OUR TEAM
Committed to the Cause
We are dedicated to living more sustainably and are serious about practicing what we preach by incorporating change practices into our daily lives. This isn’t just a job for us, this is what we love to do!
Our team of skilled professionals bring a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to the organisation, including some of the most experienced environmental education practitioners in South Africa - who have managed the nationally implemented International Eco-Schools programme and the Water Explorer programme in South Africa.
One Planet SA has been recognised as one of the most successful implementation agents in terms of reach, innovation and supporting for school in diverse contexts. In 2017 the Water Explorer Programme, managed by Bridget Ringdahl, won the Water Conservation Award at the Eco-logic Enviropaedia awards in South Africa.
Bridget Ringdahl (M.Sc Environmental Science)
When Bridget was a little girl, she wept at the plight of the animals in the Johannesburg Zoo, particularly the lonely polar bear housed in a round Victorian cage. She set about selling homemade cake, raising R20.00 towards a new enclosure. When she was asked to open the new, more spacious, enclosure for the bear at the age of 10, her path as an animal rights and environmental activist was cemented. Since then, Bridget’s commitment to environmental issues has not wavered. She is the fearless leader of One Planet SA, ably turning her hand to a myriad of tasks – teaching solar cooking lessons, fundraising, planting food gardens, rocking our social media, organising workshops, and writing reports.
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Julia Invernizzi (B.A Social Science and PGCE)
Julia’s natural habitat is the hills and valleys where she spends as much time as possible hiking and cycling. Julia believes that everyone should be able to visit the natural and cultural wonders around us and regularly organises excursions to intriguing places.In schools across the province, she conducts Mini-SASS in tiny streams, praises rural learners for their eco-friendly bucket baths, plants indigenous gardens, and helps teachers unpack parts of the curriculum they are unfamiliar with.
BRIDGET RINGDAHL
Director and Fundraiser
JULIA INVERNIZZI
Lead School Facilitator and Materials Developer
Mduduzi Mchunu (B.Sc Environmental Science)
Mdu joined our team as an intern in 2019, discovered a passion for teaching, and never left. He brings valuable insights and lived experience to the project in a gentle, patient manner. Mdu has an amazingly ability to get learners and teachers involved in the learning process.
You will often find him clearing invasive plants in school grounds, demonstrating how wetlands filter and clean water, making tippy taps, or encouraging students to consider the impact their diet has on the planet. His dedication to making the world a better place is admirable.
Lindy McCann
Lindy has extensive accounting and financial management experience in the NGO and business sector. When she isn’t walking in forests of the Midlands with friends, she ensures that our finances are all ship-shape and our Annual Reports are impeccably accurate.
MDU MCHUNU
School Facilitator and Data manager
LINDY MCCANN
Financial Manager
THE STONEFLY PROJECT
We partner with the Stonefly Project in the Western Cape on certain environmental projects
Louine le Roux (M.Ed Environmental Education)
Louine has a deep love for people and the natural environment. She believes that transformation is possible when people are positively engaged and affirmed. She is committed to nurturing young, citizen scientists who will be worthy stewards of our planet.
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Ilse Jones
lIse grew up in the beautiful Botriver environment where her love for nature was nurtured through spending hours playing outdoors as a child. She enjoys interacting with children and sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge. She loves gardening and growing indigenous healing plants for her business "Khoekhoen Herbs" to make natural medicines available to more people in her community.
LOUINE LE ROUX
Citizen Science specialist
ILSE JONES
Intern