Dr. Norotiana Rasambo is an Agricultural Engineer and holds a PhD in Natural Resources Management and Development from the University of Antananarivo - Madagascar. She specializes in forest management, biodiversity conservation, agroforestry, and sustainable ecosystem restoration.
She joined CCARDESA in November 2025 as a Project Officer for the Research for Agroecology Network of Southern Africa (RAENS) Project, funded by the EU. The project aims to establish and operationalize a Regional Multi-actor Research Network (RMRN) on Agroecology in the SADC Region. In this role, she supports regional coordination, stakeholder engagement, and the strengthening of agroecological research and knowledge exchange across Southern Africa.
Prior to joining CCARDESA, Dr. Rasambo served as a Scientific Project Manager for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBG Kew) under the TANETI Project, funded by the British Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) through the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) programme. She led research and coordination on ecosystem restoration and the management of Madagascar’s open ecosystems. She has also worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Principal Investigator on several projects funded by the International Foundation for Science (IFS), focusing on the domestication and adoption dynamics of Piper spp. (Tsiperifery) for sustainable forest management.
Her experience includes research roles in Madagascar with CIRAD Madagascar under the DomeTsip project, funded by the EU through the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), and the Varuna Living Forest Project, funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). She has also worked in research and community mobilization with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) under the SPICES program and contributed academically as a Part-time Lecturer at the Higher School of Agronomic Sciences of the University of Antananarivo.
Dr. Rasambo brings strong expertise in project management, research leadership, stakeholder engagement, and the development of evidence-based strategies for sustainable natural resource management.
