Dr Meed Mbidzo

Research interests

Dr Meed Mbidzo is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist with a background in both the natural and social sciences. Her current research interests can be summarised in the following themes: 

• interaction between conservation policy and practice 
• institutional arrangements for natural resource governance
• livelihood benefits of conservation
• human-wildlife interactions and coexistence
• social impacts of and adaptations to climate change
• ecological and social drivers of desertification tipping points
• rangeland management

Teaching

Research Methods for Natural Sciences (RMC811S)
Basic Research Methods (BRM622S)
Community Conservation and Protected Area Management (CPP621S)

Supervision of postgraduate students

Masters students

1.    Investigating underlying natural and anthropogenic drivers of human wildlife conflict in the Iona-Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area. Student: Ailla-Tessa Iiyambula (2021)

2.    Predator occupancy and human-wildlife conflict on communal farmland of the Greater Waterberg Landscape, Namibia. Student: Emma Reasoner (2023)

3.    Human-carnivore interactions along the northern periphery of Etosha National Park, North-western Namibia. Student: Josef Ndjimba (2026)

4.    Understanding the Drivers of Tolerance Towards Carnivores in Epupa and Okanguati Conservancies, North-West Namibia. Student: Silver Hevita (ongoing)

5.    Assessing Land Degradation Using Indigenous Knowledge and Ecological Approaches in the Waterberg Communal Areas. Student: Esther Nambahu (ongoing)

6.    A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Bush Control and Utilization Practices in the Greater Waterberg Landscape, Namibia. Student: Ingrid Hakalume (ongoing)

PhD Students

1.    Investigation the effectiveness of proactive management strategies to counteract grassland desertification in the Greater Waterberg Landscape (GWL) farms. 
      Student: Nali Moyo (2021-ongoing)

2.    Investigating human behaviour based on perceptions and attitudes towards rhino conservation in north-central Namibia. 
      Student: Halle Shaanika (2021-ongoing)

3.    Understanding Human-Wildlife Interactions and their Impact on Conservation and Livelihoods in Namibian Communal Conservancies. 
      Student: Mogae Makonyela (2024 -ongoing)

4.    An assessment of cheetah status and distribution using non-invasive techniques for cheetah detection in the Horn of Africa.
      Student: Liomba-Junior Mathe (2025 – ongoing)
 

Conference Presentations, Posters and Invited Talks

1. Pathways Africa 2020: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conference, “Open the Door to Diverse Voices”. Limuru, Kenya, 16 – 19 February 2020
Title: Trends and Perceptions of Human-Wildlife Conflict in North-west Namibia

2. Joint International Grassland & International Rangeland Kenya 2021 Virtual Congress. Kenya, Nairobi, 25 – 29 October 2021
Poster Title: An integrated framework to study ecological tipping points in social-ecological systems
Authors: Männer Männer, F. A.; Schwarz, L.; Menestrey Menestrey, D. A.; Amputu, V.; Bilton, M. C.; Brinkmann, K.; Dressler, G.; Hamunyela Hamunyela, N.; Heita, H.; Heshmati, S.; Liehr, S.; Mbidzo, M.; Munyebvu -Chambara; Nesongano W. C.; Rauchecker, M.; Sandhage-Hofmann, A.; Tielbörger, K; Zimmer, K.; Linstädter A.

3. Joint International Grassland & International Rangeland Kenya 2021 Virtual Congress. Kenya, Nairobi, 25 – 29 October 2021
Poster Title: The future of cattle farming in the communal areas of the Greater Waterberg Landscape in Namibia: Farmer’s Perceptions
Authors: Heita, A; Mbidzo, M; Dressler G; and Menestrey-Schwieger, D. A.

4. Tropentag Virtual Conference 2021. 15 – 17 September 2021, University of Hohenheim, Germany
Presentation Title: Human-wildlife conflict and household livelihoods in communal conservancies, Kunene Region, Namibia
Authors: Nambahu, E. N.; Mbidzo, M. and Moyo T.

5. GfÖ Virtual Annual Meeting 2021, 30 August – 1 September 2021. 
Presentation Title: Studying transitions in ecological systems by applying an integrated social-ecological framework. 
Authors: Schwarz, L.-M., Männer, F.A., Menestrey Schwieger, D.A., Amputu, V., Bilton M.C., Brinkmann, K., Dressler, G., Hamunyela, N., Heita, H., Heshmati, S., Liehr, S., Mbidzo, M., Munyebvu-Chambara, F., Nesongano, W.C., Rauchecker, M., Sandhage-Hofmann, A., Tielbörger, K., Zimmer, K., Linstädter, A.

6. International ARUA-NISANSA Conference, 13 – 15 March 2024. Cape Town, South Africa
Presentation Title: Empowering Communities Through Inclusive Natural Resource Management: A Pathway to Equitable Benefit Distribution. 
Author: Meed Mbidzo

7. Poster Title: Future Visioning in the Face of Climate Change: A case of the Zambezi Region, Namibia
Authors: Meed Mbidzo, Thomas Falk, Franziska Auch, Ivo Steimanis and Björn Vollan

8. 7th Conference on the Ostrom Workshop (WOW7), 19 – 21 June 2024. Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Presentation Title:  Can Nationally Prescribed Institutional Arrangements Enable Community-Based Conservation? An Analysis of Conservancies and Community Forests in the Zambezi Region of Namibia.
Authors: M. Mbidzo, H. Newing, J Thorn

9. Workshop on Funding of participatory and transdisciplinary research projects for sustainable development in Africa. 13 – 18 October 2024, Accra Ghana.

10. Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research Conference 2024 (ITD24). 3 – 9 November 2024, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Panel Title: Good practices in funding transdisciplinary research for sustainable development in Africa. 
Panelists: Meed Mbidzo, Maria Restrepo, Cory Whitney and Dirk Schories. Moderated by Eefje Aarnoudse.

11. GlobalTip conference, 2-3 July 2025, Frankfurt, Germany.
Presentation Title: Dry season forage decline increases cattle foraging efforts: possible rangeland impacts and farmers' perspectives in communal Namibia
Authors: Meed Mbidzo & Clara Nesongano

Publications

1.    Ndjimba, J. T., Naha, D., Cloete, C., Mbidzo, M., & Beasley, J. C. (2026). The Lion and the Jackal: Community perspectives on carnivores and human-carnivore coexistence along the periphery of one of the largest fenced protected areas in northern Namibia. Global Ecology and Conservation, e04245.

2.    Reasoner, E., Marker L, Verschueren S, Briers-Louw WD, Mbidzo M and Cristescu B (2024) Relative abundance of a mesocarnivore in a human-dominated, semi-arid rangeland in Namibia. Front. Ecol. Evol. 12:1333162. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1333162

3.    Luetkemeier, R., Bieri, M., Kraus, R., Mbidzo, M., & Midgley, G. F. (2024). Lessons Learned from a North-South Science Partnership for Sustainable Development. In Sustainability of Southern African Ecosystems under Global Change: Science for Management and Policy Interventions (pp. 903-931). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5_31

4.    Geißler, K., Blaum, N., von Maltitz, G. P., Smith, T., Bookhagen, B., Wanke, H., ... & Uugulu, S. (2024). Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions in Southern African Savanna Rangelands: Threats, Impacts and Solutions. In Sustainability of Southern African Ecosystems under Global Change: Science for Management and Policy Interventions (pp. 407-438). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5_15

5.    Hleni T.N. Heita, Gunnar Dressler, Diego A. Menestrey Schwieger, Meed Mbidzo., 2023, Pastoralists’ perceptions on the future of cattle farming amidst rangeland degradation: A case study from Namibia's semiarid communal areas, Rangelands. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2023.10.00

6.    Luetkemeier, Robert, Ronja Kraus, Meed Mbidzo, Morgan Hauptfleisch, Stefan Liehr, and Niels Blaum. 2023. "A Qualitative Exploration of Conflicts in Human-Wildlife Interactions in Namibia’s Kunene Region" Diversity 15, no. 3: 440. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030440

7.    Mbidzo, M., Newing, H. and Thorn, J.P., 2021. Can Nationally Prescribed Institutional Arrangements Enable Community-Based Conservation? An Analysis of Conservancies and Community Forests in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. Sustainability, 13(19), p.10663. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910663

8.    Luetkemeier, R., Mbidzo, M. and Liehr, S., 2021. Water security and rangeland sustainability: Transdisciplinary research insights from Namibian-German collaborations. South African Journal of Science, 117(1-2), pp.1-9.

9.    Schwieger, D.A.M. and Mbidzo, M., 2020. Socio-historical and structural factors linked to land degradation and desertification in Namibia's former Herero'homelands'. Journal of Arid Environments, 178, p.104151. 

10.    Kamwi, J.M. and Mbidzo, M., 2020. Impact of land use and land cover changes on landscape structure in the dry lands of Southern Africa: a case of the Zambezi Region, Namibia. GeoJournal, pp.1-12.

11.    Steimanis, I., Hofmann, R., Mbidzo, M. and Vollan, B., 2020. When female leaders believe that men make better leaders: Empowerment in community-based water management in rural Namibia. Journal of Rural Studies, 79, pp.205-215.

12.    Holden P, Hoffman T, Djenontin INS, Esler K, Gannon K, Humphrey G, Mbidzo M, Mtati N, New M, Ndlovu V, Razafimanantsoa AHI, Rebelo AJ, Savory S, Shackleton S, Thorn JPR, Visser M & Ziervogel G. 2023. Stories of social (in)equity in nature-based solutions.

13.    Mbidzo, M. (2016). The Dynamics of Governing Natural Resources in Namibia’s conservancies and Community Forests: Conservation and Social Implications. PhD Thesis, University of Kent, United Kingdom.

14.    Mbidzo, M. (2003). Long-term consequences of Herbivory on soil and plant nutrient status in a savanna ecosystem: Kruger National Park, South Africa. Msc Thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.