Team
PROF CATHERINA SCHENCK
Prof Catherina Schenck is the incumbent of the interdisciplinary DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society, hosted by the University of the Western Cape. She brings more than 50 years of experience in social sciences to the Chair. Previously, she was the HOD of the Department of Social Work. Prior to her appointment at UWC, she worked at Unisa for 25 years and at the University of Pretoria for six years. She supervised and co-supervised over 50 Master and PhD students and acted as examiner for PhD and Masters students. Her research interests include waste management, waste recycling, community development, poverty, unemployment and the informal sector of the waste economy. Catherina is a NRF-rated researcher. She has published over 80 articles in peer reviewed journals in South Africa and internationally. She has edited, co-authored and authored several books and book chapters.
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rinie-Schenck
DR MARC KALINA
Dr Marc Kalina, a Senior Lecturer within the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society since 2025. As a Sociologist and Human Geographer, his research sits at the intersection of waste management, informality, and social justice, with a focus on waste management service delivery, sociological formations of 'waste', and the livelihoods of informal waste pickers (reclaimers) across Southern Africa. His work explores how waste reveals social boundaries, infrastructures of inequality, and possibilities for transformation. Marc’s work combines policy-oriented research with participatory and community-based methodologies. Marc was previously affiliated with ETH Zurich’s Global Health Engineering group, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Durban University of Technology. He is the founding interim chair of the South African AHP Waste Forum. He is an NRF-rated researcher and has produced more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marc-Kalina
DR RISSA NIYOBUHUNGIRO
Is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society, where she has been based since 2019. She holds a Master’s and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. Her postgraduate research focused on energy poverty, air pollution, and sustainable development in the South African context. Her current research interests include renewable energy, environmental quality, and sustainability transitions, with a particular emphasis on equitable access to energy and the environmental impacts of energy poverty. She has published in local and international peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work at academic conferences. Prior to her postgraduate studies, she qualified as a Chemistry teacher through the University of Rwanda. Her research continues to engage with applied environmental challenges in developing country contexts.
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rissa-Niyobuhungiro
DR OLIVIA LOOTS
Is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society since 2024. She completed her PhD in Visual Studies in 2022 at the University of Pretoria, where her work examined the intersections of memory, materiality, and environmental awareness. Prior to joining the Chair, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University. Her research is situated within the environmental humanities, with a focus on questions of justice, inclusion, and the socio-political dimensions of waste. She is particularly interested in how materials, practices, and systems shape perceptions of environmental and social value. In addition to her academic work, she has extensive experience in graphic design and visual communication. She contributes to the development of data visualisations and other visual outputs that support research dissemination and public engagement.
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olivia-Loots
DR PRINCESS SIBANDA
Is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society since 2025. She holds a PhD in Drama and Performance Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. As a researcher and community engagement specialist, her work is situated at the intersection of participatory performance, gender, and environmental justice, with a focus on community-based interventions across Africa. She has over a decade of experience designing and implementing participatory methodologies in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Her work has been recognised through several awards, including the Community Engagement Excellence Award from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Scholar’s Scholar Award from the Canon Collins Trust. Within the Chair, she contributes as both a researcher and creative coordinator. Her current research focuses on schools-based zero waste initiatives, using participatory performance to engage learners on environmental practices and justice.
Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K3n7iWoAAAAJ&hl=en
DR ANTOINETTE VAN DER MERWE
Is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society since 2025. Her research focuses on waste, sanitation, and early childhood development in low-income communities. She completed her PhD at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Isabel Günther, focusing on interventions to improve the environmental and social sustainability of gold supply chains. Her work included urban mining initiatives in Switzerland and engagement with artisanal miners in Burkina Faso. She has held academic positions at the University of South Africa, ETH Zurich, and the University of Pretoria, with experience in both teaching and research in environmental and development economics. She holds a BA in Value and Policy Studies and a BCom Honours in Economics from Stellenbosch University, and an MCom in Economics from North-West University. Her research continues to engage with applied development challenges in resource constrained contexts.-
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antoinette-Van-Der-Merwe-4
PROF LINDA GODFREY
Heads the Waste Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap Implementation Unit on behalf of the Department of Science and Technology. She is also a principal scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa and an extraordinary professor at North-West University. Her research interests include the role of the waste sector in transitioning South Africa to a green economy; waste innovation; waste economics; the governance, social and behavioural aspects of integrated waste management; and the role of waste information as policy and behaviour-change instrument. A number of waste and green economy initiatives for the European Union, United Nations, departments of Science and Technology and Environmental Affairs; the Development Bank of South Africa; the Academy of Sciences of South Africa; the Institute of Waste Management and several universities have benefited from her strategic input. Godfrey has authored or co-authored more than 125 research and contract specialist reports, 25 international and local conference papers, 12 peer reviewed journal papers, and five book chapters. She has served as a reviewer for both local and international peer reviewed scientific publications. In addition, she has published several popular articles and policy briefs on waste management.-
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Linda
