Majeje termites: Scientists uncover diversity in edible African delicacy, ecosystem hero
If biodiversity is one of the pillars of the sustainability of the African continent and the survival of its human inhabitants, then “Majeje” is a crucial brick without which the design would be very unstable. Majeje or Makeke are the indigenous names for a group of...
MSc FOCUS: Maduenyane wants to drive advancement in parasitology
Mpho Maduenyane is a 25 year old MSc student from Emdeni South in Soweto, Johannesburg. Upon completion of her matric studies at Dr B.W. Vilakazi High School in Soweto, she had no knowledge of Zoology but knew she wanted to become a forensic scientist inspired by...
Call for author proposals for new & updated GBIF technical guides
Herewith a Call for author proposals for new and updated GBIF technical guides. GBIF seeks submissions from experts or teams of experts to prepare new or updated documentation on the topics below. The deadline for authors’ submissions to prepare...
STUDENT FOCUS: Ndidi’s MSc working towards food security in South Africa
Lubabalo Ndidi is a 28 year old second year MSc student from Cape Town, Gugulethu. However, he says his family origins can be traced back to Eastern Cape. He recalls that he has always wanted to be at the forefront of research to find new ways of helping people deal...
You might qualify for an FBIP Small Grant if your work includes these outputs…
The South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) Prof Michelle Hamer recently told potential applicants for FBIP Small Grants that their projects must produce certain target outputs including DNA barcodes, species occurrence data, or species pages. Hamer...
STUDENT FOCUS: Reddy wants to revolutionise chemogenetics
Kaylan Reddy is a 24 year old first generation student both to university and as a post-graduate student whose initial interests were biochemistry. He grew up in Pretoria. He recalls that from a young age he sought to understand what made people the way they are...
Light shed on the dark territory of fungal diversity with 7 new species to science
A recent South African study has made a small but significant dent in the ~3 million unknown species of the Kingdom Fungi, delivering seven new fungi species to science. Approximately 148 000 species have already been taxonomically described globally, meaning...
STUDENT FOCUS: Nicolette Sianyuka looks at fracking & soil microbes
Nicolette is 25 years old and originally from Zimbabwe. She became interested in her field of study through one of her early mentors who also happened to be her biology teacher during her tertiary education. He was a passionate microbiologist who encouraged her to...