Jennifer Fitchett

I am currently an Associate Professor of Physical Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand. My research is situated in the discipline of biometeorology – exploring the impacts of climate change on plants, animals and human communities. I lecture at first year and Honours level on topics of climate and environmental change. I have been passionate about climate change since grade 10 geography! I went on to do an undergraduate in Environmental and Geographical Science and Ocean and Atmospheric Science at the University of Cape Town, and then returned to my home town of Joburg to do my Honours and then Masters in Geography at Wits University. I enrolled for a split-site PhD through Wits and UCL in London, and spent 3.5 months living in London to work in the UCL diatom lab. 

In 2020 I was elected to SAYAS, and very quickly signed up to be co-editor of the blog. I have a passion for science communication, and have worked extensively with The Conversation Africa over recent years. For my honours course, the students have a continuous assessment assignment where they produce weekly blog posts relating to the course content, and some students took the inspiration from this to maintain their own blogs, or to go into fields such as print media. It is very exciting to work with a cohort of young scientists who want to have their voice heard! 

I am a passionate researcher, lecturer and supervisor, which takes up (almost) all my time! When I’m not working, you’ll find me watching netflix, painting, walking or reading a good book!