Staff Profiles

PhD in Research and Evaluation (Impact Research and Evaluation Specialist) 

Med in Research and Evaluation 

Msc in Sustainable Agriculture 

Postgraduate Diploma in tertiary education 

BSc Hon. in Agriculture engineering

Specialist in intervention research and evaluation using surveys and experimental designs. Ten years of teaching research and evaluation and using technology in the teaching and conducting studies more specifically in data collection, storage and analysis. 

I have done work on interventions used in behavior change in public health with majority done in HIV and AIDS research. In particular, I have conducted theory-based context sensitive impact evaluation on a risk reduction intervention, and investigated on predictor factors that influence behavior change. I have also served as a member of the evaluation team for several externally funded program at the University of Botswana.

I have also managed and coordinated some of the externally funded programs at the University of Botswana, whereby I administered all the compliance, budget and Institutional Review Board and ethical issues. In addition to this I have been in-charge of capacity building and programming of computer aided data collection instruments for intervention programs. 

Monitoring and Evaluation

Research designs and methodologies

Project design and implementation

Computer aided data collection, storage and analysis 

Agriculture sciences

My research interest is in intervention design, development, implementation and evaluation

Research and Evaluation

Journal Articles

Major, T., Koyabe, B. W., Ntsayagae, E., Monare, B., & Molwane, O. (2018). Norms and beliefs related to cervical cancer screening amongst women aged 25-49 in Botswana:  A pilot study. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences Vol 9, 141–147

Mangope, B., Kuyini, A. B., Major, T., Koyabe, B. W., & Musarurwa, C. (2017). From mainstreaming to inclusion: Have shifts in paradigms improved the practice of Special Education in Botswana? Mosenodi: Journal of the Botswana Educational Research Association. Vol. 21(1)

Chilisa, B., Mohiemang, I., Mpeta, K., Malinga-Musamba, T., Ntshwarang, P., Koyabe, B. W., & Heeren, A. G. (2015): A Contextualized theory-based predictors of intention to practice monogamy among adolescents in Botswana junior secondary schools: Results of focus group sessions and a cross-sectional study.  Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23 (8) 972-979.

PhD Neuroanatomy

BSc Honours Human Biology

BSc Human Biology

Diploma in Copywriting

BA Communications

I graduated with a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 2015. I studied sleep in unusual African rodents. Thereafter I traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland to take up a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Reykjavik. At this time I undertook a study on the heritability of sleep characteristics in zebrafish. In 2016 I returned to the University of the Witwatersrand to take up a position as lecturer and coordinator of the 4th year MBChB anatomy course, teaching clinical anatomy. In 2019 I joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences, in the School of Medicine at UB, as a senior lecturer.

I  teach gross anatomy, histology and embryology in the MBBS Phase 1 programme. I am also a PBL facilitator for the 2nd year MBBS students. Further I teach and coordinate the Neuroscience component of the MMed Psychiatry course.

The evolution of sleep in small mammals and fish.

Various topics in neuroanatomy.

I am currently the co-supervisor for one of the students in our first cohort of MPhil/PhD candidates in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Mr Gobe Tanthuma is investigating the clivus in sex determination of skeletal remains.

Jean-Leigh Kruger, Nadine Gravett, Adhil Bhagwandin, Nigel C. Bennett, Elizabeth K. Archer and Paul R. Manger. 2016. Sleep in the Cape Mole Rat: A Short-Sleeping Subterranean Rodent. Brain Behav Evol 87:78-87 .
J. Kruger, N. Patzke, K. Fuxe, N.C. Bennett and P.R. Manger. 2012. Nuclear organization of cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic, serotonergic and orexinergic systems in the brain of the African pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides): Organizational complexity is preserved in small brains. J Chem Neu

J. Kruger, L. Dell, A. Bhagwandin, N.E. Jillani, J.D. Pettigrew & P.R. Manger. 2010. Nuclear organization of cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic systems in the brains of five microchiropteran species. J Chem Neu 40(3):210-222.
J. Kruger, L. Dell, J.D. Pettigrew & P.R. Manger. 2010. Cellular location and major terminal networks of the orexinergic system in the brains of five microchiropteran species. J Chem Neu 40(3):256-262.
 

Ms Rebecca Kubanji holds an MSc in Medical Demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is currently pursuing her PhD with the University of Botswana, where she is also a lecturer in the Department of Population Studies. She has published and presented at international conferences in the areas of alcohol use among HIV positive individuals, HIV positive adolescents, nuptiality and fertility and sexual health practices of HIV+ individuals. Ms Kubanji has been a member of the University of Botswana Socio- Behavioural Institutional Review Board from 2016 to date. She has collaborated and is still collaborating with US researchers on several NIH-funded behavioural HIV research studies. Additionally since 2018 Ms Kubanji has been working under a collaboration on a Nagel Project on 'The impact of religious beliefs on health seeking and health provision behaviours among Batswana'. Ms Kubanji has been a member of the International AIDS Society since 2008 and presented at conferences organized by the society since then. She has also been the General Secretary of the Organization of Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), Botswana chapter from 2011 to 2019, and continues to be member.

Ms Kubanji has taught and is still teaching a number of Population Studies courses from level 100 to 700. At level 100 courses taught include POP 121, while at level 200 they include GEC 278, Pop 200, Pop 202, Pop 221, Pop 222 and Pop 225 and Pop 300 at level 300. Courses taught at Level 400 include Pop 403 and Pop 401. Ms Kubanji has taught POP 702 at Masters Level, and also handles TKS 710, which is offered under Masters in Development Practice (Department of Sociology).

Ms Kubanji's research spans in the areas of Alcohol use among HIV Positive Individuals; Adolescents Living with HIV and AIDS;Fertility and HIV and AIDS; Sexuality; Traditional Health Practice and HIV and AIDS Management; and Religious Beliefs and Health Seeking and Health Provision Behaviours. She has worked on a number of collaborative projects under the National Institutes of Health(NIH), SADC and of late the Nagel Institute. These collaborative efforts were both internally and externally.

Areas of postgraduate (Masters) supervision has been in the areas of alcohol use,sexuality and male circumcision.

Kubanji et al (2018). Institutional  and social Dynamics of providing care and support to 15-19 year old adolescents living with HIV and AIDS in Botswana, AIDS Care – Psychology, Health and Medicine- Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. Volume 13, 339 – 356,https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.1515516

Kubanji et al.(2016), Correlates of intention to abstain from sex among HIV positive adolescents in Botswana, African Population Studies Vol.30, N0.2(Supp), http://aps.journals.ac.za

 Kubanji, R, Keetile, M and Rakgoasi, D.S (2016), The demographic dividend: Opportunities and challenges for Botswana, Department of Population Studies/UNFPA Policy Brief No.1, November 2016.

In Press

Togarasei,L.,Gabaitiri,l.,Kubanji,R., Madigele,T.J.,Mmolai,S.K.,Shanduka,T.,& Tabalaka,A (2020), Christian Medical Mission from the Perspective of Batswana Faith Healers, International Bulletin of Mission Research, pp.1-12,doi:10.1177/2396939320951567,ibmr.sagepub.com

Masters in Archives and Records Management.

Bachelors degree in Library and Information Studies

Diploma In Library and Information Studies

 Ms. Stella Kube is the Librarian for the University of Botswana, Faculty of Medicine. Her main role is to support teaching and learning for both students and lecturers in the Faculty of Medicine and the University at large. She is responsible for the medicine faculty by assisting doctors, patients, medical students, and other medical personnel find health information and selecting materials best suited to their needs. She is also responsible for teaching information literacy classes for medical students. The topics include referencing software ( Mendeley, EndNote), Plagiarism/ Copyright or legal and ethical issues of information, Evaluating information sources, and so on. Apart from working for the university library Ms. Kube is also a member of the Botswana Library Association (BLA) and the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA). She has more than 10 years of experience in librarianship, working mostly in University libraries in Botswana( academic libraries). She is actively involved in community outreach activities with the health department organisations and Ministry of Health activities (IHS)

Information Literacy classes 

COM Classes

Support teaching, learning, and research activities for the department of the following: Public Health, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Anesthesia.

DPhil Natural Resources Management(Chinhoyi University of Technology,Zimbabwe);MSc in Tropical Resource Ecology(University of Zimbabwe);BSc Biological Sciences and Geography - Double Major(University of Zimbabwe;Graduate Diploma in Education(University of Zimbabwe);Certificate Exploring GIS (UNISA)

Olga is a Natural Resources Conservationist and a UNFCCC registered Climate Change Adaptation expert. She is a task oriented, result focused conservationist with over a decade of experience of research, teaching, professional and community service in the higher and tertiary education sector. She recently joined the Okavango Research Institute and is currently working on research projects on investigating present and past socio-economic responses to externally forced change to improve our understanding of social resilience in the Okavango basin; assessing effects of climate change across the Okavango basin and in southern Africa at both the regional and local scales on livelihoods and economy; identifying potential response trajectories to Climate Change (CC) in basin subsistence livelihoods and industry (with particular focus on ecotourism, agriculture and mining). She has experience leading and working with multidisciplinary teams, currently leading the Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation (OGRC) project on climate change and ecosystem services at Shangani Holistic, Zimbabwe and FEFA collaborator. Olga is a registered UNESCO Earth Network Expert where she provides volunteer services on climate change and biodiversity conservation to the Ecology and Biodiversity Section, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector. She is also leading the Natural Resources Governance and Institutions (NRGI) petal under the PCP platform. 

Climate Change, Society and the Environment

Climate Change and Protected Area Management

Climate and natural Resources Governance 

Qualitative Research Methods

Natural Resources Governance

Society and Natural Resources

Ethnobiology

Mammalogy

Plant Ecology

Plant Form and Function

Animal Anatomy and Physiology

Invertebrate Biology

Climate change adaptation, Heritage Sites and IKS

Nature based solutions to climate change

Climate Change and biodiversity conservation

Climate Change and Human wildlife interactions

Climate change and CBNRM

Dendroclimatology

Climate Change and ecosystem services

Climate change and ethnobiology

Education for sustainable development

Social and environmental standards assessments

Natural resources policy analysis

Safeguarding tangible and intangible heritage

Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Governance

Climate Change and Ecosystem Services

Climate Change, Green Economy and Biodiversity Conservation

Climate Change, and IKS

Climate Change and Human Wildlife Interactions

Climate Change and Natural Resources Policy

Community Based Natural Resources Management

Climate Change and Sustainable Livelihoods

Climate Change and Ethnobotany

Climate Change and One Health

Climate Change and Plant Ecology

 ↵

• Kupika, O.L., and Dube K (2023). : "A Resilient Tourism Future for Developing Countries: Conclusions and Recommendations" In, Dube K., Chapungu L and Kupika O.L (2023) (eds) COVID-19, Tourist Destinations and Prospects for Recovery; Book Subtitle: Volume Three A South African and Zimbabwean Perspective; ISBN: 978-3-031-28339-0; Springer Nature
• MUKAMURI, B., GARINE, E., WICHATITSKY, E. G., Perrotton, A., Kupika, O. L., & Monin, L. (2023). 1· African Buffalo and the Human Societies in Africa: Social Values and Interaction Outcomes. Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo,
• Al-Zu’bi, M., Dejene, S. W., Hounkpè, J., Kupika, O. L., Lwasa, S., Mbenge, M., ... & Touré, N. D. E. (2022). African perspectives on climate change research, Nature Climate Change
• Kupika, O. L., Gandiwa, E., Ayuk, J., Bandeira, S., & Kunedzimwe, F. (2021). Evidence of the Impact of Cyclones and Floods on Biodiversity and Wildlife Resources in Southern Africa. Cyclones in Southern Africa

Education

Ph.D., Counselling and Human Services, University of Botswana, 2020

M.Ed. Counselling and Human Services, University of Botswana, 2004

B.A. (Honours) Combined Education (Nutrition & Education), Sheffield Halam University, 1995

Diploma in Home Economics, Luengo University, 1983

Biography

Dr Olekile Kuswani is a professional Counsellor in the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) North, in the University of Botswana, Francistown. Currently, in her 12th years as an academic (in the University of Botswana), she serves as Learner Support Coordinator - Student Welfare, Acting Regional Manager, nominated to assist with Coordination of the Safety and Health Environment (SHE) in response to the Ministry of Health and Wellness set COVID 19 health protocols at CCE North, nominated to assist with coordination of Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana (CIUB), Francistown where Chinese Language and Culture Courses are taught and also serve as a member of the Urban Development Committee (UDC) in Francistown. Some of these positions involve local community while others involve both local and international outreach. Prior to her work in academia, Dr Kuswani worked for 25 years in the Ministry of Education as a teacher under Teaching Service Management (TSM). She taught Food and Nutrition with emphasis on health eating for people with different disorders. Later she developed to do Counselling and Human Services (Generic Counselling) to cater for people with different needs including nutrition needs. She had the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in the University of Botswana. She did a study on the impact of nutrition counselling on nutrition knowledge, attitudes and dietary practices of people living with HIV/AIDS in the northern region of Botswana