The JRS Biodiversity Foundation is excited to announce the addition of two new Trustees to our Board: Akiça Bahri and Guy Midgley!
Akiça Bahri, Ph.D., is an agricultural engineer by training and a Professor at the National Agricultural Institute of Tunisia. She has decades of experience in water resources management, with emphasis on the agricultural uses of marginal water and impacts on the environment. She has a long-standing interest in how a more integrated approach to managing water and wastewater can contribute to meeting water demand and protecting the environment. Previously, Bahri worked as Coordinator of the African Water Facility at the African Development Bank, Director for Africa at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and as Director of Research at the National Research Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Water, and Forestry (INRGREF) in Tunis, Tunisia. She is a member of different international scientific committees and has received international honors for her contribution to applied science research.
Guy Midgley, Ph.D., is a researcher in the field of ecology and is a Professor at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. His main areas of work have been in plant ecophysiology, biogeography and species ranges, population demography and dispersal, and aspects of systems ecology (including disturbance) and global ecology. He has worked directly on climate change-related issues since 1990 and contributes widely to international policy processes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Previously, Midgley worked as a scientist at the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute. He was a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th and 5th assessment reports and for the Global Report of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He researches climate and global change impacts on ecosystems and species, working in a wide variety of southern African ecosystems, and Marion Island in the sub-Antarctic.
A very warm welcome to Akiça and Guy as our newest advisors and ambassadors for open access to biodiversity data and knowledge!