber forest products for livelihoods and poverty alleviation. Chapter 3 – pp  55-82.  In: Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, CM. and Shanley, P. Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-642-1798-2; e-ISBN 978-3-642-17983-9. 280 pp.

 

Shackleton, C.M., Delang, C., Shackleton, S.E. and Shanley, P. (2011). Non-timber forest products: concept and definition. Chapter 1 – pp 3-22  In: Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, CM. and Shanley, P. (eds). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-642-1798-2; e-ISBN 978-3-642-17983-9. 280 pp.

 

Shackleton, C.M., Shackleton, S.E. and Shanley, P. (2011). Gaps and new directions in NTFP research and development. Chapter 12 – pp 255-280. Shackleton, S.E., Shackleton, CM. and Shanley, P. (eds). Non-timber forest products in the global context. Springer, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-642-1798-2; e-ISBN 978-3-642-17983-9. 280 pp.

Papers

Shackleton, S.E. and Campbell, B. (2007).The traditional broom trade in Bushbuckridge, South Africa: helping poor women cope with adversity. Economic Botany 61 (3): 256-268.

 

Shackleton, S.E., Shanley, P. and Ndoye, O. (2007). Viable but invisible: Recognising local markets for non-timber forest products. International Forestry Review 9 (3): 697-712.

 

Shackleton, S.E., Campbell, B., Lotz-Sisitka, H., and Shackleton, C.M.  (2008). Links between the local trade in natural products, livelihoods and poverty alleviation in a semi-arid region of South Africa. World Development 36 (3): 505-526.

 

Shackleton, S.E., Kirby, D., and Gambiza, J. (2011). Invasive plants - friends or foes: contribution of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) to livelihoods in Makana Municipality, South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 28 (2): 177-193.

 

Thondhlana, G., Shackleton, S.E. and Muchapondwa, E. (2011). Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its land claimants: A pre- and post-land claim conservation and development history. Environmental Research Letters 6 024009 (online journal).

 

Shackleton, S.E., Paumgarten, F., Kassa, H., Husselman, M., Parmguaten, F. and  Zida, M. (2011). Opportunities for enhancing poor women’s socio-economic empowerment in the value chains of three African dry forest non-timber forest products (NTFPs). International Forestry Review 13 (2): 136-151.

 

Shackleton, C.M., Scholes, B.J., Vogel, C., Wynberg, R., Abrahamse, T., Shackleton, S.E., Ellery, F. and Gambiza, J. (2011). The next decade of environmental science in South Africa: A horizon scan. South African Geographical Journal 93 (1): 1 – 14.

 

Shackleton, S.E. and Shackleton, C.M.  (2012). Linking livelihood vulnerability and ecosystem vulnerability in southern Africa: Consequences for ecosystem management and sustainable development.  International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 19:275 -286.

 

Clarke, C., Shackleton, S. and Powell, M. (2012). Climate change perceptions, drought responses and views on carbon farming amongst commercial livestock and game farmers in the semi-arid Great Fish River Valley, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. African Journal of Range & Forage Science 29(1): 13-23.

 

Thondhalana, G., Vedeld, P, Shackleton, S.E. (2012). Natural resource use, income and dependence amongst  San and Meir communities bordering the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, southern Kalahari, South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 19 (5): 460-470.

Full Curriculum Vitae

Dr Georgina Cundill

Senior Lecturer

Contact Details:
Phone: +27-046-603-7580
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: g.cundill@ru.ac.za

Biography

Georgina is a Senior Lecturer in the department.  She is interested in linked social-ecological systems, and much of her research focuses on the human dimensions of natural resource management. Georgina believes that successful ecosystem conservation is as much about understanding and managing people and their behaviour, as it is about managing ecosystems. She therefore conducts research on various aspects of collaborative management, adaptive management and multi-scale governance, and is particularly interested in the concepts of resilience, complexity and social learning. She also has a keen interest in methodological questions related to participatory, applied and change-oriented research. She has field experience working with communities and conservation agencies accross South Africa, and has also worked on social-ecological questions related to arid ecosystems and small-scale fisheries in Chile, and on participatory research methodologies in Peru.

Recent Publications

Cundill, G. and Rodela, R. 2012. A review of assertions about the processes and outcomes of social learning in natural resource management. Journal of Environmental Management. 113: 7- 14.

 

Biggs, R., Schlüter, M., Biggs, D., Bohensky, E., BurnSilver, S., Cundill, G., Dakos, V., Daw, T., Evans, L., Kotschy, K., Leitch, A., Meek, C., Quinlan, A., Raudsepp-Hearne, C., Robards, M., Schoon, M., Schultz, L. and West, P. 2012. Towards principles for enhancing the resilience of ecosystem services. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 37: 421-448

 

Rodela, R., Cundill, G. and Wals, A. 2012. Methodological underpinnings of social learning research in natural resource management: a review. Ecological Economics 77: 16-26.

 

Cundill, G., Cumming, G., Biggs, D. and Fabricius, C. 2012. Soft systems thinking and social learning for adaptive management. Conservation Biology. 26(1): 13-20

 

Schachermayer, C., Cundill, G., Aburto, J. and Stotz, W. 2011. An empirical analysis of the social and ecological outcomes of state subsidies for small scale fisheries: A case study from Chile. Ecology and Society (16): 3. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss3/art17/main.html

 

Cundill, G., Shackleton, S. Larsen, H. 2011. Collecting contextual information. Chapter 5 in: Measuring environmental dependence: Methods for research and fieldwork. Editors: Angelsen, A., Larsen, H., Lund, J. Smith-Hall, C and Wunder, S. Earthscan, Washington. Pp.71-88

 

Cundill, G. 2010. Monitoring social learning processes in adaptive comanagement: three case studies from South Africa. Ecology and Society 15(3): 28. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art28/

 

Reed, M. S., A. C. Evely, G. Cundill, I. Fazey, J. Glass, A. Laing, J. Newig, B. Parrish, C. Prell, C. Raymond, and L. C. Stringer. 2010. What is social learning? Ecology and Society 15(4): r1. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/resp1/

 

Cundill, G. and Fabricius, C. 2010. Monitoring the governance dimension of the adaptive co- management of natural resources. Ecology and Society 15 (1): 15. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss1/art15/

 

Fabricius, C. and Cundill, G. 2010. Building adaptive capacity in systems beyond the threshold: the story of Macubeni, South Africa, Chapter 3 in Adaptive capacity and environmental governance (eds: R. Plummer and D. Armitage). Springer Publications. Pp 43-68.

 

Link to my website
 

Dr Gladman Thondhlana

Lecturer

 

Contact Details:

Tel: +27-046-603-7007

Fax: +27-046-603-7574

Email: g.thondhlana@ru.ac.za

 

Biography

Gladman is a lecturer in the Department of Environmental Science. He was previously a PhD fellow in the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (NORAGRIC), at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His broader research interests are centred on Community-Based Natural Resources Management specifically focussing on understanding (a) the links between wild resource use, rural livelihoods and household welfare issues and (b) the different resource values and benefit streams among different actors, within the context of sustainable natural resources management. Currently, Gladman has broadened his research focus to include understanding biofuel development processes and impacts on rural livelihoods. He has a growing field research experience with indigenous and local communities in rural parts of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Recent publications

Thondhalana, G., Vedeld, P, Shackleton, S.E. (2012). Natural resource use, income and dependence amongst San and Meir communities bordering the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, southern Kalahari, South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 19 (5): 460-470.

Thondhlana, G., Shackleton, S.E. and Muchapondwa, E. (2011). Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its land claimants: A pre- and post-land claim conservation and development history. Environmental Research Letters 6 024009 (online journal).

 

Zelda Kirstein

Departmental Administrator

Contact Details:
Bangor House, Rm 206
Phone: +27-046-603-7002
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: z.kirstein@ru.ac.za

Roles & Responsibilities
Administrative and financial services provided to the staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students of the department, clients and other individuals/groups.


Kathy Cassidy
Senior Technical Officer

Contact Details:
Bangor House, Rm 6 (ground floor)
Phone: +27-046-603-7013
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: k.cassidy@ru.ac.za

 

• BSc Environmental Science (Unisa)
• BSc (Hons) Rhodes University 2009.  Research project "Understanding the role of frugivorous birds in aiding rehabilitation of thicket and how this can be facilitated by management intervention."
 

Roles & Responsibilities
• Arrangements and support for undergraduate teaching practicals, post-graduate  and staff field trips
• Participation in and logistical support during field trips

• Marking of undergraduate practical reports
• Maintenance and control of all departmental equipment and assets
• Assisting & Co-supervision of students in GIS (ArcMap 10) and the production of GIS maps
• Updating of the departmental website and production of the quarterly dept newsletter
• Setting up and maintaining relevant databases
 

top

Monde Ntshudu
Technical Officer

 

Contact Details:
Bangor House, Rm 203 (top floor)
Phone: +27-046-603-7006
Fax: +27-046-603-7574
E-mail: m.ntshudu@ru.ac.za

 

 


 Roles & Responsibilities

  • support the senior Technical officer with organization of undergrad practicals and postgrad  and staff fieldtrips

  • act as a facilitator on these fieldtrips especially with interactions with land owners and land users

  • act as a driver and interpreter on these fieldtrips

  • ensure basic infrastructure of the department is maintained

  • Health & Safety Officer, Fire Safety Officer and First Aider.

 

  

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