Vogel recently returned to the University of the Witwatersand, Johannesburg as a distinguished professor after spending time at the University of Pretoria. She was also a visiting professor with the University of Stellenbosch working on climate change adaptation and transdisciplinarity. Vogel is a climatologist by training, but has increasingly worked in the social dimensions of climate change, focusing particularly on climate change adaptation. She has chaired and been the vice chair of international global environmental change scientific committees. She currently serves on various international boards and is the co-vice chair of the African science committee of Future Earth. She has been chapter lead author and co-author of chapters in the 4th and 5th assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She has also received the Burtoni Award for international excellence in adaptation research, as well as the University of the Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor’s teacher’s award for excellence in teaching.
About the talk: Adaptation to climate change and climate variability is a growing research agenda both locally and internationally. Some of the significant efforts to understand the science of adaptation are profiled (locally – e.g. the Long-Term Adaptation Scenarios and internationally – e.g. the IPCC efforts). Attention is, however, also increasingly turning to issues of adaptation, both in terms of incremental and more transformational adaptation. Examples of possible transformative adaptation are provided, including the role of world views, beliefs and behaviour change.