Project team

Dr Lorren Haywood

Lorren is the project manager of the Business Transitions Research Programme. Lorren is a natural scientist by training but since joining the CSIR her research interests have expanded to address sustainability challenges from a social ecological systems perspective. Lorren has mainly been involved in sustainability projects within the field of environmental management and planning with a particular focus on sustainability assessment and indicators.  Currently her main research interest focuses on exploring the interconnectedness between sustainability and risks and what this means for in the business arena in the light of global change.

Dr Douglas Trotter

Douglas is the Competency Area Manager for Green Economy Solution and research group leader for the Sustainability Science and Resource Economics Team at the CSIR. He has experience in both the research and consulting sector and is a registered professional natural scientist in the field of environmental and ecological sciences (Reg No. 400265/06). He has a keen interest in business management and his research expertise span three core focus areas which include sustainability planning, environmental management and pollution ecology.

Dr Willem de Lange

Willem has completed a PhD in Environmental and Resource Economics at Stellenbosch University in 2006.  Being an agricultural economist by training (environmental economics and management; agricultural production economics; agricultural finance and budgeting; agricultural policy analysis; development- and micro economics), his key competencies and interests fall within the economics of natural resource management with specific applications to: decision support in natural resource management; valuation of natural and social capital stocks and flows (including ecosystem goods and services valuation); water allocation policy analysis and development; multi-criteria decision-making; behavioural economic applications to natural resource management decision-making; natural resource management policy-making and implementation dynamics; agri-business evaluation; multi-period stochastic budgeting; risk profiling and investment management decision-making.

Mr Anton Nahman

Anton has experience in the valuation of environmental and social externalities associated with pollution and waste; the assessment of market-based approaches to pollution and waste management; and the valuation of environmental resources, particularly recreational sites and biodiversity (using revealed and stated preference methods). Anton holds a BA (Honours) in Economics from Rhodes University, and an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Manchester (UK). His main research interests include economic valuation of environmental resources and impacts, the economics of environmental policy, understanding consumer behavior, and development of alternative indicators of well-being.

Ms Benita de Wet

Benita has an MPhil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management and built up a depth of experience as a practitioner in environmental assessment and management over more than 20 years, before beginning to apply her experiential knowledge in this field, in a research environment at CSIR. Her substantive exposure to project development in the public sector and in industry, has given her insight into the sustainability related risks faced by these entities.  In both sectors she has focused mainly on integrated development planning, strategic environmental assessment, sustainability assessment and environmental management. Benita has worked within most economic sectors, including transport, services supply, mining, agriculture, tourism and industry and has designed environmental management systems for some of these contexts. In recent years Benita’s research has been focused on making sustainability thinking integral to development planning and the various mechanisms required to make this happen, including the fostering of social co-learning to encourage uptake.

Ms Karen Nortje

Karen is a senior researcher and environmental anthropologist in the integrated water assessment group within the CSIR’s Water Resources competency area. She has a Masters degree in Social Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Karen is currently studying towards her PhD with the University of Johannesburg. Her key competencies are in research and understanding socio-cultural issues which include understanding community organisations, working with communities, and determining social and cultural impacts. Karen’s areas of interest lie in the role of public belief systems in perceiving the biophysical (including climate change), socio-economic and cultural-spiritual vulnerabilities in rural communities, socio ecology and conservation.