Nnamhla Gwedla

Institution: Rhodes University

Unit and faculty: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science

Research field:

Supervisor: Prof Charlie Shackleton, Rhodes University

 

PROFILE

Nanamhla Gwedla, fondly known as Nhana, is from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. She completed her BSc in Environmental Sciences and Geography at Rhodes University. Her honours degree, also from Rhodes, focused on the visions of municipal parks managers for their towns over the next 20-30 years. Her Master’s in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening (2016) looked at street tree composition, distribution and urban residents’ perceptions within and between Eastern Cape towns. During her master’s, her interest in urban ecology as a discipline grew. Her PhD, titled Barriers to, and Enablers of Tree Planting in South African Low-cost Housing Suburbs: Lessons from Participatory Learning Approaches, is aimed at developing solutions that can be applied during the establishments of green infrastructure, particularly urban trees, in newly developed low-cost housing suburbs. Nhana has recently taken up running as a hobby, and when she not on the road she is reading and exploring new weekend markets in town.