ACDI welcomes our Master's class of 2017

Makeya Karlie (South Africa) attended the University of the Western Cape and graduated with honours in Environmental and Water Science. Makeya’s honours thesis was in the field of fluvial geomorphology. Makeya’s internship at the ACDI sparked her interest in Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

Nivedita Joshi (India) describes herself as an economist bitten by the green bug. She received her BA in Economics with a focus on Environmental Economics, from Adelphi University, New York. Hailing from a developing country, the contrast between the developed and developing countries became evident and further peaked her interest in developmental economics. Her research interests are livelihood vulnerabilities due to climate change with respect behavioural, social, and governance aspects.

Kevin Coldrey (South Africa) has been working as an economist for an economic consultancy for the past 8 years, assisting corporates with their strategies. Kevin wants to use his economic and finance experience to help tackle the environmental issues that he feel passionately about.

Emmanuel Likoya (Malawi) has very diverse research interests in climate change and development and looks forward to pursuing further studies and contribute towards sustainable development.

Ashley Fox (USA) has a B.A. in International Development and Political Economy from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. For the past few years, she has been working in environmental consulting, providing environmental management support to USAID missions around the world.

Tiro Nkemelang (Botswana) holds a BSc (Hons) Meteorology from the University of Reading (UK). He works as an Associate Researcher in Climate Change with the Botswana Institute for Technology, Research and Innovation. Tiro chose ACDI’s masters course because he believes it will build the right foundation for his prospects in climate change research.

Veit Köllermann (Germany) holds a MSc. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Stuttgart and has spent the last 15 years working as an Environmental and Health and Safety Consultant in Germany. Veit wants to use the knowledge he will gain about climate change and sustainable development during the Master’s programme either in the corporate environmental consulting sector or in an international development organisation in South Africa.

Casey Lyttle (South Africa) has a BSc degree in oceanography and atmospheric science, as well as environmental and geographic science. In 2016 Casey completed her BSc(Hons) in oceanography. Casey’s previous academic focus was on climate change impact on sea ice variability and projections in the southern ocean.

Angela Chappel (South Africa) completed her BSc undergraduate and honours degrees in environmental science at Rhodes University. She is particularly interested in growing food and is hoping to direct her learning towards the best farming mechanisms for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Ngonidzashe Edward (Zimbabwe) is a community organiser with particular interest in the empowerment of young people and marginalised communities. Over the past three years he has been working with young people and faith communities in Zimbabwe and Mozambique on issues of HIV/AIDS, leadership, civic education and ecology. Ngonidzashe Edward’s academic background is in Theology, Philosophy and Humanities.

Julia Pelaez Avila (Germany) graduated from University of Muenster with a Master’s degree in English language and literature with minors in communication and ecology. She has been working in projects related to recycling and sustainable consumption, both in an environmental NGO and an international company. She is a passionate traveler and during her recent world trip, she developed a special interest in finding sustainable solutions for waste management in remote areas.

Bishar Mohamed (Kenya) born in northern Kenya. He grew up in apastoralist community, where the opportunity to study was rare. After completing primary school my family was unable to pay my schools fees. However, through good Samaritans I was able to continue my studies. After excelling in High school I was able to secure a full scholarship to study abroad at Earth University in Costa Rica, where I obtained my degree.

Heather Mahachi (Zimbabwe) says that all processes and innovations that integrate the biophysical, technological and socio-economic sciences in a quest to successfully engage with the challenges of climate change, development, resource use and sustainability spark her interests. Throughout her studies, articles that speak of efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change have intrigued her, particularly how those efforts perform against sustainability indicators.

Zain Kassam (Kenya) completed her LLB Degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011. Zain is keen on pairing her background in law with the knowledge she will gain about Climate Change and Sustainable Development during the Master’s programme to address the environmental issues being faced by the developing world today.