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Ngowenani has over 4 years of experience in applied social science in water, climate change and related domains. Prior to joining IWMI, she was an Assistant Researcher at the Institute for Gender Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), where she worked on various projects looking at the gendered impacts of climate change, sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity, and enhancing cooperative governance for climate change adaptation in South Africa. She was also an intern and later a master’s student/junior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the research group Integrated Water Analytics and Solutions, working on various projects focusing on water governance, and policy and institutional support to and analyses of water quality and its impact on human health, as well as community-based approaches to climate change adaptation.

Ngowenani’s growing research interest is in understanding the relationship between society and the natural environment, water resources, climate change and factors that cause environmental contestation. She has recently completed her master’s degree in Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg, where she looked at environmental and climate change as a driver of migration and how it interacts with other existing stressors (i.e., water scarcity) to influence adaptation, transformation and future livelihood trajectories.