Pauline Bala

SHORT BIO

My name is Pauline Bala I am a Natural Resource and Environmental Management Enthusiast with a keen interest in improving rural people’s livelihood while balancing the sustainability aspect of it.  Academically, I have a BSc in Natural Resource Management from Egerton University, Kenya, and a double Master of Science degree in Sustainable Tropical Forestry From both the University of North Wales, Bangor, UK, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.  I have over 12 years of experience as a researcher and trainer in Kenya’s Public sector and Non-Governmental Organizations in areas related to Forestry, Environmental Management systems, climate change, and sustainability assessments. Throughout my Master’s academic experience and as a trainer in Environmental management, concerns have been raised on how to balance the three pillars of sustainability; Economic, Environmental, and social issues in all facets of development. This led me to my current PhD research on assessing emerging technologies meant to address climate change challenges for their sustainability. Specifically, I focus on Techno-sustainability assessments of solar-cooking technologies meant for the rural population of Kenya with the support of VLIR-IUC and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University. Specifically, the project aims to assess the effectiveness of solar cooking technologies, understand the socio-economic factors for sustained adoption and use of solar cookers, and environmental impacts of the technologies to inform the design of socially acceptable and environmentally sound but effective solar cookers for the target rural population.  Keywords: Techno- Sustainability, life cycle, Discrete Choice Experiment.