Professor Sally Archibald

Professor Sally Archibald’s primary research focus is on savanna ecosystems in the context of global change as well as fire-grazer interactions; inter-continental savanna comparisons; the importance of land-atmosphere feedbacks; and pursuing a global theory of fire.

She completed her MSc in botany from the University of Cape Town and her PhD in ecology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Currently a professor at Wits, she spent time as a research student at Princeton University, working as a journalist, and as a research scientist in the public sector. Her academic career has included the position of researcher at UCT, principal researcher at the CSIR, and lecturer at Wits.

She has published more than 64 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Sustainability, Science, and PNAS. In addition, she has co-edited one book and authored six book chapters. She serves on the editorial board of Ecology Letters and Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and was an editor for Austral Ecology, the South African Journal of Science, and the International Journal of Rangeland Management.

Prof Archibald has also served on the advisory board of the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires Environment and Society and is the co-Chair of Socio-Ecological Observatory for Studying African Woodlands.