Prof. Louis' M.Sc. Candidates
Roxanne Conradie
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Aquatic ecology & parasitology
Office:
Telephone:
Email: rox.conradie@gmail.com
Short Biography:
Roxanne Conradie is a Masters student studying under the supervision of Prof Louis du Preez and Prof Alan Channing from the University of the Western Cape. Her research involves invasive fish and their effect on local amphibians.
Anneke Lincoln Schoeman
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Entomology & evolutionary biology
Office: Potchefstroom campus, NWU, Building E6, Office G37
Telephone:
Email: anneke.lincoln@gmail.com
Short Biography:
Anneke is currently completing her Master's studies in the African Amphibian Conservation Research Group. For this purpose, she focuses on both anurans and their parasites. Her previous postgraduate studies mainly centred on the speciation and chemical ecology of dung beetles. She is also a part-time language and literature student.
Jani Reeder
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Amphibian parasites & phylogenetics
Office:
Telephone:
Email: jani.reeder@hotmail.com
Short Biography:
Jani Reeder is a Master's student. Her current project focuses on the DNA Barcoding and Phylogenetics of Northern KwaZulu-Natal frog species.
Ferdi de Lange
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Amphibian ecology & biology
Office: George, Western Cape
Telephone:
Email: ferdidl@me.com
Short Biography:
Ferdi de Lange is a Current MSc student under supervision of Prof Louis H Du Preez and is a member of the African Amphibian Conservation Research Group. After a career in the legal field and as property developer, he became involved in various development projects in Nature reserves and private game farms. These projects put him in close contact with environmental scoping, EIA processes and environmental authorisations as well as recommendations regarding habitat utilisations and conservation, which in turn lead him to start studying a BSc in Environmental sciences with Botany and Zoology as main subjects. On completion hereof, a part-time BSc Hons in Biodiversity and Conservation Ecology was undertaken with main focus the amphibian assemblages and habitat preferences within the Southern Cape region of the Western Cape Province. The current MSc Study focusses on the endangered Knysna Leaf-folding frog (Afrixalus knysnae) which occurs only in the Southern Cape region. The study aims to determine the Area of occupancy and Extent of Occurrence as well as analyzing the call structures, habitat and environmental preferences, mating behaviour and ultimately the IUCN status.
Fortunate M Phaka
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Science Communication
Office:
Telephone:
Email: mafetap@gmail.com; fortunate@youth4africanwildlife.org
Short Biography:
Fortunate is a young conservationist and one of Mail & Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans for 2016. He is currently a Project Leader for a conservation NGO called Youth 4 African and is working on a Masters project in the Zululand region of Kwazulu-Natal. His Master's study is focused on amphibian diversity and habitat utilisation within Ndumo Game Reserve. This study includes a Community-based Ecotourism and community upliftment element. Locals will be trained carry out frogging ecotours within the reserve as a way of earning supplementary income. A book called 'A Bilingual Field Guide To The Frogs Of Zululand' will be published and distributed among Zululand locals. The book was developed with help of members of various Zululand communities and most of the Zulu names for the frogs were formulated with their help.
Wentzel Pretorius
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Bio-Acoustics
Office: Potchefstroom campus, NWU, Building E6, Office G36
Telephone: 018 385 3413
Email: wentzel.pretorius93@gmail.com
Short Biography:
Wentzel is currently a Master's student, his project focuses on determining the amphibian biodiversity in Zululand, using passive acoustic recorders.
Mapule Biko'o
Position: MSc. student
Expertise: Biodiversity & Conservation Ecology
Office:
Telephone:
Email: bikooms@unisa.ac.za
Short Biography:
Her project aims to determine which anuran surveying method is both cost-effective and time efficient, by comparing Passive Acoustic sampling with Active sampling methodologies. In essence, it will be an attempt to determine optimum combination of survey techniques for minimum resource use and maximum species detectability. The project will be conducted at two sites, namely; Ndumo Game Reserve and the Makuleke Contract Park in the Kruger National Park.