Steering Committee
The role of the Steering Committee is to:
- Provide oversight in the design of projects and activities at the regional level.
- Identify and promote strategic partnerships, including the leveraging of resources.
- Identify key experts to lead the development and implementation of programmes, advocate for Future Earth programmes in their region.
The FEROSA Steering Committee is composed of an experienced vibrant team from multiple countries and backgrounds. The committee includes academics, practitioners from the public, and private sectors, non-governmental organisations, regional organisations, government representatives, and interested citizens from the region.
- Prof Stephanie Burton – University of Pretoria – (South Africa): Chairperson
- Dr Lisho Mundia – Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation – (Namibia) : Deputy Chairperson
- Prof Alberto J Tsamba – Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique)
- Mr Sonnyboy Shongwe – University of Eswatini (Eswatini)
- Mr John Lukonde Chongo – Ministry of Higher Education – (Zambia)
- Dr Jane Olwoch – Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management – (Namibia)
- Ms Joanna June Fatch
Stephanie Burton
Prof. Stephanie Burton, Professor, University of Pretoria
Full profile
Professor Stephanie Burton is Professor in Biochemistry, and a Professor at Future Africa at the University of Pretoria (UP), as well as the immediate past Vice-Principal for Research and Postgraduate Education at UP, having served in that role from 2011 to 2020. Professor Burton is the President and a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA), Vice-President of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), a Research Fellow for Universities South Africa (USAf), and the Chairperson of the Future Earth Regional Office for Southern Africa (FEROSA). She holds an MSc in Organic Chemistry (1990) and a PhD in Biochemistry (1994) from Rhodes University. Her academic career started in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Rhodes University, and then as Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. She served as Director of Postgraduate Studies and Director of the Biocatalysis and Technical Biology Group at Cape Peninsula University of Technology before her appointment to the UP Executive. Her research interests are in sustainability, applied biochemistry and biotechnology, and she has published widely and supervised numerous postgraduate students. Professor Burton has a strong interest in research ethics and integrity, and recently has given numerous colloquia in this topical area. She is recognised for her leadership and expertise in research strategy, research management, and performance, postgraduate training, innovation activities, open science and science communication initiatives, and internationalisation programmes. She is currently coordinating national projects on mentoring and capacity development for early career academics, on behalf of USAf. She serves on several national and international bodies related to research and doctoral training.
Lisho Mundia
Director of Research and Innovation in the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Government of the Republic of Namibia: FEROSA Steering Committee Deputy Chair
Full profile
Dr Mundia is a Namibian man, born in the Zambezi region, Republic of Namibia. He is the Director of Research and Innovation in the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Government of the Republic of Namibia. A seasoned executive, academician, entrepreneur and author. He has over 15 years of working experience, over 7 years of which is in education, research and training. He worked for various industries ranging from higher education, utility, mining and local authority, making him highly relevant to the transdisciplinary research agenda. He served as one of the first Council Member of the Space Science under National Commission on Research Science & Technology. He currently serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Southern African Innovation Support Programme, an Advisory Board Member of the Multidisciplinary Research Center of the University of Namibia, a Committee Member of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure under the Namibia Statistics Agency and a Land Tribunal Committee member under the Ministry of Land Reform.He is currently reading towards the Bachelor of Law (LLB). He is a graduate of a Master of Management, a PhD in Geography; Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management; M.Sc. Geographical Information Science (GIS); and many other qualifications in GIS, land management and land measuring. He has published a number of journal and conference papers, books and he has managed and facilitated a number of international projects. He is a reviewer of international journal articles and he supervises and examines research on Masters and PhD level.
Jane Olwoch
Executive Director at the Southern Africa Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive land Management (SASSCAL), Southern Africa
Full profile
Dr Jane M. Olwoch is the Executive Director of the Southern Africa Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive land Management (SASSCAL). Among her other qualifications, she holds a PhD (Zoology) (Climate Change) from the University of Pretoria and an MBA from the Business School, Netherlands. Prior to joining SASSCAL, Dr Olwoch was the first Head of Earth Observation at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).Dr Olwoch also has over 20 years’ research and training experience at Higher Institutions of learning in the field of Environmental science and climate change through which she has supervised over 30 postgraduate students and authored /co-authored over 50 publications mostly in peer review journals. She was rated at C2 by NRF in 2013. She is a recipient of the prestigious TUKS Alumni Award in 2014 Nationally, she has served on several Committee including the Future Earth Southern Africa Interim Steering Committee. Internationally, she was a Lead Author of Chapter 11, Human Health, of the working group 2 to the IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report (2010-2014). From 2014-2017, She was a vice Chair and later the Chair of the Working Group on Capacity Development and Data Democracy of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS.
Alberto J Tsamba
Associate Professor in Energy and Environment
Full profile
Prof Tsamba, a senior lecturer (Associate Professor in Energy and Environment) at the Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique) and senior researcher at the UEM Energy Research Centre (CPE) and one of the founder-members of the Mozambican Board of Engineers.Prof Tsamba is a Mozambican, 56 years old, married and PhD in Energy and Furnace Technology, by the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He is a senior lecturer (Associate Professor in Energy and Environment) at the Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique) and senior researcher at the UEM Energy Research Centre (CPE) and one of the founder-members of the Mozambican Board of Engineers. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Future Earth Regional Office of Southern Africa (FEROSA) as well as of the Africa Science Plan Steering Committee at the International Science Council-Regional Office of Africa (ISC-ROA) and leads the ISC-ROA Consortium on Sustainable Energy. His field of interest is Energy and Environment, areas in which he is a senior researcher and consultant. Prof has more than 30 years’ experience as consultant, in Renewable Energy Technologies, with emphasis on Biomass Energy Technologies (BET), LFG systems, Energy Planning, Energy Systems Design, among other energy related subjects. As consultant in Environment, he has been working in GHG inventories, Energy systems carbon intensity, MSW management and reuse.
Nachi Majoe
Senior Professional Officer: Climate Change, Energy and Resilience at ICLEI Africa
Full profile
Nachi is a sustainable development practitioner with over ten years’ experience in sub-national government research, policy and project implementation. Her areas of expertise include capacity building, development of strategies, toolkits and action plans with a focus on integrated development planning, local economic development and climate action planning. She is currently responsible for ICLEI Africa’s strategic partnerships and cross-cutting themes including gender and the localisation of regional and global agreements such as Agenda 2063, Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Nachi also holds the position of Senior Professional Officer: Climate Change, Energy and Resilience at ICLEI Africa, where she is a project manager of a number of projects focusing on resilient development, energy access and low emissions development. Nachi is a Chevening Scholar and holds a Masters in International Planning and Sustainable Development (Urban Resilience) from the University of Westminster, United Kingdom and a Master’s in Public Management and Governance from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rose Jaji
Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Zimbabwe
Full profile
Rose Jaji is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zimbabwe. Her research areas of interest are migration/refugees, gender, conflict, and peacebuilding. Her published work includes peer-reviewed articles on migrant/refugee masculinities and femininities, refugees and social technology, identity and refugee hosting, asylum seekers and border crossing, return migration as well as peacebuilding. She has also contributed blog pieces on the same themes on various platforms. She is the author of Deviant Destinations: Zimbabwe and North to South Migration (2020) published by Lexington Books.
Secretariat
Michael Nxumalo
Global Hub Director, Africa Hub
Full profile
Michael Nxumalo is a Director of International Grants and Partnerships at the National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa. In the early 2000s, as a Program Officer at the NRF, he was one of the people who pioneered the implementation of NRF's Africa Bilateral programs, specifically working with partners to jointly invest in R&D programs. He also previously worked as a Program Officer for the NRF's Reviews and Evaluation Programs, which included Grants Management and System Administration. He currently serves on the Belmont Forum Steering Committee, as well as the Director of the Future Earth Africa Hub. Among his other responsibilities, he oversees the International Science Council (ISC) secretariat on behalf of South Africa and leads South Africa's largest mobility and conference support program. He is currently working to strengthen South-South collaborations, collaborating closely with the International Science, Technology, and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) to design programs that can benefit African researchers.
Ex-Officio Steering Committee Members
- Mmampei Chaba – Department of Science and Innovation – South Africa
- Aldo Strobel – National Research Foundation (NRF)