About twenty or so years ago when Dr Leocadia Zhou started her career as a teacher, she never imagined she would be where she is today: a PhD graduate and a recipient of the National Research Fund (NRF)’s C-3 rating. Her rating brings the number of newly-rated researchers at University of Fort Hare (UFH) to ten. She says being a teacher has helped lay a solid foundation for her current academic successes.
Early career
Dr. Zhou started teaching Cambridge O and A-level Geography as a full-time teacher at Mandava High School in Zimbabwe between 1990 and 1997. In 1997, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Geography at the University of Zimbabwe. She then moved to South Africa in 2001 where she joined the UFH in enrolling for an Honour’s degree in environmental science. She never wasted time and registered the following year to study for her Masters and doctorate degrees both in geography and environmental studies at the same institution.
Investment in research
At the moment, Dr Zhou is the director of the UFH Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) under the faculty of science and agriculture. The centre was initiated in 2011 by the department of science and innovation (DSI) and the NRF. It is one of five flagship entities under the Global Change Research Plan’s (GCRP) framework whose aim is to direct global change research investments in South Africa. Over the years till today, Dr Zhou has held the following positions:
- Intern at UFH’s Govan Mbeki Research & Development Centre (GMRDC) from 2004 to 2009
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) in the year 2010
- Manager of Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) from 2011 till 2014 and
- In 2015 she was appointed Director of RVSC.
Securing sustainable future
Dr Zhou’s research interests are focused in areas related to climate change management. She believes that global warming issues should be taken seriously and that a better future can only be secured and sustained through active implementation of mitigatory research interventions. She also believes that calamities and disasters can be averted through the adoption of smart green technologies.
Confronting the global warming challenges
Dr Zhou says she is passionate about making the earth a habitable planet that promotes human development. She says this is what informs her research as she believes the increasing incidents of extreme climate events and global warming pose significant challenges and danger to the world. She says these challenges need to be confronted and addressed by promoting the adoption and implementation of scientifically informed coping strategies. She believes that as a researcher, her calling is to identify gaps in her area of focus and provide relevant and impactful solutions.
Areas of research
Her interest and passion for research lie in the following areas:
- Challenges that undermine improved understanding of climate-change stressors and processes that impact on the livelihoods of resource-poor communities;
- Societal responses to the adverse effects of climate change with emphasis on the water, energy and food security nexus;
- Barriers and enablers of climate change adaptation and;
- The formulation of implementable interventions that can be used to increase the resilience of marginalised communities.
Proud of her work
Dr Zhou is highly respected among her fellow researchers having published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and four book chapters in internationally renowned journals. She is proud for having recruited, supervised and co-supervised graduate students up to the completion of their studies. Dr Zhou says she is also satisfied by the outputs, outcomes and impacts of her research contributions towards addressing global challenges.
Vice-chancellor’s award
Her hard work and commitment to community engagement earned her the vice-chancellor ‘Excellent Award on Community Engagement’ in 2016. She says her achievement is a culmination of hard work and team effort. “I now have a strong conviction that nothing beats teamwork. I take this award as a springboard to greater heights and that I will continue to contribute to the enhancement of the scientists’ capacity to cope with the adverse effects of climate change,” said Dr Zhou during her acceptance speech of the award.
