January 2013
Contents / home
Beijing Science Festival
London, here we come ...
National Science Week gets Italian
Making technology accessible
How to build toys from trash
Speak up young scientists
Natural Science Olympiad winners
Laerskool Lynnwood wins AstroQuiz
Science Communication strategy
Summer School in Nanomedicine
Lights, camera, action!
Forum on stem cell research
What do we know about the universe?
SAASTA marks World Aids Day
Meet Dr Jane Olwoch
Taking science to the people
Young scientists in the bush
Vital role of our oceans
Innovative exhibit draws learners
Earliest known dinosaur discovered
Upcoming events
It's a fact!

Meet Dr Jane Olwoch

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

 
  As Managing Director (Earth Observation) at SANSA, Jane Olwoch intends to ensure that satellite Earth observation benefits society in a variety of ways.
 
  "I am fascinated by how Earth observation - either in situ or via satellites - provides many answers to how the environment has changed, but more so how it will change in future and what we can do about it." - Jane Olwoch
 
  Jane is investigating the impacts of environmental change - including climate change - on malaria transmission in Limpopo province. The ultimate objective of this project is to provide an early-warning system based on climate, entomological, vegetation and other relevant Earth observation data to improve our communities' preparedness for malaria and other diseases.
Jane Mukarugwiza Olwoch has always been fascinated by nature, particularly how all things in nature are interconnected. This fascination evolved into a career in the environmental sciences - as a climate change impacts specialist with a background in biology and vector ecology.

Jane was recently appointed Managing Director (Earth Observation) at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). GetSETgo spoke to this Ugandan-born scientist about her passion for the environment, her future plans and the things in life that excite her.

Tell us about your work in climate change ...
I have been involved in climate change research for the last 10 years. Some of this work has been published in peer review journals and presented at numerous local and international conferences. I am one of the few South African climate change scientists serving on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a lead author for Chapter 11, entitled Climate change and human health.

Nature has always fascinated me, particularly how all things are interconnected - how rain influences vegetation, how vegetation influences diseases, how diseases have impacts on people and animals, and how these changes are not isolated but connected. I am fascinated by how Earth observation - either in situ or via satellites - provides many answers to how the environment has changed, but more so how it will change in future and what we can do about it.

What does your position at SANSA entail?
I joined SANSA on 1 June 2012. As Managing Director of SANSA's Earth Observation Directorate, I am responsible for providing leadership and strategic goals for the directorate and for ensuring that these are aligned with SANSA's overall goals.

I lead a team of remote sensing specialists, technologists and engineers and together we make sure that our Directorate delivers programmes that not only benefit society, but are also globally competitive and locally relevant. I am also responsible for engaging with, and contributing to national and international stakeholders and key Earth observation fora, such as the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites CEOS.

With this territory comes a responsibility to ensure that satellite Earth observation benefits society in a variety of ways. Although it is true that satellite data is still far removed from everyday use, it holds the potential to provide answers to many of the current pressing issues in environment and society.

I was an academic before being appointed to this position. Through this role and my own research work, I gained extensive experience in the use - and appreciation - of the crucial role played by Earth observation data in understanding environmental changes over time and space. I am also aware how difficult it is for students to acquire good satellite imagery. This knowledge inspires me to carry out my job to the best of my ability.

What did you do before joining SANSA?
As an academic at the University of Pretoria, I was responsible for coordinating the BSc (Environmental Science) degree in the Department of Geography, GIS and Meteorology. I supervised or co-supervised more than 30 postgraduate students on various environment-related topics.

I also worked closely - and still do - with the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Pretoria where I lecture a Masters course in Environmental Change.

Where did you grow up?
I am a Rwandan born and raised in Uganda. My parents left Rwanda in 1959 as refugees. I completed my undergraduate studies there and came to South Africa in 1991.

What did you study after school? Where and why?
After school, I studied Botany and Zoology at Makerere University in Uganda before completing an Honours and Masters degree in Biology at the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa). While working at the University of Pretoria I completed a PhD on the impacts of climate change on ticks and tick-borne diseases in Sub-Sahara Africa.

What are your future plans?
Together with my team at SANSA and our partners in Government and elsewhere, I would like to make SANSA's Earth Observation Directorate fulfil its obligation to make programmes that are relevant and useful to our societies, first at home, then in Africa and finally in the rest of the world.

I believe in the spirit of "Ubuntu"... that we are who we are because of other people. I have plans to build and maintain long-lasting partnerships to contribute to the global body of knowledge. I would like to partner with higher institutions of learning to contribute to human capital development in Earth observation related subjects. Our young people in schools need to be excited about science. My team and I have plans to reach out to them and contribute to science advancement.

What do you do in your spare time?
I go to gym, walk, read books and watch television when there is something I really enjoy.

What is your favourite dish?
I love chapati and stew.

What excites you most about life?
To see people laugh.

Tell us more about your family
My husband is an ear, nose and throat surgeon. We are blessed with two daughters, both still at university studying BCom (Accounting) and BSc (Consumer Science - Clothing and Retail Management) respectively. We live in Pretoria.

What are your hobbies?
I read books, mostly motivational books.

Contact Dr Jane Olwoch on Tel 012 842-7838.