We are excited about the expertise they bring which will expand our understanding of complex systems and look forward to the contributions they will make to the work the SRU does.
Dr Karin Badenhorst has a PhD in Risk Management from University of Johannesburg and a MBA from the Graduate School of Business at University of Cape Town. She is the founder and chief operating officer of The Footsteps Foundation an organisation started to create an environment for job creation, reduction of poverty, and growth and development of communities. Karin is also the co-founder of The Mother Fox Worldwide concept with a primary goal of promoting principle-based enterprise governance in corporations.
Her research interests are alternative governance mechanisms to enable sustainable transformation in the socio-economic-ecological nexus, agri-cultural and agri-processing value chains, with the aim of specifically benefiting socio-economically and ecologically vulnerable communities, exploring new economic pathways and opportunities created by the rapidly growing green economy. Karin is passionate about making the world a better place through shifting “power, property and poverty, to people, planet and progress”.
Dr Jaco Barendse holds a PhD in Marine Biology/Zoology from the University of Pretoria. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Sustainability Research Unit and a part time lecturer for the School of Natural Resource Management at Nelson Mandela University. He is currently the accessibility manager at the Marine Stewardship Council in London, United Kingdom and will extend the SRU’s international reach and collaborations.
Jaco has over twenty years’ experience in coastal, marine and island ecosystems.
His research interest are sustainable social-ecological systems, natural resource management, especially fisheries, marine policy development and biodiversity conservation. Jaco’s specific topics of interest include the use of historic ecological data, shifting baselines, stewardship, invasive species management, risks and opportunities in seafood value chains, as well as mechanisms that enable effective knowledge transfer.
The Sustainability Research Unit would like to wish Dr Badenhorst and Dr Barendse a warm welcome to the SRU team and we look forward to working with them in the years to come.