Dr Bianca Currie completed her undergraduate studies in nature conservation and went on to pursue a master's degree in resource economics, with a focus on land rehabilitation within the Berg River catchment in the Western Cape of South Africa in 2008. She continued with a PhD in social learning in water management in South Africa at Nelson Mandela University where she delved into the dynamics of water management within the Knysna Municipality. Following the completion of her studies, Dr Currie lectured in the School of Natural Resource Management for over a decade and headed up the Sustainability Research Unit at Nelson Mandela University, where she promoted inter and multi-disciplinary research aimed at addressing complex environmental challenges. In 2021, Dr Currie became the Chief Executive of the UNESCO Garden Route Biosphere Reserve and now focuses on governance in biosphere reserves and transdisciplinary research in landscape scale approaches to sustainability