Linda Godfrey
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Linda Keren Godfrey | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of KwaZulu-Natal University of the Free State Rhodes University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Council for Scientific and Industrial Research |
| Thesis | The role of waste data in changing behaviour : the case of the South African waste information (2011) |
Linda Keren Godfrey is a Principal Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa. She is a specialist in waste management and the circular economy in a developing country, or global south, context. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a member of the International Resource Panel in 2025.
Godfrey majored in chemistry and geology, earning her Bachelor of Science (BSc) and BSc Honours degrees with distinction from Rhodes University. She obtained a Master's degree in hydrogeology with distinction from the University of the Free State. Godfrey earned her Doctorate in civil engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she researched the role of waste data and information in integrated waste management.[1][2]
Her academic background reflects interdisciplinary training across environmental and social sciences, environmental engineering, and policy, bringing a unique contribution to the fields of integrated waste management and circular economy.[3]
Research and career
Godfrey manages Circular Innovation South Africa (CISA), a program of the South African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation that aims to support the country’s transition to a circular, low-carbon economy through science, technology and innovation.[4]
Her research interests include the circular economy and sustainable resource management in developing countries; integrated waste management; waste governance; waste information systems; economic and policy instruments in the waste sector; social and behavioural aspects of integrated waste management.[5]
She led the development and implementation of South Africa's Waste Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap (2015-2024)[6][7], which advocated for value recovery from priority waste streams through science, technology and innovation, as a way of incentivizing the diversion of waste away from dumpsites.[8] The Roadmap established the first dedicated waste SARChI Chairs in South Africa, including the Waste & Society SARChI Chair held by the University of the Western Cape. [9][10]
In addition to her management and research roles, she holds an academic appointment as an Extraordinary Professor at North-West University, where she lectures on integrated waste management and the circular economy.
Her research outputs include peer reviewed journal papers, technical reports, policy briefs, book chapters and conference papers addressing waste management and resources management, circular economy and sustainability transitions. She has authored or co-authored more than 125 research and technical reports and numerous peer-reviewed publications.[5]
She has provided strategic input for a number of local, regional and international waste and circular economy initiatives for the United Nations, European Commission, World Bank Group, South African Government, Academy of Science of South Africa, International Solid Waste Association, universities and businesses.[8][11][12]
