PhD Fellowships in Climate and Development

Supervisor:

Alice McClure

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

While flooding is often framed as an environmental or infrastructural issue, its causes and impacts are deeply social and political. Research has focused on vulnerability and resilience, but gives limited attention to how care responsibilities are distributed across households, communities, and institutions, and how these shape health outcomes. This PhD explores the politics of care through the concept of care infrastructures: physical, social, and political arrangements that shape how care is provided, experienced, and distributed. Focusing on flood-prone informal settlements such as Khayelitsha, it examines how care responsibilities, resources, and burdens are organised, negotiated, and connected across household, community, and city scales, and how failures at one scale place pressure on others. Using a longitudinal case study and creative methods such as film and storytelling, the research aims to advance understanding of flood-related health risks in a changing climate.

Broad Research Question:

This research aims to examine how flood-related health risks and responses are mediated through interconnected care infrastructures across rapidly expanding African cities.

Research Questions

• How are flooding-related health impacts experienced and managed through practices of care within households?
• How do community networks, organisations, and informal settlement dynamics enable, constrain, or redistribute care in planning for, and after, flooding events?
• How do urban institutions and infrastructures enact, structure, or withhold care in response to flooding-related health risks?
• How do relationships between household-, community-, and city-scale forms of care shape experiences of health relevant to flooding?
• What does the distribution of care across these scales reveal about the politics of urban climate-health adaptation?

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

The ideal candidate will have a Master's degree in Human Geography, Anthropology, Environmental and Geographical Science, Development Studies, Urban Studies, Sustainability Science, Public Health, or a closely related field. They will demonstrate strong qualitative research skills, experience with ethnographic research, and an interest in climate adaptation, urban inequality, environmental justice, health, and governance. Experience working in unplanned settlements, participatory research, visual or creative methodologies, and interdisciplinary research environments will be advantageous. Fluency in isiXhosa, or at least the ability to communicate, is advantageous. The successful candidate should be comfortable working across disciplinary boundaries and committed to engaged, reflexive, and socially relevant research.

Supervisor:

Birgit Erni

UCT Department:

Statistical Sciences

Background:

Brown locusts (Locustana pardalina) show periodic outbreaks during which they cause extensive damage to crops across the more arid parts of southern Africa. The outbreaks appear to be driven by climate and despite extensive control efforts, the outbreaks keep happening. Locusts have complex life histories, switching between sedentary and nomadic stages under certain conditions. Despite long-term observations and considerable research into the ecology of locusts, it is not clear how management could prevent damaging outbreaks and how climate change is going to affect where and when such outbreaks will happen, and at what intensity

Broad Research Question:

The aim of this project is to gain a mechanistic understanding of the ecological and climatic processes that allow locusts to achieve extraordinary population growth rates despite relentless control efforts. The project will employ statistical analyses, mathematical modelling, computer simulations and causal analysis methods to attribute population growth to underlying drivers. It will use ecological forecasting and adaptive management principles to project outbreaks under different climate change scenarios and management interventions with the goal of supporting future management efforts.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Ideally, modelling biological systems. Any science degree with a very strong modelling component at Honours and Masters level, strong background in biology. Strong programming skills in at least one of R, Python, or MATLAB.

Supervisor:

Britta Rennkamp

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

This PhD project addresses the following gaps: 1) its social relevance stems from the implementation gap of the Paris Agreement’s global climate goals in temperature, adaptation and finance in Africa. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) translate global ambition into national action. The project develops evidence to support progress in the energy and electricity component of NDCs. 2) Its conceptual relevance addresses a gap between three literatures in governance of commons, multi-level governance, inequality and justice into innovative theories for the analysis of energy commons in Africa. 3) The PhD addresses an empirical gap in actively engaging actors in highly unequal societies in three African regions to support dialogue and coherence towards more rights-based formulation and implementation of NDCs. This research supports the implementation of the current NDC and the formulation of the next cycle in light of the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion (AO).

Broad Research Question:

The PhD project addresses three research questions. The overarching question asks how existing inequalities shape regional, national, and subnational governance arrangements for NDC implementation in unequal societies. This question guides a diagnostic of procedural and recognitional inequalities in the political systems of selected case study countries. The second question asks: How can the governance principles of the commons support the governance of energy and electricity commons at the local, national, and regional levels in line with the NDC targets? This question guides the development of theoretical frameworks to combine the analysis of commons, multi-level governance and inequalities. The third question asks about actors: Who are the incumbents and actors of change in the transition, and how are they supporting or hindering energy and climate justice in line with international obligations and human rights?

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Ideally a background in Political Science, Sociology, Innovation Studies, Science and Technology Policy Studies, Economics, Anthropology, Geography or any related topic. 

Supervisor:

Elizabeth Musvoto

UCT Department:

Construction Economics and Management

Background:

African cities are increasingly investing in water infrastructure to respond to drought, climate variability, population growth and deteriorating service networks. However, improvements in city-wide water resilience do not necessarily translate into equal improvements for all residents. Infrastructure decisions about which areas are prioritised, which technologies are funded, how costs are recovered and whose needs are considered can produce very different outcomes across the city.

This research will examine how decisions around climate-resilient water infrastructure are made and how the benefits and costs of these investments are distributed across different communities. It will explore the relationship between climate adaptation, infrastructure planning, urban governance and inequality, with particular attention to whether current approaches to water resilience reduce or reinforce existing spatial and socioeconomic disparities.

Broad Research Question:

The study aims to understand how African cities can govern water infrastructure investment in ways that improve climate resilience while ensuring that adaptation benefits are distributed more fairly across urban populations.

Possible research questions

1. How are priorities for climate-resilient water infrastructure determined in African cities?
2. Which communities and urban areas benefit most from water infrastructure investment, and which remain exposed to water insecurity?
3. How do planning systems, governance arrangements and financing mechanisms shape the distribution of climate adaptation benefits?
4. What approaches can cities use to incorporate equity and climate justice into water infrastructure investment decisions?

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

The preferred disciplinary area is Urban Planning with an interdisciplinary focus on Climate Change, Urban Infrastructure, Water Governance, Infrastructure Investment, and Spatial Inequality. Applicants with undergraduate degrees in Urban and Regional Planning/Town and Regional Planning, Geography, Environmental Studies/Environmental Science, Development Studies, Water Engineering, Property Studies/Real Estate, or related built-environment and social science disciplines would be suitable. The topic would suit a student with strong research and analytical skills, including qualitative and/or quantitative research, institutional and policy analysis. The ability to engage in interdisciplinary research and translate findings into practical policy and planning recommendations would be valuable. Experience with GIS and spatial analysis would be an advantage. Experience or interest in urban development, infrastructure planning and investment, water and sanitation, climate adaptation, municipal governance, urban inequality, or working with municipalities, utilities, or government institutions would also be relevant.

Supervisor: 

Gina Ziervogel

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background: 

Cities across southern Africa are making consequential decisions about how to respond to climate risk. Those decisions draw on many kinds of knowledge, including climate projections, municipal service and infrastructure data, technical assessments, alignment with policies, political priorities, as well as local knowledge about settlements’ vulnerability.

Not all of this knowledge carries equal weight. Some moves easily into planning processes and budget allocations; other knowledge, no less relevant, might travel a longer route or be put aside. But knowledge is only one part of the picture. What gets implemented also depends on how decisions are governed, which department holds the mandate, how budgets are allocated and over what cycle, who is consulted and who is not, and how competing priorities are reconciled. This project examines how knowledge and governance arrangements together shape adaptation decisions, and what follows from that.

Broad Research Question:

• What forms of knowledge are produced in relation to a specific urban climate risk, and by whom?
• How do actors negotiate the credibility and relevance of competing forms of knowledge, including knowledge about institutional and political constraints?
• How do governance arrangements determine which knowledge can be acted on?
• How are adaptation decisions actually made, and what accounts for the outcome when knowledge, institutional interest and political priority point in different directions?
• What are the implications for climate justice and for whose vulnerability is recognised?

The project will focus on either urban heat or urban water risk depending on the candidate's interests. A further strand, depending on the candidate's interests, might consider how adaptation lessons move between municipalities: what makes a lesson travel, and what is lost in translation.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Climate Change Adaptation and Development, Urban Climate Governance, Environmental Governance, Human Geography, Development Studies, Urban Studies and Planning, Environmental Social Science, Sustainability Science, or related fields. 

Applicants should hold an undergraduate and Master's degree in Geography, Environmental Studies, Development Studies, Urban Planning, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Environmental Governance, Sustainability Science, Climate Change and Development, or a closely related discipline. 

The ideal candidate will have strong qualitative research skills, experience with policy or governance analysis, excellent academic writing abilities, and an interest in climate adaptation, climate justice and urban governance. Familiarity with southern African urban contexts and experience working with municipalities, NGOs, community organisations, or climate adaptation initiatives will be an advantage. Experience in qualitative or mixed-methods research is highly desirable.

Supervisor:

Hans Beushausen

UCT Department:

Civil Engineering

Background:

Significant international progress has been made in developing low-carbon binders, recycled concrete constituents and performance-based approaches to concrete design. However, most research and implementation frameworks originate from Europe, North America and Asia and reflect their materials, production technologies, standards and quality-control capabilities. Knowledge of how these approaches can be transferred and adapted to African conditions remains limited. Key gaps include the availability and suitability of local resources for low-carbon binders and circular concrete production, appropriate mix-design and production methods, performance and durability under African exposure conditions, and practical quality-control procedures. This PhD will address these gaps by developing and validating locally appropriate materials, performance criteria and implementation strategies for sustainable concrete production in Africa.

Broad Research Question:

The overarching aim is to determine how low-carbon, resource-efficient concrete can be successfully designed, produced and implemented within the material, technical and economic conditions of African construction industries. The research will assess the availability and suitability of local resources for low-carbon binders and circular concrete production; develop and optimise appropriate mix-design and production technologies; evaluate their mechanical and durability performance; establish suitable performance-based specifications and acceptance criteria; and develop practical quality-control strategies for different levels of industry capability. Ultimately, the project aims to provide a scientifically validated framework for the practical implementation of sustainable concrete technologies across diverse African contexts.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Civil Engineering / Structural Engineering. An Undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering. A Masters degree in either structural engineering or construction management-related fields. Experience (theory or practice) with concrete technology would be advantageous. This research looks into developing low-carbon concrete technology for African urbanisation. The possible research topics relating to this scope include technical aspects (identification and performance evaluation of suitable cementitious binder types, development of concrete mix compositions based on locally available binder characteristics, etc.) but also social aspects - modern low-carbon concrete technology will be different to currently applied construction practices, and successful implementation of new technologies for African urbanisation must consider local and regional construction traditions, while any systems developed (for example, precast housing structures versus brick & block systems) must consider how these systems are perceived in the local context. And in all this, economic considerations play a large role (establishment of production facilities for low-carbon concrete products - both formal/industrialised and informal (‘backyard production’), pricing and market competitiveness against suitable performance indicators, etc.).

Supervisor:

Harro von Blottnitz

UCT Department:

Chemical Engineering

Background:

Current energy systems models mostly rely on exogenous energy demand projections. ESRG's SATIMGE linked energy-economic model can endogenously generate scenario-based demand projections that are consistent with the modelled evolution of the national economy, but are calibrated in past energy use patterns. In a changing climate, that is no longer correct. An example is cooling, for which demand will grow strongly. Likewise, on the supply side, climate variation may strongly impact availability of renewable energy resources, viz. solar, wind and water. In Southern Africa, it is known that the interannual variability related to the El Nino Southern Oscillation has already manifested strongly in variations in hydro-electric generation.

Broad Research Question:

The research aim is to develop new tools and methods for climate-informed energy demand projections. Capture the impact of climate change on renewable energy resource availability and productivity.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Applicants should hold an undergraduate degree from the natural or engineering sciences and a Masters level qualification in the sustainability sciences, with quantitative methods training, ideally in either energy systems modelling or climate systems modelling. Applicants should have demonstrable coding and data analysis skills and an interest and willingness to develop these skills further.

Supervisor:

Jasper Slingsby

UCT Department:

Biological Science

Background:

Biodiversity is changing rapidly in response to climate change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species and land-use change. Although Earth observation technologies now provide unprecedented opportunities to monitor ecosystems, distinguishing natural variability from human-driven change, and identifying the causes of observed changes remains a major scientific challenge. This project will investigate how satellite remote sensing, plant functional traits and ecological modelling can be combined to detect biodiversity change and better understand its drivers. The emphasis will be on developing transferable approaches that improve biodiversity monitoring and support evidence-based conservation and climate adaptation in the Cape Floristic Region and beyond.

Broad Research Question:

The overarching aim is to develop and evaluate methods for detecting biodiversity change and understanding its environmental and anthropogenic drivers using remote sensing and ecological models. Depending on the student's interests and expertise, the project may include one or more of the following: developing remote-sensing indicators of biodiversity or plant functional traits; integrating satellite observations with ecological forecasting or causal inference approaches; quantifying the influence of climate, fire, invasive species or management interventions on biodiversity; and evaluating how these methods can improve monitoring and prediction of ecosystem change to inform decision-makers.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary areas are Biological Sciences or Statistical Ecology. Other disciplinary areas: Fynbos ecology, Remote sensing, Bayesian statistics, Ecological forecasting, Causal statistics. Ideal skills include programming in R and Python.

Supervisor:

Jiska de Groot

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

Clean cooking policy across Africa still frames electric cooking as a stove-replacement problem, yet uptake depends on grid reliability, financing and institutions operating far above the household. Ghana and Uganda's grids lean heavily on hydropower, so climate-driven rainfall variability threatens the very electricity supply e-cooking needs to succeed as a low-carbon alternative to charcoal and biomass. This topic builds on ENACT's cooking programme in Kampala and SHINE's work in Ghana to test how innovation systems, not individual households, determine whether transitions hold, adding South Africa's non-hydro but reliability-stressed grid to check whether these dynamics are climate-specific or structural. Gender is treated as central throughout, since women carry most cooking-energy decisions and risk. This study provides comparative, policy-relevant evidence on the potential for electric cooking to deliver climate and equity gains in addition to the number of connections.

Broad Research Question:

This study aims to generate comparative evidence, building on ENACT's and SHINE's existing programmes in Kampala and Ghana and extending to an independent South African case, on the institutional, financial and infrastructural conditions that shape electric cooking transitions, to inform policy and investment that hold up across different grid and climate contexts, rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all approach to clean cooking.

Key research questions: How do the innovation systems around electric cooking, grid capacity and reliability, financing, institutions and markets, enable or constrain a just and climate-resilient transition in Kampala, Ghana and South Africa, and how do these dynamics play out differently across a hydropower-vulnerable grid and a non-hydro but reliability-stressed one?

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Disciplinary background in Human Geography, Sociology, Political Science, Gender studies, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, Anthropology or related disciplines

Skills: Qualitative research skills (both data collection and especially thematic analysis skills), qualitative interview skills.

Desired skills: strong interest in gender analysis, self- and curiosity-driven

Supervisor:

Kate le Roux

UCT Department:

Academic Development Programme

Background:

Education is seen as central to building capacity for active citizenship and knowledge-making in climate and development. Work in climate change/environmental education shows that addressing related environmental, social, economic and technological development challenges requires multiple knowledges (mathematical, physical, natural, and social sciences, of Euromodern and Indigenous origin); knowers, with diverse experiences; and languages. It shows the need for students to engage creatively, critically, ethically and collaboratively with complexity, change, and uncertainty.

Yet, across contexts, school curricula are remarkably similar, offering ‘international standards’ (of global North origin). Learning in the natural, physical and mathematical sciences is commonly organised around knowledge that is treated as fixed, universal, neutral, and certain, and bounded within disciplines. The focus is on students developing transferable skills for solving well-defined problems.

Broad Research Question:

The focus is on innovating school curricula for relevant, equitable climate and development education in the realities of African contexts, in their diversity. ‘Curriculum’ includes knowledge, learning design, pedagogy, and assessment. We seek to explore cases of curriculum as process and product, using thought from decoloniality, Indigenous knowledges, ecofeminism, etc., and participatory methods. Towards developing working principles for local curriculum, for use by teachers.

Lines of inquiry: 

• What and where are the openings for innovation within entrenched, standardised curricula? 
• How to build equitable collaborations involving local knowledge holders, teachers, academics, students, etc.? 
• How can local knowledges and languages function as resources? 
• What happens when different knowledge systems and disciplines, commonly considered separate, ‘meet’? 
• With what implications for teachers? 
• How are innovations sustained locally, and scaled regionally, nationally, continentally? 

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Applicants should preferably hold an undergraduate degree in the sciences (natural sciences, environmental sciences, geography, or related); and a strong Masters degree in education, or a relevant cognate social science discipline.

Academic and (in)formal work experience and activities should demonstrate interest in the climate, development, and education nexus, and the opportunities and challenges it presents; orientation to working critically and analytically at the intersections of the sciences, humanities and social sciences; familiarity with education debates in relevant African contexts; ability to work in equitable collaborations involving multiple stakeholders holding diverse knowledges and experiences; and ability to work productively in multilingual contexts.

Supervisor:

Kelly Ortega-Cisneros

UCT Department:

Biological Sciences

Background:

The southern Benguela is experiencing warming, deoxygenation, and more frequent extreme events, increasing risks to marine ecosystems, fisheries, and the coastal communities that depend on them. Fisheries in the region are vital for food security and livelihoods, yet the people most affected by climate change are rarely involved in decision-making. Ecosystem models are useful tools for simulating how marine ecosystems and fisheries will respond to different climate and adaptation scenarios, but the uptake of model outputs depends on whether the tested scenarios reflect the concerns of those most affected by climate change. Participatory modelling addresses this gap by bringing stakeholders into the modelling process so that scenarios and outputs are needs-driven from the start.

Broad Research Question:

What adaptation pathways emerge when southern Benguela fisheries stakeholders co-develop climate scenarios, and how do these perform for marine ecosystems, fisheries and coastal livelihoods under downscaled climate projections?

Working with small-scale fishers, industry and fisheries managers, the candidate will use participatory methods to identify key climate hazards and the information each group needs to support decision-making, and to elicit perceptions of changing ocean conditions and visions of positive futures for their fisheries. Adaptation scenarios will be co-developed with stakeholders and translated into quantitative model driver pathways, then simulated using downscaled climate projections and the southern Benguela Atlantis model. Results will be fed back to refine the pathways iteratively, with communication products co-designed in formats chosen by end users.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Environmental and Geographical Sciences, or cognate discipline, with a focus on social-ecological systems and participatory approaches to marine conservation and management. Preferred undergraduate and postgraduate background in Environmental Sciences, Geographical Sciences, Marine Science, Fisheries Science, or a related discipline.

Essential skills: Competency in quantitative data analysis using R or Python, as the project involves interpreting marine ecosystem model outputs and climate projections. Strong written and oral communication skills.

Desirable skills: Background in climate change or scenario planning. Experience with qualitative research methods, stakeholder engagement, or participatory approaches. Ability to communicate scientific findings to non-academic audiences.

Supervisor:

Louise Gammage

UCT Department:

Biological Sciences

Background:

South African fisheries face warming, deoxygenation and more frequent extremes, yet the adaptation evidence base is bimodal: rich but not easily repeatable case studies at one end, thin national indicators at the other. This is usually treated as an aggregation problem when it is a conceptual one. Fisheries are hard to evaluate because their geographies do not coincide. Hazards act at basin scale, resources cross management boundaries, rights attach to species and quota rather than places, harvesting is community-based, and value chains globalise consequences. The units that adapt, govern and experience the hazard are not the same, and do not nest. Evaluation has no self-evident unit of analysis, and the choice is made by default rather than argued. The costs are not academic: adaptation is misattributed, maladaptation at other levels stays invisible, and support flows to those whose adaptation is easiest to measure rather than those who need it most.

Broad Research Question:

How is scale constituted in the evaluation of climate adaptation in South African fisheries, what is lost when claims move between levels, and what architecture reconciles local evidence with national decision needs?

1. Develop a scale-explicit analytical framework and use it to interrogate how fisheries adaptation has been evaluated in South Africa, establishing what units and levels existing approaches assume and whether their claims are warranted.
2. Establish how southern Benguela fishers, industry and managers each constitute the adapting unit and define successful adaptation, and where those constructions diverge.
3. Through a nested case study, with a deep community case inside a coarser multi-fishery application, assess what is lost or misattributed as evaluation moves from site to system.
4. Derive and test a modular evaluation architecture - a common core, local modules, and rules on which claims hold at which level - with those who would use it.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Discipline in Environmental and Geographical Sciences, or cognate fields with a focus or specialisation in marine-related topics and/or fisheries management at the postgraduate level. Additional background related to climate change and adaptation is highly advantageous. 

Supervisor:

Olivier Crespo

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

Quantifying and monitoring resilience in smallholder farming systems is essential for improving food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Frameworks such as the FAO’s SHARP+ assess resilience across ecological, economic and social dimensions but depend on costly household surveys, limiting large-scale and repeated application. Recent research using geo-referenced farm data from Malawi demonstrated that machine learning models combined with Earth observation (EO) data can predict SHARP+ indicators, including land degradation status and cropping system types. Predictive performance relied on integrating multiple EO sources capturing water dynamics, thermal stress and landscape structure. However, these approaches covered only a small subset of SHARP+ modules and remained correlation-based, making them vulnerable to environmental and socio-economic confounding factors. They also lacked uncertainty quantification and have not been tested across diverse agro-ecological regions.

Broad Research Question:

Core Research Questions: This research examines which SHARP+ resilience dimensions beyond land degradation and cropping systems can be derived from multi-source Earth observation (EO) data across sub-Saharan Africa. It assesses the accuracy, transferability and uncertainty of EO-based resilience proxies in automated workflows using spatial and temporal validation. It also investigates whether causal machine learning can estimate the independent effects of adaptation practices, such as agroforestry, on farm-level resilience.

Research Objectives: The study will develop an EO indicator library aligned with SHARP+ resilience dimensions using ground-truth data. It will evaluate model transferability across countries and implement uncertainty frameworks providing confidence bounds for predictions. It will also expand the existing FastAPI/React platform into a causally informed decision-support system supporting the ResiliSense initiative.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

A strongly quantitative first degree, and a Master's that has already put the candidate in front of either geospatial data science or applied machine learning. Candidates from agricultural or environmental backgrounds are welcome wherever the quantitative content is demonstrable. Python is the working language of the project. We need real fluency in the scientific and geospatial stack (NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn, rasterio, xarray, geopandas, GDAL), and someone who writes modular, tested code and not just notebooks.

Supervisor:

Petra Holden

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

Climate change and development are placing increasing pressures on hydrological systems across South Africa. Existing research has focused largely on quantifying changes in individual hydrological variables such as evapotranspiration, runoff or soil moisture, with comparatively little attention given to whether the dominant controls governing water partitioning are themselves changing. It remains unclear whether the controls on water partitioning across South African ecosystems are shifting from a stronger dependence on rainfall towards increasing influence from atmospheric demand and energy availability, how development, including urbanisation, agriculture, land-use change and ecological degradation, modifies these shifts, and whether Nature-based Solutions can influence the resulting hydrological pathways. Addressing this gap requires an integrated approach that considers interactions among climate, ecosystem processes, hydrology and development.

Broad Research Question:

Is climate change reorganising the dominant controls of water partitioning in South African landscapes, and how does development modify these changes?

Aim: To determine how climate change and development are reorganising water partitioning across South African landscapes and develop a framework for hydrological reorganisation.

Objectives:

1. Quantify long-term shifts in water partitioning using SAEON observations.
2. Determine the influence of rainfall, atmospheric demand, vegetation dynamics and land-use change on water partitioning through modelling.
3. Determine whether observed shifts in water partitioning are driven by direct climatic effects, ecosystem change or their interaction
4. Assess how development alters climate–water–ecosystem interactions.
5. Evaluate whether Nature-based Solutions modify water partitioning under future climate scenarios.
6. Develop a transferable framework on hydrological reorganisation under interacting climate and development pressures."

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Hydrology or Ecohydrology. An Msc in Environmental and Geographical Science, Hydrology or closely related disciplines is ideal. Experience in running, calibrating and validating processed-based hydrological models, and analysing model outputs. Experience in Python OR R. Experience with Statistical analysis. Experience working with spatial datasets and GIS. Experience collaborating with non-University partners.

Supervisor:

Phikolomzi Matikinca

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

South Africa's estuaries are vital ecological infrastructure supporting biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and coastal livelihoods. However, climate change, through altered rainfall, sea-level rise, rising temperatures, altered carbonate chemistry, and frequent extreme events, severely exacerbate threats like pollution, sedimentation and habitat degradation across estuarine catchments. As Africa's largest estuarine system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a Ramsar wetland, the St Lucia Estuary serves as a critical testbed. Decades of catchment modification and climate impacts have severely degraded its ecological integrity. Addressing these needs-driven climate adaptation challenges requires moving beyond fragmented management toward integrated Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). Connecting upstream catchment health with downstream estuarine resilience is essential for safeguarding coastal livelihoods, protecting aquatic biodiversity, and building long-term climate resilience.

Broad Research Question:

How can catchment-scale NbS be spatially targeted and combined to reduce climate-driven hydrological and water-quality risks to estuaries while strengthening ecosystem services and climate-resilient livelihoods?

• Aim 1: Assess baseline climate vulnerabilities, land-use impacts, water quality and socio-economic dependencies within the St Lucia estuary.
• Aim 2: Identify priority locations and evaluate NbS effectiveness (i.e. wetland restoration, riparian buffers and catchment rehabilitation) in reducing flood, sediment, and water quality risks under future climate scenarios.
• Aim 3: Build an integrated catchment-to-coast decision-support tool combining hydrological, ecological, climate, and socio-economic models for stakeholder decision-making.
• Aim 4: Pilot and validate the framework in the St Lucia through stakeholder engagement, field demonstrations and scenario modelling, and produce implementation guidelines for scaling the approach to other high-risk estuaries.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Hydrology, Water Resources and Environmental Science, with a focus on climate resilience and Nature-Based Solutions.
Preferred undergraduate/Master’s disciplines in Hydrology, Water Resources, Environmental Science, Geography/GIS, Earth Sciences, Environmental/Civil Engineering, Climate Science, Ecology, or Coastal/Estuarine Science.

Preferred skills:

• Proficiency in (i) GIS and remote sensing (ArcGIS/QGIS/GEE); (ii) R and/or Python; (iii) hydrological/environmental modelling; (iv) environmental data analysis; and (v) field-based research.

Relevant background/experience:

• Experience in hydrology, catchment processes, climate-change analysis, GIS/remote sensing, water or environmental monitoring, and/or Nature-Based Solutions.
• Experience with estuarine/coastal systems and stakeholder engagement would be advantageous but is not essential."

Supervisor:

Philile Mbatha

UCT Department:

Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS)

Background:

Coastal ecosystems in South Africa host critical bioeconomies at the nature-climate-human nexus, yet community-led initiatives remain excluded from mainstream blue carbon and ecosystem valuation processes and practices. While climate change accelerates habitat loss, sea-level rise, and coastal vulnerability, existing blue growth approaches prioritize industrial extraction over ecological integrity and social justice. This creates severe socio-environmental tensions, undercutting local livelihoods and cultural heritage. In South Africa, a gap persists between policy rhetoric and place-based climate adaptation. Community-led bioeconomies offer high-impact solutions for climate resilience, but face systemic barriers, including lack of finance, restrictive regulations, and market isolation. Addressing these needs-driven challenges requires co-designed frameworks that link local adaptation to formal value chains within planetary limits.

Broad Research Question:

The study aims to use coastal case studies with existing coastal/blue bioeconomy activities to enhance understanding of how the ways in which Indigenous and local people value coastal ecosystems using their knowledge could inform mainstream approaches used in decision-making processes to value coastal ecosystems. The objectives are:

• To conduct an interdisciplinary study to map coastal ecosystems that are important for reducing climate vulnerabilities, using scientific and local knowledge
• To explore existing climate-adaptive coastal bioeconomy interventions led by Indigenous and local communities.
• To investigate the extent to which climate policies in South Africa integrate climate-resilient bioeconomies into formal decision-making.
• To determine linkages between mainstream approaches for valuing coastal ecosystems and Indigenous and local ways of valuing coastal ecosystems
• To make policy recommendations 

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Interdisciplinary background (environmental science/studies, marine science, marine social science, and an economics background would be an advantage but not necessary). Students with experience in qualitative and quantitative research skills, which include (but are not limited to) GIS and participatory research methods, would be ideal.

Supervisor:

Ralph Hamann

UCT Department:

Graduate School of Business

Background:

Many climate adaptation efforts and especially those instigated and implemented by business are typically bounded by a single firm, project, or place (Hamann et al., 2020; Linnenluecke et al., 2013). Transformative climate adaptation (Fedele et al, 2019; Kates et al., 2012) cannot be achieved through such projects alone, given their inherent social, spatial, and temporal limitations (Mikulewicz et al., 2025). Scaling adaptation will require the coordination of action across a broader array of actors, geographies, and thematic domains. It may involve three (potentially intersecting) mechanisms: supply-chain-level organising (Gualandris et al., 2023, 2026); cross-sector partnerships (Dentoni et al., 2026); and intermediaries working independently or collaboratively to facilitate resource and knowledge exchange and motivate action (Hamann & April, 2013; Hamann et al., forthcoming; Welch et al., 2025; Sibanda et al., forthcoming).

Broad Research Question:

This project examines how the three mechanisms mentioned above manifest and interact specifically in the agri-food and retail sectors, though we expect this may involve organisations also in other sectors, especially finance. Our research question: How do supply-chain organising, cross-sector partnerships, and intermediaries interact to scale climate adaptation beyond a single organisation, operation, or place? Using a comparative multi-case design focusing on a limited set of collective action initiatives (5-7) in the agri-food and retail sectors, the project aims to understand which actors, relationships, and change processes facilitate scaled climate adaptation.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

The ideal candidate would have a background that combines training and/or experience in business management and environmental science or geography. Some training in political science or sociology would be an advantage. An interest and proclivity in conducting qualitative data collection and analysis would be helpful. Candidates should have an interest in bridging scholarly research with practical implementation and implications.

Supervisor:

Vernon Visser

UCT Department:

Statistical Sciences

Background:

Biodiversity spatial plans are widely used in South Africa to steer development away from areas important for biodiversity and ecological functioning, but there is limited evidence that they alter land-use outcomes. In the Western Cape, provincial and local plans identify Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) and Ecological Support Areas (ESAs). CBAs have a clear objective of avoiding further habitat loss, whereas ESAs aim to maintain ecological processes and landscape functioning, allowing more conditional trade-offs with development. This PhD will use remote sensing and matched counterfactuals to test whether habitat loss differs among CBAs, ESAs and comparable non-priority areas after accounting for underlying development pressure.

Broad Research Question:

The broad objective of this project will be to determine how effective biodiversity spatial plans are at limiting habitat loss and maintaining ecological functions needed for climate adaptation. The project will: (1) reconstruct habitat loss and development before and after implementation of provincial and local biodiversity spatial plans; (2) compare outcomes in Critical Biodiversity Areas, Ecological Support Areas and matched counterfactual sites; (3) test how effectiveness varies with zoning, ownership, accessibility and proximity to development; and (4) assess whether loss and fragmentation of ESAs are eroding ecological connectivity and other functions that support climate adaptation and resilience.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area is Ecology and Environmental Science, with a focus on conservation science, spatial ecology and biodiversity planning. Relevant undergraduate disciplines include Ecology, Conservation Biology, Environmental Science, Geography, Geomatics/Geoinformatics, GIS, Remote Sensing, or a related discipline with substantial ecological and quantitative coursework. Statistics or Data Science would also be appropriate where the applicant has demonstrated environmental or ecological experience. Applicants should ideally have competence in R, or strong programming experience in another language and a willingness to work primarily in R. Experience with GIS, spatial-data analysis, remote sensing or land-cover-change analysis, together with a sound foundation in statistics, would be particularly valuable. Experience with Python, Google Earth Engine, Git, reproducible analytical workflows, spatial statistics or matched/counterfactual study designs would be advantageous, but not essential. Strong scientific writing skills and an ability to work independently with large spatial datasets will be important. Familiarity with South African or wider African biodiversity and land-use contexts would be advantageous but is not required.

Supervisor:

Wikus Kruger

UCT Department:

Graduate School of Business

Background:

Chinese policy-bank and sovereign lending to African power projects has declined sharply, but Chinese firms remain active through commercial lending, equity, EPC-linked finance, African financial intermediaries, third-country vehicles, co-investment with Gulf and other capital, and mining or industrial offtake. Existing research documents the lending decline and earlier state-backed model, but provides limited project-level evidence on how these newer structures work, why they are chosen, or how they alter risk, ownership and control. This PhD will trace the post-policy-bank architecture of Chinese power finance and assess its implications for transparency, climate alignment, development outcomes and African bargaining power.

Broad Research Question:

How and why is Chinese involvement in African power investment being reorganised after the contraction of policy-bank lending, and what do the emerging structures mean for climate and development outcomes? The project will: map new financing, ownership and contractual models; explain the roles of Chinese commercial actors, African intermediaries, third-country vehicles, Gulf co-investors and mining or industrial offtakers; compare how these models allocate project, currency, offtake and political risk; and assess their effects on technology choice, transparency, public accountability, local development and host-government negotiating power.

Disciplinary Background/Required Skills:

Preferred disciplinary area in Energy policy / political economy/development studies. Relevant undergraduate and Masters background in Economics, political science, public policy, development studies, international relations, energy studies, environmental studies, finance, or related social science disciplines.

Preferred skills/background:

• Strong qualitative research and analytical skills
• Experience with policy, political-economy or institutional analysis
• Ability to work with financial and investment data would be an advantage
• Familiarity with African power sectors, infrastructure finance, Chinese overseas investment, or climate/energy policy would be particularly useful
• Mandarin proficiency would be a strong advantage, particularly for engagement with Chinese institutions and Chinese-language sources
• Quantitative/data-analysis skills would be advantageous but are not essential

The project will examine the changing architecture of Chinese power finance in Africa, including the shift away from large sovereign-backed policy-bank lending towards new financing models, actors and instruments, and the implications of this shift for African power-sector investment and decarbonisation."