Rika Preiser's research explores the philosophical and conceptual development of the features and dynamics that characterise complex adaptive systems and how complexity thinking can inform novel ways of inquiry in participatory and qualitative research methods. Her contribution lies in translating what the concepts mean or imply in various disciplines and domains of application. Rika is one of a few African complexity theorists that work on the African continent and brings her experience of the socio-political and scientific importance of complexity for a developing continent and offers contextual insights in how complexity thinking can be studied and applied from an interdisciplinary and African perspective. More recently her research is focussed on understanding the interconnected nature of social-ecological systems and the challenges they pose for creating more sustainable futures at the science-society interface. She is co-editor of the new Handbook: A Guide to Navigating Methods for Studying Social-Ecological Systems (Routledge 2021). This volume represents the first serious effort to introduce complexity-based research methods for studying social-ecological systems. Rika is a Fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar.
