Innovation Report: Could you briefly summarize what makes up the DNA of SAEON as an organization?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: The main thing that describes NRF-SAEON is long-term observation networks. Our vision is the establishment of world-class environmental platforms for a sustainable society. As one of five National Research Foundation facilities, our focus is on infrastructure – conducting long-term environmental monitoring coupled with deploying the necessary infrastructure to do this work.

Unlike other facilities that might have one central location, our environmental monitoring requires distributed research infrastructure. We need to cover different types of environments, from deep oceans to coastal areas to terrestrial regions, including South Africa’s highest point along the Northern Drakensberg. We consider different vegetation types and climate zones – the northeastern part receives summer rainfall while the Western Cape gets winter rainfall.

We also focus strongly on human capital development through training postgraduate students. While the NRF’s corporate research division funds honors, masters and PhD students directly, we want our infrastructure and platforms to assist in training the next generation. We’re also heavily involved in science engagement, with accredited courses for educators on South African biomes and geographic information systems.

Innovation Report: SAEON is now 22 years old. What have been some key milestones in the organization’s evolution?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: The organization started in 2002 with just one employee, who then hired someone else – the previous managing director Johann Paul. After extensive consultation with the research community, the initial model was to ask different organizations to host NRF-SAEON nodes. The first node established was the Ndlovu Node in 2004, along with our science engagement program – we were very deliberate from the beginning about ensuring communities and school learners were aware of environmental sciences.

By 2007, we had established the Elwandle Node for coastal marine research and the Egagasini Node. The Fynbos Node followed in 2008, and in 2012 we added the Grasslands and Arid Lands nodes. In 2018, we established our uLwazi Node for data and ICT management, as we needed a strategy for handling all our datasets. This was particularly important given the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation’s push for open science policy.

A major development came through the South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap. In 2013, the department worked with the European Commission to identify needed research infrastructures, resulting in 18 being selected. SAEON was chosen to host three of these: the Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network, the Shallow Marine and Coastal Research Infrastructure, and the South African Polar Research Infrastructure. This has contributed significantly to our growth, with our staff now numbering over 130.

Innovation Report: What would be at risk without this long-term environmental observation work?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: Looking at the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report from January this year, the top four risks are extreme weather events, critical changes to Earth systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and natural resource shortages. This underscores how serious we need to be about environmental research.

The only reason we can say climate change is happening is because of long-term datasets. Without data, we can’t say decisions are evidence-based. We’ve chosen our sites strategically – some continue research dating back to the 1940s. For example, at Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg, early research investigated whether having more trees would improve rainfall and water resources. While that hypothesis proved incorrect, the data collection established then provides valuable historical context.

We’re very intentional about where we collect data. A site like Cathedral Peak, being in a nature reserve, allows us to see natural changes with minimal human impact. We’re now extending observations to see how water quality changes as you move from pristine environments into communities where there could be contamination. This helps us understand how people engage with the environment and how resources change over time.

Being on the African continent, which has relatively sparse observations, our data is crucial for understanding various environmental processes. It can inform model development, validate satellite products, and support decision-makers dealing with environmental challenges. Policymakers need this information to develop policies and prepare for disasters – understanding their frequency and the rate of change.

Innovation Report: Could you highlight some of the critical environmental challenges that make SAEON’s work essential for South Africa and the African continent?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: Our long-term observations are confirming that climate change is happening – temperatures are definitely increasing. Regarding rainfall, floods are actually the leading cause of natural disasters in South Africa, followed by storms and droughts. In some environments, we’re noticing a decrease in rainfall amounts. South Africa is located in the subtropics, so we’re naturally supposed to be dry, but some areas are getting drier. Looking at very long-term observations from the 1920s, there’s a general expectation that we’ll get drier. Recent headlines suggest that by 2050, water demand will exceed supply.

Regarding biomes, we’re observing tree growth and seedling development over time. One important finding is that South Africa has natural grasslands that might look degraded from satellite imagery but are actually natural biomes. There’s a big push toward planting trees, but we’ve found that planting trees where we’re supposed to have grasslands has a negative impact on water resources and soil carbon. Our scientists have found a relationship between soil carbon content and water retention capacity.

Take the example of the Drakensberg – it’s a strategic water area for South Africa. While not as crucial in summer when the whole country receives rainfall, it becomes vital in winter when the rains stop. The area continues to release water that’s important even for regions like Gauteng.

Innovation Report: Could you share some flagship projects that demonstrate SAEON’s contribution to environmental science and management?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: One notable case study involves fish kills that occurred around Algoa Bay in 2021. When the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment found masses of dead fish with no obvious cause like an oil spill or water quality issues, NRF-SAEON’s coastal temperature network data showed a rapid temperature fluctuation that the fish couldn’t survive.

Another significant project is our work in Maputoland, where we’re studying the impact of woody plant encroachment on water resources. In one rural community, groundwater levels are much lower than when the landscape was grassland. The community plants eucalyptus trees to sell and support their families, but this affects water resources. This raises complex questions about balancing environmental protection with economic needs.

We also do important work on water quality through our lab in Port Elizabeth, where we analyze water samples from both ocean and freshwater sources. We’ve written several policy briefs informing municipalities about water quality issues, which is crucial given the link between contaminated water and health issues.

Our data platform has gained recognition too – we won a data award this year for our open data platform, which is internationally accredited with Core Trust Seal certification. This means we follow international standards and can integrate with global systems like the Group on Earth Observations, making our data discoverable worldwide.

Innovation Report: How do you handle situations where your data reveals findings that stakeholders might not want to hear – for instance, about plantation impacts on biodiversity or carbon sequestration?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: In this age of artificial intelligence and big data, our first priority is establishing credibility by making it clear that we don’t predetermine the results we want to see – we simply monitor processes and report what the data shows. With misinformation and disinformation being major global challenges, we need to be clear and establish ourselves as credible sources.

In terms of government engagement, we produce policy briefs as part of our annual performance plan. This allows us to communicate what we’re learning about environmental changes and community interactions. When engaging with communities, we approach it similarly to just transition discussions – you can’t simply tell people to stop certain practices without considering alternative livelihoods. When we suggest stopping eucalyptus planting, we need to consider alternative solutions, though this might extend beyond NRF-SAEON’s mandate.

It’s also about scaling – we have 47 landscapes where we conduct research, but we’re not claiming these findings apply uniformly across the country. There’s a need for our research to be upscaled, and that’s where different government departments come in to validate whether similar patterns exist in other environments.

Innovation Report: Do you see reasons to be hopeful about environmental action in South Africa?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: What we actually feel is a greater need to raise awareness of our work. We host the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas, established in 2008, which provides user-friendly information for decision-makers. We’re actively engaging with organizations like SALGA (South African Local Government Association) to ensure municipalities can use our platforms for decision-making.

We’re also reaching out to universities, encouraging researchers to share their environmental data through our platform rather than just publishing papers. We track metrics like data downloads and citations, though measuring impact on decision-making can be challenging. Since linking to international databases like GEO, we’ve seen a significant increase in platform usage, but we’d like to see even more engagement.

Innovation Report: Why should the typical South African care about SAEON’s work?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: We’re dealing with everyday environmental challenges – just last week there was flooding in KZN and the Eastern Cape, and we saw unusual September snowfall. People need to understand these events and know how to react to environmental challenges.

For school learners, especially those from villages and townships like where I grew up, it’s important to know about career opportunities in environmental sciences. You don’t have to be limited to traditional professions – there are many opportunities in environmental sectors. This is particularly relevant given our high unemployment rate.

We’re also helping teachers adapt to new curriculum requirements. For instance, when GIS was introduced to the curriculum, many teachers had never used a computer. We provide training to help them teach these new topics effectively.

Innovation Report: What motivated your own research career and attracted you to NRF-SAEON?

Dr Mary-Jane Bopape: My interest began in high school when studying geography. I was particularly fascinated by the climatology sections – understanding why it got cold, learning about weather systems shifting north and south. My mother, who was a teacher, happened to bring home a pamphlet about meteorology careers from a science engagement event. I held onto that pamphlet, qualified for the University of Pretoria, and studied meteorology.

Initially, I thought I’d just get my undergraduate degree and work until retirement, but I discovered I needed an honors degree to start working. While at the South African Weather Service, I was encouraged to pursue a masters degree. I later moved to CSIR’s Center for High Performance Computing to work on numerical weather prediction models, which led to my PhD.

If you’d asked me then, I would have said I’d be a scientist forever, but I came to realize there are positions where you can have more influence on strategy development. When I saw the managing director position at SAEON advertised, I decided to apply. Coming from a meteorological background where you think about big weather systems, I’ve found it fascinating at SAEON to consider the entire Earth system – not just temperature and humidity, but water quality, biomes, and ocean processes.

Being part of SAEON has allowed me to internalize the whole system rather than just focusing on the atmosphere. I’ve also been impressed by our team’s passion for science engagement. Looking back, as a 16-year-old from Limpopo, I never imagined I’d become a chief scientist or managing director. It shows the opportunities available in this country – you might start thinking you’ll just get a degree and work until retirement, but the country has allowed me to grow to where I am today.