Rachel Wynberg

I am a Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa where I hold a government-funded Research Chair focused on Environmental and Social Dimensions of the Bio-economy. With a background in both the natural and social sciences, my interdisciplinary research spans topics relating to agroecology and food sovereignty; seeds, farmers’ rights and agrobiodiversity; the governance of wild species; access and benefit sharing; and emerging technologies and equity in science. My work has impact both in the scholarly discourse and in national and international policy arenas and is strongly inter-and-transdisciplinary, working in close collaboration with academic, government, civil society, local communities, farmers and other groups, to expand knowledge and improve our understanding of the opportunities and challenges of the bio-economy.

I am strongly committed to engaged scholarship, and aim to produce socially robust and scientifically rigorous research that matters, that addresses social and environmental justice, and that values the architectures of different knowledge systems.