Post-doctoral Research Fellows and Students

Dr Leandi Erasmus is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow and will be working with South African Research Chair in Welfare and Social Development, Prof Raniga. Dr Erasmus completed her PhD in Social Work at North-West University and also holds a degree in Psychology and Clinical Social Work and Play Therapy. She has had a varied career working in politics, heading up the Chairperson of National Activist Council and she runs a thriving private psychosocial clinical practice.

Leandi’s main PDRF topic is creating social support networks amongst women to pool their strengths and empower them. She is also working on a project with Prof Raniga about single mothers, social networks and food security. Lastly, she is working on an article on the psychosocial experience of social injustice among youth.

Dr Samson Konlan joins the team under the mentorship of Prof Tanusha Raniga as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow and is the recipient of the prestigious Global Excellence and Stature Fellowship Award. Dr Konlan earned his PhD in Social Work from the University of Johannesburg and holds three master’s degrees: a Master’s in International Development Studies and a Master’s in International Environmental Studies from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Oslo (Aas), and a Master’s in International Social Welfare and Health Policy from Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA), Norway. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, and has fifteen years of teaching experience.

Before embarking on his doctoral studies, he was engaged in a multi-country project on the poverty and sustainable development impacts of REDD+ architecture, led by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED, UK). His current research and publications focus on social protection policy, social work, poverty alleviation, sustainable livelihoods, and the integration of Eurocentric and Afrocentric strategies for social development.