PhD

2024

Hannelene Badenhorst (Ph.D.) – University of the Free State (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Collembola diversity in the semi-arid central part of South Africa.

Daniela Monsanto (Ph.D.) – University of Johannesburg (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Spatial-temporal variation in Collembola on sub-Antarctic Marion Island.

2021

Amy P. Liu (Ph.D.) – Monash University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Strangers in a strange land: key physiological innovations underpin radiation into hot, dry niches by genus Seira (Collembola: Entomobryoidea: Seiridae).

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MSc Students

2024

Marizanne Visagie (M.Sc.) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Belowground success: Collembola as indicators of restoration progress following active and restoration success along the Berg River.

2023

Abdul Ghaseeb Jacobs (M.Sc.) University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Collembola as key indicators of soil health in orchards.

Micaela Freeks (M.Sc.) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Target strength of bat prey in relation to pulse frequency and vegetation density in bat species, Rhinolophus fumigatus (Rüppell’s horseshoe bat).

Michiel Grobler  (M.Sc.) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Flame and Fodder: How fire and grazing shape arthropod communities in the Okavango Delta.

Gemma Nel (M.Sc. candidate) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor).
Thesis title: Belowground impacts of conservation agricultural practices in a seed production system in the Western Cape, South Africa.

2022

Abusisiwe Ndaba (M.Sc.) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Integrative taxonomy and biogeography of ants in the genus Anoplolepis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Southern Africa.

Gemma Walker (M.Sc. Conservation Biology), University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: The effects of urbanisation of pollinator communities in Cape Town, South Africa.

2020

Nkitseng Oageng Modise (M.Sc.) – University of Johannesburg (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Soil and water diversity in urban environments.

2019

Mthokozisi Twala – (M.Sc.) University of Pretoria (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: A test of the invasional meltdown hypothesis: Does Sagina procumbens facilitate the establishment of other invasive taxa on Marion Island?

Rashawe Kgopong (M.Sc.) – Stellenbosch University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: The impacts of alien plants on springtail diversity on sub-Antarctic Marion Island.

2015

Amy P. Liu – (M.Sc.) Stellenbosch University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Diversity and origin of the genus Seira (Collembola: Entomobryidae) in the Fynbos and Southern Afrotemperate Forest remnants of South Africa.

Conservation Biology MSc

2023

Matt Lienhofer (M.Sc. Conservation Biology), University of Cape Town (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Conserving seasonal patterns in nature: the association between seasonal invertebrate abundance and avian breeding phenology in an Afrotropical environment.

2022

Ricardo Guta (M.Sc. Conservation Biology), University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: Distribution and phylogenetic inference within the flightless spring katydids (Tettigoniidae: Brinckiella Chopard, 1955) in the Greater Cape Floristic Region.

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Honours Students

2024

Korben van der Vendt (Honours) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor)
Thesis title: The impact of altitude and temperature on beetle body size.

2023

Emma Oosterlee (Honours) University of Cape Town (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Does riparian vegetation in conservation areas perform important ecosystem services by assimilating agricultural pollutants?

David Klop (Honours) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor).
Thesis title: Impact of global change on the distribution of nymphalid butterflies in the Cape Peninsula.

2022

Aaron Pincus (Honours) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor).
Thesis title: Invertebrate diversity in different habitats amongst varying elevational zones on Mount Kilimanjaro: Collembola as an exemplar.

2021

Mishak Boshoff (Honours) – University of Cape Town (main supervisor).
Thesis title: Hidden success: below ground diversity following the restoration of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos.

2015

Laura Phillips B.Sc. (Honours) Monash University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Vulnerabilities to a changing climate: inherent risk and the potential for thermal adaptation in ectotherms.

Hugh Marshall B.Sc. (Honours) Monash University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: The effects of acclimation on desiccation tolerance in Australian Collembola species.

2009

Amy Liu – B.Sc. (Honours) Stellenbosch University (co-supervisor)
Thesis title: Collembola diversity in a Sand Fynbos site and an adjacent pine plantation.