Wendy Khumalo is a PhD candidate whose work aims to reconstruct ancient climates using different proxy records to paint a picture of what the environment was like where past humans lived. This work is important because it offers insights and context to the history of human resilience and innovation in the face of a changing environment. This is particularly relevant when considering anthropogenic climate change and how we decide to organise and mitigate as a society.
Khumalo is based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she contributes to the ClimateCultures research project. She is specifically focused on dendroclimatology, or the relationship between climate and tree growth. This approach allows Khumalo to work in a high resolution ‘human scale’ for climate variability.
It also lends itself to interdisciplinary work and collaboration between climate scientists, historians, and museum practitioners. In this project, she uses proxy records from the natural sciences along with historical records to paint a richer and clearer picture of a drastically changing environment and the different social responses in a Norwegian context. In doing this she hopes to help bridge the gap in knowledge between the sciences and the humanities and explore different ways to make the project outcomes accessible and interesting to more general audiences.
Khumalo was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Cape Town Department of Geological Sciences, where she was supervised by HERI Co-director Dr Robyn Pickering. That work aimed to reconstruct the climate of the Last Glacial Maximum in two South African cave sites using fossil charcoal and pollen records.
“It is not every day that you have a student like Wendy. I taught her in third year at UCT, and was delighted that she chose to work with me for her early postgraduate studies. Wendy is not afraid to take serious challenges and jumps at opportunities - these are valuable skills. I am very excited to watch this next stage of her research career unfold,” says Pickering.
What excites you most about the palaeosciences?
The human element of the palaeosciences is what excites me most. I generally enjoy science and research, but just the thought that the work we do directly relates to real people and populations makes everything so much more fascinating. Whether that means trying to understand the climate and environments that these people lived and thrived in, or the kinds of activities they took part in. In a way, it feels like a gossip blog about the past.
Describe your research in three words.
Climate. People. Past.
Who/what is your biggest inspiration?
My parents. In their own special way they raised my sister and me to believe that there’s literally nothing we can’t do or achieve if we just try. My family probably believes in me way more than they should!
What has been your biggest academic challenge?
Separating myself from my research has been a big challenge. Most of my experience with research has involved ‘negative’ or unexpected results. At first, this almost felt like a personal attack on my capabilities. As someone very early in their academic career, not being able to produce the expected results felt very tiring and demotivating. Through time, and having to learn to pivot quickly, I’ve learned that there is value in ‘negative’ results and that oftentimes unexpected results can be just as interesting - if not more interesting at times. I also found that surrounding myself with kind and experienced researchers has been helpful in getting a broader perspective and remembering that my work is not actually a matter of life or death.
What is the soundtrack to your studies?
I like to work in either complete silence or chaos that fills your ears. At the moment that’s Exuma – Exuma, The Obeah Man.