Thandiwe Nhlabathi

Thandiwe holds a BSc Honours in Geology and is currently completing her MSc in Geology at the University of Pretoria. Her current research focuses on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which is one of the CO2 mitigation strategies proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Thandiwe was raised in Emahleni which is a popular coal mining town in Mpumalanga. Although undertaking studies in Geology was inspired by the mining activities in her community as she recognised that mining contributed significantly to the development of her community and aspired to be a coal mining geologist. Over the years she also developed a passion for environmental sustainability as she witnessed the adverse effects of mining in the natural environment in her community i.e., unclean air due to CO2 emissions. This has led her pursue a master’s research in climate change related subject. Currently, Thandiwe aspires to be a frontier in climate change research and education as well as an expert in sustainability reporting through the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sphere. Therefore, she seeks to obtain an international scholarship to pursue a second MSc in Environmental Sustainability in one of the top UK universities like Oxford. Since the world including South Africa seeks to transition to low carbon economies and maintain the net zero CO2 emissions, the objective for the second MSc is to gain skills that will enable her to contribute towards the creation of sustainable environmental policies and practices.