Olivia Loots

Olivia Loots is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Research Programme at CANRAD. Her transdisciplinary research focuses on new materialist readings of the intersection between social and environmental justice in South Africa. She is particularly interested in the relationship between race and waste and aims to tease out the environmental and social benefits, challenges and paradoxes of environmental initiatives in the Eastern Cape. Olivia started working at CANRAD as a research intern in 2021 primarily to assist with the backroom operations of the 'The State We’re In: Democracy’s Fractures, Fixtures and Futures' conference. She received her PhD in Visual Studies in 2022 from the University of Pretoria, where she also completed her undergraduate studies. As graphic designer and illustrator, Olivia has done work for Nelson Mandela University, North-West University, University of Pretoria, Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), LAPA Publishers - a division of Penguin Random House in South Africa, and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS).