Ms Shanna Nienaber

Ms Shanna Nienaber

Programme Manager: Water Research Commission

Topic: Innovating and commercialising within the parameters of legislation

Shanna Nienaber is a research and innovation ecosystem practitioner with 15 years working experience in the national system of innovation related to the water, climate, ecosystems, green economy and related fields. She has worked within science councils, national government, funding and ecosystem coordination agencies and volunteered in the non-profit sector. This professional journey has afforded her the opportunity to work as a researcher, policy maker, specialist programme manager, project implementer, and as a stakeholder and partnership facilitator.

From early in Shanna’s career her core preoccupation has been the question of how the knowledge, solutions and technologies generated within the science system can have a transformative impact in society. This had led her on a journey to explore dynamics that drive the science-policy-society nexus, communities of practice that build social capital for science impact and relevance, business development, and technology uptake needs within the water, climate, ecosystems sector.

She is the currently working as a programme manager at the Water Research Commission, facilitating the implementation of a range of water system of innovation projects.