Mary-Jane Bopape is the Managing Director: South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON). Dr Bopape has a C2 (established researcher) National Research Foundation (NRF) rating. She holds a PhD degree in meteorology with a focus on cloud microphysics modelling obtained from the University of Pretoria. Mary-Jane worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow focused on modelling the greyzone boundary layer at the University of Reading. She also worked at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and South African Weather Service (SAWS) where she focused on weather and climate studies. She also lead activities on a weather and climate project to implement the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Cyber-Infrastructure Framework. She co-supervises postgraduate students at the Universities of Venda, Witwatersrand and North West. She is one of twenty one 2019 Climate Research for Development (CR4D) fellowship grantees and a 2021 AIMS Women Fellow in Climate Change Science. She was recognised by the President of South Africa as a pathfinder in 9 August 2019 speech on women’s day. She is a co-recipient of the 2008 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) award for young researchers, and a recipient of the 2013 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE) most promising young researcher award. She served as the co-President of the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS) during the 2018-2020 term. She was listed as one of the most influential Africans of 2021 by the New African magazine.

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