People & Partners

Merin Jacob is a junior researcher whose work focuses on infrastructure and governance. As a researcher and project manager, Merin is involved in projects that span Africa’s Urban Transition and the Just Energy Transition (JET), the most significant, the SARCHi Chair project on Urban Innovations, and Capacity-building for the JET in Africa. Merin is one of the convenors for the Sustainable Cities: Towards Just and Sustainable Urbanisms module, within the CST’s PGDip in Sustainable Development programme. Her teaching focus is “writing the African future” and draws from her Master’s thesis on the “Future city of the Global South” using science fiction to imagine the future.

Merin is a member of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network steering group, and a member of the Stellenbosch Homelessness Network, working to understand homelessness. Merin is also co-founder of the Africa Week Network using the art of gathering to celebrate Africa’s future. Prior to this, she worked at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) where she served an integrative function and addressed fragmentation in public sector projects using whole-of-society methodologies to address problems such as wildlife crime, disaster management, and food security. Merin holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Future Studies which led her from design and engineering into complex systems.