PhD Students
Zuzi Nyareli
Department of Botany and Zoology
According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ecological infrastructure is increasingly being destroyed or transformed around the world, with detrimental implications for human well-being. At the heart of this deterioration is the changing land cover due to unsustainable land-use practices aiming at meeting the economic development needs of the country. Ecological Infrastructure (EI) as specified by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) refers to naturally functioning ecosystems that provide valuable services to people, such as water and climate control, soil formation, and disaster risk reduction. Monitoring the long-term impacts of land cover change on the EI can provide a valuable starting point for understanding how the EI facilitates the delivery of ecosystem services over time. Zuzi aims to quantify the impacts of land cover change and climate change in Duiwenhoks catchment, Southern Cape, South Africa, over the past seven decades.
Maanda Raselabe
Department of Botany and Zoology
Google Scholar
Maanda’s PhD is focused on assessing the overall performance of semi-arid C4 grasses and their potential distribution under changing climate conditions. This will be achieved by measuring their gross primary productivity response to different environmental variables, assessing their eco-physiological responses to different temperature and water regimes, as well using modelling techniques to determine their potential distribution pattens. He aims to determine what the key drivers of primary production in C4 grasses are and how this productivity may change under temperature and water stress. He asks the question, what are some of the main climatic determinants on C4 grass distribution and how may this change in future based on their physiological niches? He will be using Eddy covariance flux towers, ground-based vegetation indices and greenhouse experiments to address these questions.
Tania Pogue
Department of Botany and Zoology
Google Scholar
I am currently a doctoral candidate in the CLIME lab at Stellenbosch University. I obtained a BSc and MSc degrees in Entomology from the University of Pretoria, where my research focused on the physiology and ecology of true fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in South Africa. My PhD research is focused on improving the thermal performance curve framework to better predict how insects will respond to climate change. To do this I am using the Asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis) as a model insect. My general research interests lie in exploring the interactions between insect behaviour, ecology, and physiology in an effort to better understand how insects interact with the world.
Perryn Richardson
Department of Botany and Zoology
Environmental temperature exerts a significant influence on insect physiology and their responses to climate variations. Many insects possess the capability to manifest diverse physiological and phenotypic traits, a phenomenon influenced by the temperatures they encounter during their developmental stages; this phenomenon is known as developmental plasticity. My PhD research is specifically centered on exploring this aspect of insect physiology. To achieve this, I employ the Asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis) as a model organism, complemented by local climate data collected from the environment to guide my research methodology. My research interests primarily revolve around insect physiology and molecular biology, with an ecological perspective aimed at addressing inquiries regarding the impact of climate and climate change on arthropods.