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Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Name: Amanda-Leigh O鈥機onnell
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About Dr Amanda-Leigh O鈥機onnell
Amanda-Leigh O鈥機onnell is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Trilateral Chair in Transformative Innovation, the 4IR and Sustainable Development. She completed her PhD in Economics with a specialisation in Innovation in 2019. Her doctoral research examined the role of finance in sustainability transitions, using South Africa鈥檚 energy transition to green hydrogen as an instrumental case study. Matriculating in 1994, she completed a Bachelor of Business Science at the University of Cape Town, majoring in Economics and Accounting, with Honours in Finance. After graduating, she worked in investment banking institutions, specialising in risk management and deal evaluation before branching out into other industries, including design, manufacturing, and research. She later returned to academia to study for an M.Com, graduating cum laude in 2019 for her study on Corporate Social Responsibility as Risk Management.
鈥淭he Trilateral Chair in Transformative Innovation, the 4IR and Sustainable Development offers an opportunity to deepen research and critical thinking, build networks, and support fellow researchers. I aim to contribute to knowledge that supports South Africa鈥檚 growth and development and strengthens social welfare.鈥�
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, 东京热
Master of Commerce (Management), University of the Western Cape
Bachelor of Business Science (Hons) (Finance), University of Cape Town
CFA Program, CFA Institute 鈥� Completed Levels I, II, and III examinations
Research Interests
Finance in sustainability transitions; multi-system dynamics; transformative innovation policy; engaged policy experimentation.
Her doctoral research, The Role of Finance in South Africa鈥檚 Energy Transition to Green Hydrogen, conceptualises finance as a multi-scalar, multi-level configuration of rules and mechanisms, highly coherent across space and time. It develops new concepts, frameworks, and methods to study finance and develops causal explanations of its impacts and outcomes in the South African context. Through synthesis, including the use of speculative science fiction, it advances critical insights and propositions on the nature of finance as coherent, expansionary, and resistant to change. Crucially, her research advocates policy experiments to develop protected, ring-fenced interventions that reimagine financing rules to realise sustainable, just outcomes in the Global South.