Fellows

Dr. Lilian Namuma S. Kong’ani is a Lecturer in the Department of Earth & Climate Science at the University of Nairobi. She is an environmental governance scholar whose research and work explores the intersections of governance, inequality, social and environmental justice, and sustainable development. Her work focuses on inclusive governance, participatory decision-making, and amplifying the voices of marginalized populations, including women in development and peacebuilding processes. Dr. Kong’ani holds a PhD in Environmental Governance and Management and an MSc in Environmental Governance from the University of Nairobi. She co-led governance research and stakeholder engagement for the project “Cascading Climate and …

Nomphumelelo Queen Babeli is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University. Her doctoral research focuses on the agency, trajectories, and everyday experiences of retired women ambassadors to explore how women have shaped post-apartheid South African foreign policy. Additionally, she is a lecturer in the Extended Studies Unit, which is part of the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching, and Learning (CHERTL). Nomphumelelo holds a Master of Social Science degree with distinction in Political and International Studies. She co-authored an article titled “The Politics of Knowledge in South African Universities: Students’ Perspectives.” In 2022,

Mussie Sewnet Melesse is a PhD candidate in Development Studies at the Institute for Social Development, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. His doctoral research focuses on food security, livelihood strategies, and the quality of life of refugees in Western Ethiopia. He holds an MSc in Food Security and Development Studies from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. With over two decades of professional experience, Mussie has held senior roles in monitoring, evaluation, and planning across prominent organizations in Ethiopia, including the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, and has additionally accumulated

Roselyne Karegi Mutura is a PhD student in the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi, where she also serves as an auxiliary lecturer. She holds a Bachelor of Education (Arts) degree and a Master of Arts in Literature from Kenyatta University. Her academic and professional journey reflects a strong commitment to literary studies, with a particular focus on postcolonial literature, trauma studies and cultural memory. Her ongoing doctoral research explores the intersections of trauma, healing, and narrative representation in postcolonial literature. Through both her teaching and research, Ms. Mutura contributes to critical conversations on trauma, memory, resistance, reconstruction

Brenda Birungi is a doctoral candidate at Makerere University, department of Sociology and Anthropology where she is enrolled for PhD in Social Anthropology. Brenda holds a Masters in Sociology from Makerere university, and a Bachelors of Arts in Social Sciences from Makerere University. She has a keen interest in refugees, humanitarian assistance and crossborder mobilities. Her previous studies include; informal cross-border transportation, impacts of COVID-19 and humanitarian aid among the urban refugees in Kampala, more specifically the South Sudanese and witchcraft (in)securities among urban refugees. Currently, Brenda is researching settlement-based South Sudanese refugees, through her doctoral study “Receiving Cash Amidst

Athanas Mutisya Peter is a Doctoral student at the Department of Literature, University of Nairobi. He holds a Masters of Arts (Literature) and a Bachelor of Education Arts (Linguistics and Literature), both from the University of Nairobi. He works as a Graduate assistant at the University of Nairobi and he is also an assistant lecturer at the South Eastern Kenya University and Umma University. He is currently finalizing his dissertation. His research interests include cultural studies, women and gender studies, war literature, memory and trauma studies.

Mary Toluwani Adebayo is a Doctoral Candidate in Economics at the University of Zululand, where her research sits at the intersection of climate change, financial stability and macroeconomic policies in African economies. She holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Economics from Caleb University, where her earlier work examined service-sector growth and the relationship between foreign direct investment and economic expansion in West Africa. Her doctoral research asks how macroeconomic policy can insulate the financial sector from the risks posed by climate change, with a focus on the design and effectiveness of green-adjusted macroprudential tools that reconcile environmental sustainability with

Ibukunoluwa Kikelomo Akinola is a Ph.D Candidate at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos. Her research examines how climate change is reshaping the availability and diversity of medicinal plants in Nigeria’s forest reserves and what this means for African Traditional Medicine and community health resilience. Working across Nigeria’s rainforest and derived savannah ecological zones, she employs a mixed-methods approach to investigate the effects of climate change on traditional healing systems that remain a primary source of healthcare for many rural and low-income communities. Akinola holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of

Sasha Claude Rai is enrolled in a PhD program in the History Department at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research examines the relationship between morality, sexuality and state control in southern Africa. Her research interests also span the intersections of feminism, race, religion, and sexuality, and she has worked on questions relating to eugenics, bioethics, artificial intelligence, and the histories of law, medicine, sexuality, and decoloniality. She has previously published on Islamic feminism and the Pakistani diaspora. She has been a recipient of the Open Society University Network Short Term Mobility Fellowship, under which she taught

Dr. Franklin Pyokpung Zaure is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, where he has taught for the past eight years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Performing Arts, a Master’s degree in Arts (Graphics and Multimedia), and a PhD in Theatre and Performing Arts from the same institution. His research and teaching center on creative arts and development, exploring how artistic innovation can drive social transformation and empower communities. He is the Team Lead for the Artists Against Desolation (AAD) program, which employs diverse alternative media tools to