Africa
Our team of academic experts seeks to identify key opportunities and use these to harness the potential of our society, both at a local and international level. Learn more about our team below.
Dr David Mickler
Dr David Mickler is founder and coordinator of the UWA Africa Research Centre (AfREC) and founding co-chair of the Worldwide Universities Network Global Africa Group (WUN GAG). He specialises in African politics, particularly Australia-Africa relations and the role of the African Union in regional security and governance. A former visiting scholar at Addis Ababa University’s Institute for Peace and Security Studies, and a visiting researcher at the African Union Commission in Ethiopia and South Africa, his focus is on the AU’s African Governance Architecture, and Africa’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr Andy Schmulow
Dr Andy Schmulow is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and is admitted in Victoria as an Australian Legal Practitioner. He lectures in law at The University of Western Australia in Perth, and in 2014 founded Clarity Prudential Regulatory Consulting, Pty Ltd.
Andy has advised the South African Treasury on its adoption of the Twin Peaks financial regulatory model, and currently serves on an independent expert panel convened by the South African Treasury to provide advice on the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill. Andy also holds visiting appointments at universities in South Africa and South Korea.
Professor Kadambot Siddique
Professor Kadambot Siddique is the Hackett Professor of Agriculture Chair and Director of The UWA Institute of Agriculture. He has more than 30 years' experience in agricultural research, research training and management in Australia and overseas. He has a national and international reputation in various aspects of agricultural science, including crop physiology, production agronomy, farming systems, genetic resources and breeding, with a focus on wheat, grain legumes (especially chickpea) and oilseed crops. Kadambot’s most outstanding achievement has been the promotion and development of agricultural research and education among agricultural stakeholders within Australia and overseas.
Professor Petra Tschakert
Professor Petra Tschakert is the Centenary Professor in Rural Development in the Department of Geography. Her research focuses on human-environment interactions, multidimensional vulnerability, drivers of inequality, and environmental justice. Her main areas of expertise are climate change adaptation, small-scale gold mining, and gender dynamics. Professor Tschakert has worked with disadvantaged, rural communities in Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa to address and overcome livelihood struggles through participatory methods and collective learning. She coordinates the Master of International Development.
Professor Tschakert has extensive experience as coordinating lead author (CLA) on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She co-led Chapter 5 (Sustainable Development, Poverty Eradication and Reducing Inequalities) and contributed to the Summary for Policy Makers on the 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. Prior to that, she played a key role in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, co-leading the chapter on Livelihoods and Poverty.
Associate Professor Richard Vokes
Associate Professor Richard Vokes is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Development at The University of Western Australia, and an elected Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from Oxford. His research focuses on the African Great Lakes region (especially Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo), where he has been working since 1997. He has published extensively, including on: governance, natural resource management and labour regimes, infrastructure, media and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He is Editor of the Journal of Eastern African Studies, and President of the Australian Anthropological Society.
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Shamit Saggar, Director