Bio
Nicola Rule is a PhD candidate and researcher doing her PhD through the African Centre for Cities. Working at the intersection of urban studies and climate change, Nicola’s doctoral research explores how local governments and residents learn in times of crisis, how relationships between them influence this learning, how different forms of knowledge are institutionalised and what this means for urban governance is a changing climate. Her research is funded through scholarships from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and Canon Collins Trust. Nicola has worked on urban environmental management and climate change responses in the local government, consulting, NGO and research sectors, most recently including collaborations with the African Climate and Development Initiative at UCT and the School of Geography at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University and a BSc Honours in Biological Science from UCT.
PUBLICATIONS
- Rule, NF, Dring CC, and Thornton TF. 2022. Meals in the melting-pot: Immigration and dietary change in diversifying cities. Appetite. 168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105728
- Rule, NF, and Hoffmann, J. 2018. The performance of Dactylopius opuntiae as a biological control agent on two invasive Opuntia cactus species in South Africa. Biological Control. 119:7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2018.01.001
- Rule, NF, Okem, AE, Bhanye, J, McLean, CT, Nduku, P, and Simpson, NP. 2026. Qualitative evidence synthesis of nature-based solutions for climate action in African cities: a systematic review protocol (methods protocol). PROCEED. https://doi.org/10.57808/proceed.2026.4
- Tacoli, C., Tolhurst, R., Currie, P., Bazira, H, Chirwa, W.C., Chimpjero, L.M, Cishibanji, A., Davis, K., Hodges, M.H., Kamara, M., Kabagale, L.N., Mamidy Yillah, R., Mwangi, V., Njoroge, I., Nkuba, B., Omoding, A.G., Otiso, L., Owuor, S., Rule, N., Seruwagi, G., Ssematiko, M., Tengbea, S., and Turay, H. 2024. Working Paper 15: Health, wellbeing and nutrition domain report. African Cities Research Consortium. Available at: https://www.african-cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ACRC_Working-Paper-15_June-2024.pdf
