Schwaibold

Dr Ute Schwaibold holds a PhD in Zoology (Animal Behaviour) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa and have been with the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences since 2006. She spent her first years at Wits working as a consultant in the field of environmental impact assessments and environmental management, which fueled her interest in the relationship between business, society and the environment and has shaped her research interests in urban ecology and sustainability. Her urban ecology work is focused primarily on the ecology and behaviour of mammals in urban and peri-urban Johannesburg and the relationship between people and their surrounding environment. Recent projects include a study on the ecology of otters in the greater Johannesburg area, the identification of possible ecological corridors in the city and their value to wildlife, the impacts of water contamination on the biology of small mammals, and beliefs and fears of urban residents around wildlife in the city. Dr Schwaibold's sustainability research interests relate to aspects of impact and risk assessment as well as the transition to economic, social and environmental resilience in a changing world. After several years working with business and seeing the challenges to sustainability posed by clashing values and strongly rooted beliefs, her interests in terms of social and economic resilience have shifted to understanding and engaging with youth perceptions and ideas, specifically around climate change, with several of her postgraduate students having studied the effectiveness of environmental education in South Africa and cultural and economic challenges experienced by the youth in rural areas. From 2010-2012, she was involved in the development and implementation of a Climate Leadership Programme for members of the business community, government and civil society, funded by the GIZ, and was the principal investigator on an Open Society Foundation-funded project (2012-2015) to develop and launch an interdisciplinary climate change degree programme at Wits (currently running as Interdisciplinary Global Change Studies).