ˇ - university of cape town€¦ · the university of cape town gratefully acknowledges the...

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

!��

i

��

��

� ��

��

��

��

� ��

� ��

��

!�� " � ��

!�� " � ��

�� #� #��#��

$ � �� #��

�� % �� %�� #��

��

&�� "� �� "� ��

'� �� % ��

DONORACKNOWLEDGEMENT

________________________The University of Cape Town gratefully acknowledges the sustained contributions of the following partners. Their support hasmade possible curriculum, staff and student transformation, improved student access to tertiary education, programmes that promote social engagement and community upliftment, as well as increased research capacity.

Alumni, Staff, Students and Leadership of UCTAbe Bailey TrustAlbert Wessels TrustAllan Gray Orbis FoundationAndreas and Susan Struengmann Foundation Attorneys Fidelity FundBen & Shirley Rabinowitz FoundationBM Raff Will TrustMr Bruce Trevor AckermanCancer Research TrustCape Bridge Trust CompanyCape Gate (Pty) LtdCarnegie Corporation of New YorkCHK Charities LtdCircle Capital VenturesMiss Vivien CohenDalib Investments (Pty) LtdDe Beers Fund Educational TrustDiscovery FoundationDr Stanley Batchelor Bursary TrustEJ Lombardi TrustEranda FoundationErnest Oppenheimer Memorial TrustEstate of Late George StratesFoschini Retail Group (Pty) LtdGinsburg Asset Consulting (Pty) LtdGoldman Sachs Charitable FundGlaxoSmithKline plcGuy Elliott Medical Research TrustHasso Plattner FoerderstiftungHCI FoundationHope for Depression Research FoundationHorace Alfred Taylor Will TrustHospital Welfare and Muslim Educational MovementInternational Bar Association Educational TrustJames Sivewright Scratchley Will TrustJoan St Leger Lindbergh Charitable TrustJohn and Margaret Overbeek TrustJohnson Matthey plcJP Morgan Chase South African Trust FoundationJRS Biodiversity FoundationLily & Ernst Hausmann Research TrustLorenzo and Stella Chiappini Charitable and Cultural TrustMary Slack & Daughters FoundationMedtronic FoundationMinerals Education Trust FundNational Lottery Distribution Trust FundNew Settlers FoundationNovo Nordisk (Pty) LtdPA Don Scholarship TrustPearson PlcPercy Fox FoundationPicasso HeadlinePM Anderson Educational TrustPolaris FoundationProfessional Provident SocietyRio Tinto PlcRoche Products (Pty) Ltd - DiagnosticsRockefeller Brothers FundRosalie van der Gucht Will TrustRustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd

Ruth and Anita Wise Charitable and Educational TrustSANLAMSigrid Rausing TrustSouthern African Music Rights Organisation LtdSouth African Norway Tertiary Development ProgrammeStatPro South Africa (Pty) LtdStavro Tsatsos TrustStevenson Family’s Charitable TrustThabo Mbeki Educational TrustThe A and M Pevsner Charitable TrustThe Ackerman Family Educational TrustThe Andrew W Mellon FoundationThe Atlantic PhilanthropiesThe Beit TrustThe Calleva FoundationThe Claude Leon FoundationThe David and Elaine Potter Charitable FoundationThe Donald Gordon FoundationThe Dora and William Oscar Heyne Charitable TrustThe Doris Crossley FoundationThe ELMA FoundationThe Ford FoundationThe Frank G Connock TrustThe Frank Robb Charitable TrustThe Gertrude Haas Performing Arts Scholarship FundThe Harry Crossley FoundationThe Hermann Ohlthaver TrustThe John Ellerman FoundationThe Justin and Elsa Schaffer Family UCT Scholarship TrustThe Khotso TrustThe Kresge FoundationThe Leanore Zara Kaplan Will TrustThe Leverhulme TrustThe Link-SA TrustThe Little Tew Charitable TrustThe Mauerberger Foundation FundThe Myra Chapman Educational TrustThe Nellie Atkinson TrustThe Nuffield FoundationThe Old Mutual FoundationThe Ove Arup FoundationThe Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of SAThe Raymond Ackerman FoundationThe Rockefeller FoundationThe Rolf-Stephan Nussbaum FoundationThe Shuttleworth FoundationThe Starr Foundation / Ernest and Brendalyn StempelThe Stella & Paul Loewenstein Educational and Charitable TrustThe Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research IncThe Wheatfield Estate Foundation TrustThe Wilfred Cooper TrustThe William and Flora Hewlett FoundationThe Wolfson FoundationTullow OilUnilever South Africa Home and Personal Care (Pty) LtdUnited Negro College Fund IncUpstream Training TrustVodacom (Pty) LtdWilfred Orr TrustThe Yvonne Parfitt Trust / Dinah Stell and Family

Thank you for helping UCT to pursue its vision of being a world class, research-led African university

3

FACULTYOF SCIENCECEREMONY 1

ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS

Academic Procession(The congregation is requested to stand as the procession enters the hall and

is invited to participate in the singing of Gaudeamus)

The Chancellor will constitute the congregation.

The National Anthem.

The University Statement of Dedication will be read by a member of the SRC.

Musical item.

Welcome by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor T Nhlapo.

Professor Nhlapo will present Ailsa Holloway for the Social Responsiveness Award.

Professor Nhlapo will present Susan Bourne, Kelly Chibale and Jill Farrant for the award of a Fellowship.

The honorary graduands, Brian Warner and George Ellis will be presented to the Chancellor bythe orator, Professor Francis Wilson.

The graduands will be presented to the Chancellor bythe Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor K Driver, assisted by the

Deputy Deans, Professor AP le Roex and Associate Professor A Hutton.

The Chancellor will congratulate the new graduates.

Professor Nhlapo will make closing announcements and invite the congregation to stand.

The Chancellor will dissolve the congregation.

The procession, including the new graduates will leave the hall.(The congregation is requested to remain standing until the procession has left the hall)

4

SOCIALRESPONSIVENESSAWARD

The Social ResponsivenessAward provides an institutional signal to members of the University thatsocial responsiveness is an important institutional priority.

Ailsa HollowayDoctor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical ScienceDisaster Mitigation Unit

There have been important global changes in disaster-related thinking in the past decade that stressan urgency to reduce risks developmentally. They also call for a more robust engagement by highereducation institutions in efforts to understand and reduce increasingly complex risks.

This was not always the case. For instance, when the Disaster Mitigation for SustainableDevelopment Project (DIMP) was established at UCT in 1998, it was viewed as an “NGO in auniversity”. Through Dr Holloway’s commitment to socially relevant research, DIMP began

investigating poorly understood disaster risks, including informal fires, urban floods and severestorms. This not only generated new knowledge that enabled the evolution of disaster riskmanagement in SA, but also contributed significantly to international disaster risk knowledge froma grounded African perspective. In 2003 and in response to demand for formal teaching in thisdomain, the Disaster Risk Science post graduate programme was approved by the Science Facultyand has continued to draw increasing numbers of students.

DiMP has provided an institutional platform for wide-ranging engagement with governmentand civil society stakeholders, generating important insights into disaster risk for key stake-holderconstituencies (such as local and provincial government representatives and disaster managers).Dr Holloway was appointed by the Portfolio Committee for Provincial and Local Government astechnical adviser to the parliamentary deliberations on the Disaster Management Bill. She was thenapproached by the National Disaster Management Centre to coordinate the drafting of the NationalDisaster Management Framework. The reform of South African disaster management legislationstimulated momentum for strengthening UCT’s social engagement in the disasters domain.

DiMP’s work with poor urban and rural communities has generated increasing insights intodisaster risks and disaster risk reduction among the most vulnerable. The post-graduate programmeis intellectually rigorous while also providing students with opportunities for socially relevantapplied research in at-risk communities.

Disaster risk science is an exciting, innovative and emerging field of study that is contextuallyrelevant to the Western Cape, socially responsive and methodologically robust. The passion andcommitment of Dr Holloway, the support for this emerging field by the Department ofEnvironmental Geographic Sciences (EGS) and its growing reputation as cutting-edge field of studyin Africa and beyond will sustain this initiative.

5

FELLOWSHIP

The election by Senate of a member of the faculty to be a fellow recognises sustained and originalcontributions through research or creative endeavour.

The fellows in the Faculty of Science and their years of election are:

2009: I Barashenkov1998: WJ Bond1983: GM Branch1998: DS Butterworth2005: MR Caira2005: A Chinsamy-Turan1995: JWA Cleymans2008: TM Crowe1996: MJ de Wit2001: AP Fairall1985: JG Field2005: CL Griffiths2005: AP le Roex1996: JRE Lutjeharms2007: JR Moss1995: BD Reddy2005: AL Rodgers2009: JC Sealy2006: TJ Stewart2005: JA Thomson2003: LG Underhill2006: RD Viollier

The following members of the Faculty of Science have been elected to a fellowship:

Susan Ann BourneProfessor in the Department of Chemistry

Susan Bourne obtained her PhD at the University of Cape Town in 1991 in Physical OrganicChemistry and has spent extended periods at the University of South Florida (USA), MonashUniversity (Australia), The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest) and the University ofBristol (UK). Susan Bourne’s research interests are in the area of Structural Chemistry. She haspublished widely on the subject of supramolecular structures and their macro properties. Her initialinterest was in organic inclusion compounds and their selectivities, but she has extended herinterests to encompass hybrid supramolecular materials. She synthesized a variety of transitionmetal-organic polymers which have the potential to absorb and store gases and also act as selectivesensors to certain vapours. During the course of her research Susan Bourne made considerableadvances in the field of solid-solid reactions, which are carried out without solvents and are thus ofconsiderable interest to industry because they are environmentally benign and thermodynamicallyefficient. The strength of her research is in correlating three-dimensional structure at the molecularlevel with the macro properties of the targeted crystalline solid, such as thermal stability, kinetics ofdecomposition, spectroscopic properties and sorption phenomena. In this manner Susan Bourne hasfirmly made her mark in the discipline of Crystal Engineering.Susan Bourne has published 98 papers in the international literature, many of these are in highimpact journals. Her work has been cited more than 750 times and her “h” index is currently 14.Her impact can also be measured by the fact that she has represented South Africa at the GeneralAssemblies of the International Union of Crystallography (2005 and 2008) and that she is on theeditorial board of the Journal of Chemical Crystallography and of Crystal EngineeringCommunications. Susan Bourne is an outstanding scientist, who has made a significant impressionin the field of solid-state Chemistry and has contributed to the understanding of Science in ourcommunity.

6

Kelly ChibaleProfessor in the Department of Chemistry

Kelly Chibale was born in Zambia where he received his first degree from the University of Zam-bia. He then spent 2 years in Zambia (1987-89) working in industry making commercial explosivesfor use in Zambian mines. In 1989 he was awarded a Cambridge Livingstone Trust Scholarship andobtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1993 in the field of asymmetric synthesis underthe supervision of Stuart Warren.After winning a Sir William Ramsay British Postdoctoral ResearchFellowship, he spent 2 years (1992-1994) at the University of Liverpool working on chiral organolan-thanide reagents with Nick Greeves. He then won a Wellcome Trust International Prize TravellingResearch Fellowship and spent the following 2 years (1994-1996) at the Scripps Research Instituteworking on the total synthesis of natural and designed molecules of medical significance with K.C.Nicolaou, one of the world’s leading synthetic organic chemists. Chibale joined UCT on 1 October1996 and has risen through the ranks to full Professor (2007). In 2008 he was awarded a Tier 1DST/NRF South African Research Chairs Initiative Chair in Drug Discovery. He was appointed asthe first Director of the new UCT/MRC Drug Discovery and Development Research unit witheffect from 1 April 2009.Since joining UCT he has held a Wellcome Trust International Research Development Fellowship(1997-2001). In 2002 he received the first Sandler Sabbatical Fellowship for Basic Research inParasitic Diseases at the University of California San Francisco (USA) and an invited Professorshipat Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (France). In 2004 he was named theInternational Union of Pure andApplied Chemistry (IUPAC)Award Lecturer at the 9th InternationalConference on Chemistry in Africa in Arusha, Tanzania. In 2005 his laboratory was selected as oneof the 5 (3 in the USA, 1 in the UK and his UCT laboratory) World Health Organization (WHO)Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry Centres of Excellence. In 2006 he was appointed ChiefCoordinator of the Global Institute for Bioexploration in Africa. For 4 months in 2008, he was aVisiting Professor at the world’s largest pharmaceutical company Pfizer in the UK. During his UCTcareer, he has successfully supervised eleven (11) PhD and seventeen (17) MSc research studentsas well as trained sixteen (16) postdoctoral fellows. He has published more than sixty five (65)papers in journals of high standing and impact factor while also attracting in excess of R60 millionin research grants. He serves on many bodies, including being an advisor to the WHO on drugdiscovery and is a member of the Medicines for Malaria Venture Expert Scientific AdvisoryCommittee, a member of the European Union AntiMal consortium management committee, afounder member of the South African Malaria Initiative and a member of the IUPAC Biomolecularsub-committee. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of Recent Patent Reviews on Anti-in-fective Drug Discovery and Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry with Nobel LaureatesK. Barry Sharpless and Ryoji Noyori. Currently his research group is composed of 25 researchersincluding 11 postdoctoral fellows, 12 PhD students and 2 MSc students. His present researchinterests are in discovery of potential drugs that fight malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cancer,hypertension and cardiovascular disease. He has a total of 520 lifetime citations and H factor of 14.

Jill Margaret FarrantProfessor in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology

Jill Farrant is a world leader in the field of plant desiccation tolerance; achieving first an NRFPresidents award and now an NRF A-rating for her work. She is the second woman to achieve sucha rating and the first in the Natural Sciences. The work has been honoured by 14 additional awards.She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of SA (on whose council she serves) and is a member of theAcademy of Science of SA, where she also serves as a Founding Member of the ExecutiveCommittee for the SouthAfrican Chapter of the Third World Organisation of Women in Science. Shehas published 102 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, has over 150 conference abstractsand given numerous invited talks at international conferences. In return, she reviews papers for some15 journals, is Associated Editor of two International Journals and has organized 5 InternationalConferences. Passionate about research and academia, she has graduated 13 PhD and 25 MScstudents and is currently supervising 6 PhD and 10 MSc students. She currently holds a DST/NRTSouth African Research Chairs Initiative Research Chair.

7

HONORARYDEGREES

George Francis Rayner Ellis – Doctor of Science

George Ellis, BSc (Hons) (University of Cape Town 1960) PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics (Cambrige1967) held appointments at Cambridge until he returned to UCT as professor of applied mathematics in 1974. In 1988 hewent to the Scuola Interrnazional di Studi Avanzati, returnig to UCT in 1993. He was appointed Distinguished Professor ofComplex Systems in 1999. He retired in 2004. He was elected FRS in 2005.

He is one of the most distinguished scholars, past or present, that this country has produced. His 350 articles or chaptersin books, and 12 books span disciplines as diverse as cosmology, complexity, neural development and the brain, sciencepolicy, social development, science and mathematics education, and the relationship between science and religion.

George Ellis is a world leader in general relativity and cosmology. His seminal contributions to this field include thedevelopment of the singularity theorems (with Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking) the monograph ‘The Large ScaleStructure of Spacetime’, (with Hawking), and his fundamental work on observations in cosmological models, in which headdresses the relationship between theoretical cosmology and cosmological observations. In recent years he has writtenextensively on the topics of emergent universes and ‘multiverses’.He now works on a set of problems that represent arguably the greatest current challenge to scholarship: an understandingof the workings of the brain, and the relationship to human behaviour, the intellect, and emotions.

George Ellis is an activist in the best sense of the word. He has contributed through enduring public service towards improvingthe quality of life of the most marginalised. As an unrelenting critic of the apartheid government he co-authored The Squat-ter Problem in the Western Cape (1977), and Low Income Housing Policy in SouthAfrica (1979) and took a courageous andpublic stand on the “third force” activities of elements of the security services.

He has written and spoken extensively on the relationship between science and religion. In 2004 he was awarded theTempleton Prize for his contributions towards achieving a better understanding of the relationship between science andspirituality, for work advocating a balance between the rationality of evidence-based science and phenomena that lie beyondthe ability of science to explain: aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, meaning, morality, faith and hope.

Brian Warner – Doctor of Science

Brian Warner is among the more distinguished scientists to have made his home on South African soil. He obtained a BSc(first class honours) in 1961 and a PhD (Astronomical Spectroscopy) in 1964 from the University College, London; a DScfrom the University of London in 1972; and a DSc from Oxford in 1986. Following appointments at Oxford and theUniversity of Texas, he joined the University of Cape Town as Professor and Head of Department of Astronomy in 1972.He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Natural Philosophy in 1999. He retired in 2004.

In a career spanning almost fifty years he has had a prodigious scientific output, with four hundred scientific papers andeighteen books: that on Cataclysmic Variable Stars is considered definitive in its field. His encyclopaedic memory, masteryof mathematics and command of English make him an intellectual giant.

The citations to his work are numerous, and continue to include some of his very early papers on lunar phenomena andastronomical seeing. While at the University of Texas together with Edward Nather he published the first proper light curveof a visible pulsar, that in the Crab Nebula. That same type of observation – high speed photometry – found its mark in therapid variations of stars now termed ‘Cataclysmic Variables’ where matter streaming from one star builds up around itscompact companion. His interpretation of the physical situation set the scene for years to come. In 1997 he was invited todeliver an discourse at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union – the accolade that organisationbestows.

Brian Warner has deep interests beyond his discipline. He has produced several carefully researched books on the historyof astronomy and related matters, is one of the experts on William and John Herschel, and was commissioned byHarry Oppenheimer’s Brenthurst Library to edit the ‘Flora Herscheliana’, a collaborative effort with John Rourke.

He has served on numerous councils and boards that integrate science with society, inter alia, the Council of the SouthAfrican Museum (Iziko), and the SA Library. NAMES OF GRADUANDS/DIPLOMATES

8

NAMES OFGRADUANDS/DIPLOMATES

An asterisk * denotes that the degree ordiploma will be awarded in the absence ofthe candidate.

FACULTYOF SCIENCE

Dean: Professor K Driver

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

In Biology, Earth andEnvironmental Sciences:*Oliver Marc AngelilSandra Appavoo MoodellyHeath Beckett

*Joanne BentleyCraig Daniel Bester

*David Alexander BlackOliver Marcus BonsteinIan Michael Brumfitt

*Niel BurgerNaledi ChereMorgan Lawrence Commins (with

distinction in Environmental &Geographical Science and MarineBiology and the degree withdistinction)

*Oliver Silver CowanTaryn Lynne de Beer

*Kimon de GreefBabette De JongLauren de Vos (with distinction in

Environmental & GeographicalScience and the degree withdistinction)

Jan Hofmeyr Dewaal*Jeremy Kenneth DickensElizabeth Jane DudleyKieron James DunnTrevor Bruce EdwardsLynise Joy Christal Esterhuizen

*Deborah Jean FogellNicholas James Fordyce (with

distinction in Zoology)Roxanne Fourie

*Jonathan Peter FrickKirsten Sarah Leilani GallaherRyan Neil Gerner

*Greg Michael Ghaui*Mark Richard GhauiDaniel Dean GrayNontobeko Khanyi GuleKeolebogile Halenyane

Alexander Stuart HallTimothy James Macdonald HudsonPierre Daniel HugoSheona Noemi InnesFarghaana IsmailSiyanda JackKay-Leigh KilianZiyaad LallaTumelo Nathan LeburuEmma Jessica Loftus (with distinction

in Archaeology and the degreewith distinction)

Bandile Nomathamsanqa MakhubuTakalani Moses MandiwanaRotondwa MasindiReginald Tendani Mathivha

*Samantha Anne Maxwell-HafenLeila Mical MitraniAdam MoodleyBrenda ObathLisa Melani Otten

*Kyle Michael PetersonMarie Catherine Raissa Philibert (with

distinction in Chemistry)*Fiona Kate Preston-Whyte*Samir Nicholas Randera-ReesRaymond Gene RitchieAndrew Peter RussellAnthony James SchultzOarabile SekgweleOlaotse ShadiRaymond Myles Siebrits (with distinction

in Ocean & Atmosphere Science)Mpumelelo Nomshado SitholeZachary SmithSarah Grace TaylorTamsyn van RensburgJan-Adriaan ViljoenKelly Ellen Patricia Vlieghe (with

distinction in Zoology)Fabian von HaseKerryn Ashleigh Warren (with distinction

in Archaeology and Physiology)Chantel Williams

*Warren Kyle WitteKyran Lane Buckley Wright

In Chemical, Molecular andCellular Sciences:Yoonus AbrahamsMuneebah AdamsGadija AklekerZulfah AlbertynDanielle Lisa AlexanderLouise-MaryAlexander (with distinction inPhysiology)Taigh Byrne AndersonJennifer Mary AuretJonathan Scott Gordon BaileySuvil BasantGabriella Cecily Berrington

Thobela Lukas BixaJason BoschMegan BowlesAmy Lynne BrunetteIric ChenRu-pin Alicia Chi

*Jung-A ChoiJason Michael CottleJennifer Wendy Curry (with distinction in

Microbiology and Physiology)Lyle Michael CurryMelissa De LangeShaun de Ravel de L'argentiere (with

distinction in Physiology and thedegree with distinction)

Aimee Kim Dollman (with distinctionin Physiology)

Lucian Duvenage (with distinction inBiochemistry and Microbiology andthe degree with distinction)

Guy Thomas EverittSaajidah FakierTanko Fatime RamlaToni Lynn FeldmanTarryn Anne FraserMicah Zev Friedland

*Nimtaz Zahir GigaAlastair Michael GillespieGrant Kenneth GodsmarkFarai GoneseMohammed Mubeen Goolam (with dis-tinction in Genetics)Yashini GovenderAnita Nokuthula GulwaTarin Leigh HanekomNasheeta HaniefMelanie Claire Hay (with distinction in

Genetics and Physiology and thedegree with distinction)

Alexandra Beryl Hibberd*Wenli HuangAqeela ImamdinFeroza IsaacsSaleemah JafferAeysha JakoetJia-lin Karen JiangSinethemba KameniIrenee KaminuzaLuke Anthony KannemeyerMohaimin KasuCalvin Dean Kemp

*Boris Vejen KrivochievShavon KumarTaariq LallaKelly Lauren LeachLauren Leigh LemkusThomas Tietze LoveShelley Xin Ma (with distinction in

Physiology)Petra Maass (with distinction in

Physiology)*Gwinyayi Graham Mabika 9

Khanyisa Prudence MabundaMandla MabundaMpho Ditsepu MadibaZiningi Charity Madonsela

*Nisha Makan (with distinction inBiochemistry and Physiology and thedegree with distinction)

Simon Mashudu Marcus (with distinctionin Biochemistry)

Shannon Bianca Marks (with distinctionin Microbiology)

Samuel MarupingChido Lucia Mataruka

*Vaughan Jean MaurelJeanne Monique MeterJames Colin Meyer

*Robert Anthony MiltonRafolatsane Phillip MonatisaGraham Keith MorrisonRolong Mots'oaneDunja Mrdjen (with distinction in

Microbiology)Andani Errol MuleluChristine Tariro Sanelisiwe MzengezaShankari NairSibusiso Hope NgwenyaPaul Francois NieuwoudtNthatisi Nkoebele

*Stewart James NormanMogogi Pamela OagileEva Brigitte PansegrauStephen Tafadzwa ParirenyatwaNtseo Jane PhafaneJessica Kate PhillipsLindsay Anne PollardStephanie Rose Preyer (with distinction in

Physiology and the degree withdistinction)

Rory-Dean Ravells*Keren Jon RobertsonShakeela SayedManare Molahlegi Dorothy SemenyaLa-Toya Seoke

*Yojnah Devi SewockEmma Liesl SilbernaglVuyolwethu Penelope Siyo

*Christopher Anton StarkeTapiwa Silas TeveraGoitseone ThamaeZimkita Buhle TofuLuke TomlinsonMario Samora TyatyaKerri Ann van der Berg (with distinction in

Genetics and Physiology and thedegree with distinction)

Dale Anne van der VeenDavid Lesley Wilkinson

*Legh WilkinsonChristine Rose WilliamsShaun Neil Woodman

In Mathematical, Physical andStatistical Sciences:Shahista Karim Adam

*Tinashe Daniel ChatoraSandeep Vijay ChavdaKudzai ChigijiJeung Un ChoQuinton Walter CollinsKyle Glen CoxJoanita Kaire DambisyaMichelle Mari De Decker (with distinction

in Applied Mathematics)Ashwina DhunnooMahlagaume Mafulasha DinkwanyaneKhanyisa Phumza DubeDariusz Tadeusz DybalaTyron Shawn EvertsFrancois Johannes Fagan (with distinction

in Applied Mathematics andMathematics and the degreewith distinction)

Michael Alan Fedderke (with distinctionin Applied Mathematics and Physicsand the degree with distinction)

Maike GeversSamkelo Sinaye GinindzaVanishree GovenderJosiane Marie Muriel GravenorSibusisosethu Muziwenhlanhla GuleChristoph Hagspihl (with distinction in

Applied Mathematics and Mathematicsand the degree with distinction)

*Baveshan Nandhlal HarbhajanVincent John Hare (with distinction in

Archaeology)*Ryan Donovan HarmuthHeather Mary HobsonHilda JosephSharon Takudzwa KarimatsengaFulufhelo KutamaShravan LalbahadurFerdinand Lebogang LechesaJames Patrick Lee-Thorp (with distinction

in Applied Mathematics and Physicsand the degree with distinction)

Modise John-Bosco MaoengPretty Thoko MatosiJames Peter Mbewu (with distinction in

Applied Mathematics and the degreewith distinction)

Bryce James McCallDaniel McKenzie (with distinction in

Applied Mathematics and Mathematicsand the degree with distinction)

Timothy Andrew McLennan-Smith (withdistinction in Applied Mathematics andPhysics and the degree withdistinction)

*Christopher Leigh Mills*Anand MoodleyKemeshen MoodleyDelevile Phineas Motoneshe

Mhlantlendlovu NcukanaGugulethu NogwebelaKelvin Keari Nyambane

*Aslam ParkerLerato Mirriam PilaneSherwin PillayDevasan PoonsamyTimothy Mark PovallVinesh Rajpaul (with distinction in

Mathematics and Physics andthe degree with distinction)

Mpati Analicia RamatsokuAshay RamnarainPershalini RuthanamAndrew Trygve Schaug (with distinction

in Mathematics and Physics and thedegree with distinction)

Silas SelekaneMithu Ann Stephen

*Ryan Baruch Sweke (with distinction inApplied Mathematics and Physics andthe degree with distinction)

Lufefe TuswaAndries Jacobus Van den heeverCarl Veller (with distinction in Applied

Mathematics and the degree withdistinction)

Andrew Stephen Ward (with distinctionin Physics)

Kathryn Jean WichtDarryn Williams (with distinction

in Mathematics)Brian Mathew Willis

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OFSCIENCE (HONOURS)

In Actuarial Science:(With distinction) Paolo Piero InnocenziTinotenda Winston Madzingira

In Applied Mathematics:*Neil Deryck AllenLiam Brent Furman(With distinction) Terence Jonathon

GoldbergSicelo Praisegod Goqo(With distinction) Michael Malahe

*Jeremy Paul Westwood

10

In Archaeology and Environmental Science:Matthew Edward Scarborough

In Astrophysics and Space Science:*Emirant Bertillas Amabayo*Thomas Kofi Asafuah*Racheal Athieno*Hassan Bourhrous*Laure Catala(With distinction) Pieter Jacobus Conradie

*Sally Ann Macfarlane*Jabulani Paul Maswanganye*Keoikantse Moses Mogotsi*Malefetsane Daniel NhlapoChijioke Bright NwosaMuzikayise Edward Sikhonde

*Hendrik Petrus van Heerden*Marlie van ZylAnthony Paul Walters

In Atmosphere Science:Roxanne Elizabeth Adams(With distinction) Francis Brendan Argent

*Tebogo Mosehla Simon Mokgomo(With distinction) David Bernard Ogier(With distinction) Priscilla Tracy

Rowswell*(With distinction) Katinka Lund

Wagsaether

In Botany:*Catherine Margot BrowneCherie Janine Forbes

*Caitlynne Melanie Francis*Michelle Claire Malan*Liliyane Ingelein Jeanne Mendel*(With distinction) Nicholas Wilding*Stephanie Jo Williams

In Chemistry:Gregory David Bowden(With distinction) Kyle David Fernandes

*Rebaone Elvis MasigaMudalo Isabel NemadzhililiAneesa OmarRichard Michael Payne(With distinction) Wade Frank Petersen

In Disaster Risk Science:Craig Neil DaviesRichard Alexander Donaldson

*Ekari Valerie Mbvundula

In Environmental andGeographical Science:Tasneem Collins

*Phillipa Veronica KlorygaShaun Alexander Moir

*(With distinction) Inka Ivette Schomer*Carlene Anne van der HeidenNicholas James Wiid

In Geochemistry:Jacques Ulrich Vogeli

In Geology:Simon BaerEugene Winston BerghWilliam ChengCaitlin DayTanya Shayna Dreyer

*Carly FaberMenzi Bright HadebeWandisa Samkelisiwe Hlongwane

*Teboho Allan MojakiMotshidisi NgwagweThakane NtholiFernando Yorich Gurschzon SylvesterMelissa van NiekerkPia Alexa Viglietti

In Mathematical and Theoretical Physics:*(With distinction) Matthew Gilbert Bickell*(With distinction) Jean-Gabriel Keiser

Hartmann*Jethro Venn Ridl(With distinction) Anton van Niekerk

In Mathematics:Kate Jillian Bester(With distinction) Max Stacey Rabkin

In Mathematics of Computer Science:(With distinction) Keegan Carruthers

Smith

In Molecular and Cell Biology:Lance Anders(With distinction) Megan Beckett(With distinction) Vaibhav Bhardwaj(With distinction) Rubina Bunjun(With distinction) Jadee Ida CoetzeeAnastashia Andrea DienerDavor Egersdorfer

*(With distinction) Nicholas JohnGrantham

Owen KarimanziraLovemore Kunorozva

*(With distinction) Rafe Lyall

(With distinction) Rosemary LaurenMeggersee

Ayesha MohamedKarusha Moonsamy

*Viantha Naidoo*Kebatshabile Chesesani Nfanyana*Snusha RavikumarByron William Patrick Reeve

*Michael Munir Wolf*Zheng Lin Yuan

In Ocean and Atmosphere Science:*Nicole du Plessis(With distinction) Luke GregorMadoda Brian Khumalo

*(With distinction) Sarah-Anne Nicholson*Nicholas Christopher PringleTshikana Phillip Rasehlomi

*Ceinwen Margaret Lana Smith

In Physics:Louis John MajawaAngus James Morrison

In Statistical Sciences:Michelle Chinhema

*Robert Mark Roxin

In Theoretical Physics:Deanne Larissa de BudeDavid Nicholaas de Klerk

*(With distinction) Amalio DinoJohn Giovannoni

In Zoology:*(With distinction) Jessica Dawson(With distinction) Petra Brigitte de Abreu

*Farheen Dalvi*Dominic Augustine Wilmot HenryGina Kim LouwSkye Kathryn MarksDane Lee MarxJason James Mingo

*Frances Lorelle MorlingRobert Nicholas Vause Raw

*Alanna Jane Rebelo*Evans Kamwi SimasikuMurray Graeme StephensonRowen Brandon van Eeden

*Megan Elizabeth van ZylWendy Megan WestThomas Otto Whitehead

In Zoology (Marine Biology):*Erika Kean

11

DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE

In Applied Marine Science (Oceanography):Caren Dawn George

In Applied Marine Science (Zoology):Janine Basson(With distinction) Grea Wessels

In Applied Mathematics:*Alnadhief Hamed Ahmed AlfedeelZareer van der Fort

In Astrophysics and Space Science:*Yabebal Tadesse FantayeSean Philip February

*Amare Abebe GidelewJean Claude Kubwimana

*Anne Marie Kasyoka Nzioki*Obinna Cosmas Umeh

In Chemistry:Mpelegeng Victoria BvumbiPrinessa ChellanDeshen Kistamurthy

*Zizile Mhlambiso*Tozama Ogunleye*(With distinction) Johan Albert Strumpfer

In Environmental andGeographical Science:Tesfahun Asmamaw Kasie(With distinction) Mark William Matthews

In Geochemistry:David James Long

In Mathematics:(With distinction) Olivier Olela Otafudu

In Mathematics of Finance:Abubakar Malik AddaeLeonard Marufu Charivanda

*Togarasei Peter Chingoma*Stephanus Francois EngelbrechtCharles Kasongo Mbayi

In Molecular and Cell Biology:*Henrique-Barry Eiman

In Ocean and Atmosphere Science:*(With distinction) Elizabeth Jane Robertson

In Physical Oceanography:*Michael Peter Funke*Issufo Ferrao Mario Halo

In Physics:Oluwole David Solana

In Zoology:*Tanya Magdeleen HauptZoma Anne Ketley(With distinction) Hildegard KleinAnja Isabel Teroerde

DEGREE OF MASTER OFPHILOSOPHY

In Archaeology:Katharine Kyriacou

In Environmental Management:Samuel AaronJohan Nicholaas Wilhelm de JagerMekondjo Etegameno Tangeni

ShanyengangeMathilda Jaci van Niekerk

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In Applied Mathematics:Quinn Gareth ReynoldsThesis Title: Mathematical andcomputational modelling of the dynamicbehaviour of direct current plasma arcs

Quinn Reynolds was born in Durban in 1976.He obtained the degree of BSc (Eng) inChemical Engineering from the Universityof Natal (now UKZN) in 1997, and the de-gree of MSc in Engineering from the Uni-versity of the Witwatersrand in 2001. Sincereceiving his undergraduate degree he hasworked at Mintek in Randburg, Johannes-burg, in the capacity of Research Engineerwith a special focus on modelling, simula-tion, and computational aspects of high-tem-perature metallurgical processes.

Quinn Reynolds's thesis considersthe problem of direct-current plasma arc be-haviour, interaction, and dynamics in thecontext of metallurgical DC furnace applica-

tions. A mathematical formulation includingthe spatial and temporal evolution of fluidflow, heat transfer, and electromagneticfields is presented, and a number of strongcoupling effects are identified. Numerical ap-proximations to the mathematical formula-tion are developed using modern finitedifference methods on regular cartesian gridsin two and three dimensions, with a specialfocus on stable, high resolution, and highperformance modelling. Numerical tests areperformed to assess convergence, accuracy,and stability of the various components ofthe model. The model is then applied in awide range of numerical examples in orderto study the effects of various process and de-sign variables on the behaviour of both singleand multiple arc systems.

Through its unique approach to themodelling of the problem, the thesis providesinsight into a number of novel effects andphenomena relating to the dynamic behav-iour of DC plasma arc systems. It is expectedthat many of these may lead to improved un-derstanding, control, and manipulation ofsuch systems where they occur in industrialapplications.

Supervisor: Professor BD Reddy(Mathematics and Applied Mathematics)

Maashutha Samuel TshehlaThesis Title: Two dimensional flow ofvariable viscosity fluids

Maashutha Samuel Tshehla was born inSekororo district near the town of Tzaneen.He obtained a BSc degree in MathematicalScience, at University of Limpopo in 1997.He subsequently obtained his BSc(Hons) andMSc(Appl Math) from the University ofLimpopo.

In Maashutha Tshehla’s thesisstudy, the shear driven laminar flow of a vari-able viscosity fluid between parallel plates orwith a free surface, is examined. The fluidlayers are assumed to be thin so that lubrica-tion theory may be applied. Results are ob-tained for the flow rate, velocity andtemperature fields for gravitational forcingusing three shear rate dependent viscositymodels (Carreau, power law and Ellis mod-els). The same set-up is examined for a tem-perature dependent viscosity model.Combinations of both analytical and numer-ical techniques are used to extract the resultsand important features of flow are high-lighted. Surface tension driven flow is ex-amined and a brief discussion on correctionsto lubrication theory is given. This study hasprovided useful insight concerning the ap-12

propriateness of the various standard fluidmodels and produced results of importanceto a number of industrial applications.

Supervisor: Professor TG Myers (Mathe-matics and Applied Mathematics)

In Astronomy:Bonita de SwardtThesis Title: The structure, stellar contentand dynamics of dwarf galaxies in the localvolume

Bonita de Swardt was born in Cape Town.She obtained a BSc in physics followed by aBSc (Hons) in theoretical physics and ap-plied mathematics, both at UCT. She thenpursued and obtained two MSc degrees, thefirst one in cosmology from UCT, and thesecond one in astrophysics from RutgersUniversity, before she started her PhD in as-trophysics.

Bonita de Swardt’s research con-sists of an in-depth study of a sample ofnearby dwarf galaxies. Dwarf galaxies formthe building blocks of larger galaxies. Theirstudy provides insight into the formation andevolution processes of these galaxies. Sheobtained deep near-infrared observations ofsix nearby dwarf galaxies with the InfraRedSurvey Facility at Sutherland to determinetheir stellar and dark matter distribution. Halfof these low luminosity galaxies were de-tected for the first time, while the other ear-lier measurements revealed underestimatesby up to 0.5 magnitudes. She derived thebasic structural parameters of the dwarfs.From that she determined the metallicitiesand stellar masses. It was found that thesefield dwarfs all follow the same B- versus H-band luminosity relation as the Virgo galaxycluster. A distinct nucleus was identified inmost galaxies. Surprisingly the deep near in-frared images of the dwarf galaxy NGC 59revealed a double nucleus, both with a sig-nature of recent star formation.

To study the kinematical behav-iour, and to address the still controversialquestion whether intermediate mass blackholes exist at the centre of dwarf galaxies,long-slit observations were obtained with the10m Southern African Large Telescope(SALT) in Sutherland for the dwarf galaxyNGC 59. These pilot project data were ob-tained in the performance verification phaseof SALT. The results of her technical analy-sis provided important feedback to the SALTastronomers in assessing SALT’s perform-ance. The resulting spectra were used to de-rive the kinematics as well as the chemicalcontent of the galaxy. She could determine a

central velocity dispersion of 80 km/s. By ex-trapolating the known linear relation betweenthe Black Hole mass and the central velocitydispersion to the lower regime, this allowsfor an intermediate mass Black Hole of 4 x106 solar masses.

Supervisor: Professor RC Kraan-Korteweg(Astronomy)Co-supervisor: Dr H Jerjen (MSO, ANU,Australia)

In Botany:*Amina Abdullah Al-FarsiThesis Title: Molecular, morphological andbiogeographic studies of the stapeliadswith emphasis on the genus Caralluma s.l.(Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae)

Amina Al-Farsi was born in Oman, and hasa BA in Biology and an MA in Environmen-tal Science from the Sultan Qaboos Univer-sity of Oman.

Her thesis is a broad examinationof the systematics of the stapeliads, a majorcomponent of the tribe Ceropegieae, utiliz-ing molecular, morphological and biogeo-graphic data to analyze relationships atvarious hierarchical levels. The complexityof morphological and genetic patterns pro-vides a possible explanation for the numer-ous alternative generic circumscriptions thathave been proposed over the years. The the-sis has provided deep insights into the sys-tematics of the genus Caralluma, and shownthat its infra-generic groups are not mono-phyletic. Morphological data provides evi-dence that introgression may have played animportant role in the evolutionary history ofthe study group.

Supervisor: Professor T Hedderson (Botany)Co-Supervisor: Dr P Bruyns (Mathematics)

Derek David BerlinerThesis Title: Systematic conservationplanning for South Africa’s forest biome:An assessment of the conservation status ofSouth Africa’s forests and recommendationsfor their conservation

Derek Berliner obtained a BSc (Agric) andBSc (Hons) in wildlife management from theUniversity of Pretoria, and his MSc (Botany)from the University of Witwatersrand. Derekhas been involved with rangeland and eco-logical research and extension, undergradu-ate training, capacity building and morerecently in environmental consulting with aspecial interest in systematic conservation

planning in communal areas.Derek Berliner’s thesis reports on

the first substantial data collation, analysisand interpretation for a systematic conserva-tion plan for the entire South African forestbiome. This included an assessment of thecurrent state, level of protection and threats.A systematic approach was used to identifyconservation priorities at the level of forestspecies, patches, clusters and forest types.The current forest protected area network ofSouthAfrica does not adequately protect rep-resentative samples of forest biodiversitypattern and process. Approximately 25 % ofthe total forested area occurs within formalstatutory protected areas, but most of this ismade up of just a few forest types. Of the 21forest types assessed, six have less than 10%formal protection. The traditional (largely sil-vicultural) focus of forest management andreserve planning in South Africa, has tendedto view forests as geographically and func-tionally isolated, without adequate consider-ation of landscape scale processes andrequirements for connectivity. For long termconservation of forest biodiversity, planningmust occur across multiple scales and forestconservation needs to involve both on, andoff-reserve strategies. This should include:expansion of the formal protected area net-work (so as to adequately represent all foresttypes), improvements in management of ex-isting reserves, and regulation of land usechange within forested catchments andcatchments linked to forests.

Supervisor: Professor JJ Midgeley (Botany)Co-supervisor: Professor R Cowling(Botany, Nelson Mandela MetropolitanUniversity)

*Peter Lawrence BradshawThesis Title: Endemism and Richness in theCape Floristic Region: PhytogeographicPatterns and Environmental Correlates in aGlobal Biodiversity Hotspot

Peter Bradshaw has BSc and BSc(Hons) de-grees, both from UCT. He joined SouthAfrican National Parks (SANParks) in 2005,managing GIS data for SANParks's ParkPlanning and Development Unit, and hasalso been involved in a number of systematicconservation planning projects.

Peter Bradshaw’s thesis explorespatterns of endemism and species richness inthe world-renowned Cape Floristic Region(CFR), a Global Biodiversity Hotspot. Spa-tial patterns of phytogeographic endemismwere retrieved and mapped, while environ-mental features correlated with taxon rich- 13

ness and endemism in the CFR were also in-vestigated.

Using the most comprehensiveplant dataset to date, and employing modernanalytical techniques, he found notable spa-tial phytogeographical congruence with ear-lier studies, which had been based on strictlyintuitive approaches. However, the study alsoretrieved additional phytogeographical areasof endemism not previously described, thushighlighting the significance of the methodsused and developed in this study. Analysingthe environmental determinants of en-demism, using a newly developed, spatiallysensitive, regression approach, in the contextof the water-energy and environmental het-erogeneity hypotheses, he found that poten-tial evapo-transpiration, a key variable of thewater-energy hypothesis, was the most fre-quently invoked variable explaining taxonrichness and endemism. An exciting findingof this study was that both the water-energyand environmental heterogeneity hypothesesappear to be of equal importance within theCFR, and that the influence of these con-trasting hypothesis varies spatially. This keyfinding suggests that an integrative interpre-tation, rather than a single hypothesis, is re-quired to understand determinants of plantendemism and richness across the CFR.

Supervisor: Professor P Linder (Botany)Co-Supervisor: Professor T Hedderson(Botany)

Christopher Nelson CupidoThesis Title: Systematic studies of the SouthAfrican Campanulaceae sensu stricto withan emphasis on generic delimitations

Christopher Cupido was born in Cape Townin 1965. After matriculating from Kensing-ton High School he obtained his BSc degreefrom the University of the Western Cape in1987, majoring in Botany and Zoology.Having held positions at the University of theWestern Cape, and the University of theNorth, he jointed the Department of PlantScience at the University of Fort Hare wherehe obtained his BSc(Hons) in Physiology &Systematics. He subsequently joined theSouthAfrican National Biodiversity Institute(then National Botanical Institute) as Scien-tific Officer at the Compton Herbarium. Heobtained his MSc degree in Systematics andBiodiversity Science at UCT in 2000. Thisalso marked the start of his research careerin the Campanulaceae. Towards the end of2003, he was promoted to a research positionand in the same year registered for a Ph.D.

Christopher Cupido’s thesis usesmorphological and DNAsequence data from

plastid and nuclear regions to reconstruct thephylogenetic history of the South Africangenera. This phylogenetic hypothesis is usedto address the questionable generic bound-aries in the family, provide a context for in-vestigating the evolution of reproductive andvegetative character variation in the SouthAfrican members of the family and estimatedivergence times of major clades.

The resulting phylogenies showfive species assemblages that contradict tra-ditional generic circumscriptions, whichhave primarily been based on the mode ofcapsule dehiscence. Fruit characters werefound to be taxonomically unreliable at thegeneric level. Radiation of the Campanu-laceae in southern Africa seems to correlatewith increasing aridification and uplift dur-ing the Oligocene.The phylogeny of the South African cladewas used to focus on a well-supported cladeincluding the closely related genera, Roella,Merciera. Several options were explored totranslate the phylogeny into a classification.This process was guided by the primary cri-terion of monophyly followed by stability innomenclature, strong statistical support forthe taxon, maximum phylogenetic informa-tion and ease of identification of the taxon.The results favour retaining of Roella, Pris-matocarpus and Merciera as separate genera.

Supervisor: Professor T Hedderson (Botany)

Ryan Thomas de RooThesis Title: The molecular systematics ofthe liverwort family Lophoziaceae Cavers.

Ryan de Roo was born in Cape Town and at-tended Pinelands High School. He completedhis undergraduate and honours degrees atUCT, prior to enrolling for a PhD.

Ryan de Roo’s thesis examines de-limitation and classification of the large, cos-mopolitan liverwort family Lophoziaceae.An analysis of variation in DNA sequencesof two chloroplast genes provided resolutionof phylogenetic relationships across the leafyliverworts with emphasis on the various ele-ments usually placed in Lophoziaceae. Sev-eral novel insights emerged including thefact that Lophoziaceae is not closely relatedto Jungermanniaceae as previously thought.Further investigation within the clade com-prising most Anastrophyllum species per-mitted further refinement of evolutionaryrelationships. Application of new methodsfor estimating divergence times from DNAdata provided a time line and permitted es-tablishment of novel hypotheses on the eco-logical drivers of evolutionary radiation inthis speciose group. Alternative classifica-

tions under rank-based and rank-free codeswere explored.

Supervisor: Professor T Hedderson (Botany)

*Amrei von HaseThesis Title: The process of conservingbiodiversity: From planning to evaluatingconservation actions on private land in theCape Lowlands, South Africa

Amrei von Hase completed her BSc degreein Botany and Zoology and her BSc(Hons)in Botany at UCT. She worked on post-har-vest fruit physiology at CapeSpan, Stellen-bosch for a year before joining the BotanicalSociety of SouthAfrica where she worked onconservation projects for three years. Sheregistered for her PhD with the Plant Con-servation Unit, Botany Department, UCT, in2004.

Amrei von Hase's PhD provides arare overview of an entire conservation cyclewith linked phases that has led to biodiver-sity protection in the critically endangeredCape Lowlands ecosystem in the WesternCape, SouthAfrica. The research focused ona sequence of interrelated conservationphases: (i) an implementation-oriented con-servation assessment to develop biodiversityconservation priorities in the highly trans-formed, fragmented landscape; (ii) a plan-ning phase in which scientists andpractitioners collaboratively translated tech-nical biodiversity assessments into explicit5- and 20-year conservation goals for action;(iii) a 5-year implementation phase duringwhich conservation agencies actively en-gaged private landowners in incentive-basedconservation stewardship arrangements toprotect key biodiversity sites in the CapeLowlands; and (iv) an evaluation of the ex-tent to which Cape Lowlands conservationgoals have been implemented, and of over-all conservation achievements in private landconservation after 5 years. This demonstratedeffective implementation of the Cape Low-lands conservation plan, and remarkable suc-cess by international standards in privateland conservation efforts to date. However,significantly greater investment in planningand evaluation research is essential for con-servation science to be effective in the longterm.

Supervisor: Professor T Hoffman (Botany)Co-supervisors: Professor R Cowling(Botany, Nelson Mandela MetropolitanUniversity)Dr M Rouget (South African NationalBiodiversity Institute)

14

In Chemistry:Renatte Hazel HansThesis Title: Novel antimalarial andantitubercular agents based on naturalproducts

Renate Hazel Hans was born and schooled inWindhoek, Namibia. She obtained herBSc degree in Chemistry from the Univer-sity of Namibia in 1996 and an MSc in Nat-ural Product Chemistry from the Universityof Botswana in 2002. She took up lectureshipin the Department of Chemistry at the Uni-versity of Namibia before enrolling for aPhD in 2005 at UCT.

Renate Hans’ research was aimedat the discovery of novel potential agents forthe treatment of malaria and tuberculosis.The utilization of natural products and de-rivatives in this study derives from the factthat these compounds are endowed withdrug-like properties by virtue of their originand the realization that most of the drugsused clinically in antimalarial and antituber-cular chemotherapy are of natural producto-rigin.

She synthetically hybridized anddecorated scaffolds such as the thiolactonering of the natural product thiolactomycin,the non-peptidic natural product isatin andthe chalcone scaffold, each having a historyin the disease models under study. The hy-brids so obtained were characterized usingspectroscopic and analytical techniques andevaluated for antiplasmodial activity againstthe malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparumand antimycobacterial activity against My-cobacteria tuberculosis.

Her research led to the discoveryof a novel tetracyclic ring system which wasconfirmed by single crystal Xray diffractionand found to display a better activity profilecompared to the desired hybrids. Utilizingthe Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition or‘click’ reaction a second library of com-pounds was synthesized with methoxylatedchalcones, thiolactone and isatin. Identifiedfrom this series were hybrids with low mi-cromolar antiplasmodial activity as well asadvanced intermediates (monomers) withpromising antitubercular activity. Researchefforts were also focussed on hybrid con-structs with low nanomolar antimalarial ac-tivity which were obtained by linking theselected scaffolds with dihydroartemisinin, anatural product-derived antimalarial. It is ex-pected that structure activity relationships de-rived from this study will guide futureresearch into antiinfective agents. Overallthis study reiterated the importance and ben-efits of using natural products in drug dis-covery.

Supervisor: Professor K Chibale(Chemistry)

Takalani Percy ThekaThesis Title: Studies of genetic,gastro-intestinal, renal and dietary factors inwhite and black South African subjects as apossible key to understanding therelative absence of calcium oxalate kidneystones disease in the black population

Takalani Theka matriculated from Sinthu-mule Senior Secondary School in LimpopoProvince. Subsequently, he studied Chem-istry at the University of Venda where hecompleted the MSc degree in 2003. Afterserving as a Part-time Lecturer until 2005, hecommenced his PhD research work at UCTin 2006.

In South Africa, the white popula-tion suffers from kidney stone disease to thesame extent as in other western societies.However, the disease is extremely rare in theblack population. In a multidisciplinary ap-proach, Takalani Theka investigated dietary(oxalate-rich food), physiological (gut per-meability), chemical (urinary composition),biochemical (lipid peroxidation and renalcellular injury) and genetic (AGT polymor-phism) aspects of this intriguing phenome-non, with a view to gaining insights into thepathogenesis of the disease on the one handand its management and prevention on theother. Several of his findings bear testimonyto the complex nature of stone formation anddemonstrate that it is extremely unlikely thata single routine factor, operating in isolation,is crucial in this process. He concludes thatthe rarity of stones in the SouthAfrican blackpopulation cannot be attributed to any of theprotective renal mechanisms which havebeen identified and recognized in other pop-ulation groups. Rather, it is probable thatsubtle undetectable nuances in non routinefactors, all acting in concert in an exquisitedemonstration of timing, lies at the heart ofexplaining this phenomenon.

Supervisor: Professor A Rodgers(Chemistry)Co-supervisors: A/Professor N Ravenscroft(Chemistry)Dr C O’Ryan (Molecular and CellularBiology)

Glenda Vanessa WebberThesis Title: The origin of multiple meltpeaks of Fischer-Tropsch hard waxes

Glenda Webber was born in Zimbabwe and

immigrated to South Africa in 1981. Shecompleted her BSc degree in 1987 at the for-merly Potchefstroom University for Chris-tian Higher Eduation. She started working atSastech, Sasol’s corporate R&D division, in1988 and completed her BSc (Hons) on apart-time basis in 1989. Her MSc in polymerscience was awarded by the University ofStellenbosch in 2000. She currently managesR&D at the Sasol Wax (SA) business unit inSasolburg.

Glenda Webber’s thesis exploresthe unexplained origin of the multiple melt-ing peaks found in Fischer-Tropsch (FT)hard waxes. This is a type of wax, producedby Sasol Wax in South Africa, which is usedin various applications such as candles, print-ing inks, hot-melt adhesives and paper coat-ings. The thesis shows that the known causesof melting bimodality in similar materialscannot explain FT hard wax melting behav-iour. Various techniques were used to exam-ine this behaviour, including DifferentialScanning Calorimetry (DSC), low-frequencyRaman analysis and Gel Permeation Chro-matography (GPC). The work establishedthat the FT hard wax DSC melt peaks are dueto the melting of multiple domains of differ-ent average chain lengths. The multiple do-mains arise as a result of a crystallinesegregation of material in the wax molecularmass distribution (MMD). It was shown thatthe underlying cause for this crystalline seg-regation is a reduction in crystalline latticestrain that would arise from a too-high chain-length mismatch as a result of a too-broadwax MMD. The chain-length mismatch isminimised by the development of multipledomains, each of which has a narrower ef-fective MMD. Glenda Webber’s work hasenabled the optimisation of the crystallinestructure model of this type of wax in orderto incorporate previously unidentified as-pects.

Supervisor:A/Professor AT Hutton(Chemistry)

In Environmental andGeographical Science:Anis DaraghmaThesis Title: Constructions of nature andenviromntal justice in Driftsands NatureReserve, South Africa

Anis Daragma was born in Tubas, Palestine.After completing his BA Civil Engineeringdegree at the Unversity of Birzeit in Ramal-lah (Palestine) in 1996, he pursued his inter-est in water engineering in the Netherlands, 15

where he completed his MSc in Water andEnvironmental Resources Management atthe International Institute for Infrastructure,Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering inDelft.

Anis Daragma’s PhD thesis exam-ines ideas about nature and their implicationsfor environmental justice for people livinginside and adjacent to protected areas. Itadopts a constructionist perspective to ex-pose different views on nature and to demon-strate the connections between socialconstructions of nature and environmentaljustice. These connections, the thesis argues,have been ignored in research on nature andsociety despite the evidence that environ-mental justice is linked to ideas about natureand society in theory and practice. The thesisuses the case study of Driftsands Nature Re-serve in Cape Town, SouthAfrica, to demon-strate that (i) ideas about nature are not staticand tend to respond to local and global con-texts, (ii) constructions of nature are under-pinned by different discourses, (iii) theestablishment and disestablishment of pro-tected areas indicates the triumph of one dis-course above others (iv), and that theconflictual relationships between develop-ment and nature conservation have not beenresolved. Based on the analysis of local com-munities and contrasting views held by sci-entific experts, natural resources managersand government officials, Anis Daragma’sthesis concludes that communities in andaround Driftsands Nature Reserve remainsubjected to environmental injustice despiteSouthAfrica’s political changes and the newpeople-parks paradigm.

Supervisor:A/Professor M Ramutsindela(Environmental and Geographical Science)

Catherine Elizabeth Darnell GrayThesis Title: Characterising the Namaqua-land Mudbelt: Chronology, Palynology andPalaeoenvironments

Catherine Gray was born in 1973 in CapeTown. She completed junior school atBoston Primary and matriculated from Ab-botts College in 1992. She graduated with aBSc degree in 1995 and with BSc(Hons) inEnvironmental and Geographical Science in1997. Her PhD research has taken her to theUniversity of Bordeaux, France and the Uni-versity of Wyoming in the United States.

Catherine Gray’s doctoral thesisexplores the palaeoenvironmental record ofseveral cores extracted from the Namaqua-land Mudbelt, a body of fine sediment lo-

cated off the West Coast of SouthAfrica thatretains important evidence as to the dynamiccharacteristics of the Orange River and otheradjacent catchments during the last 10,000years. This is a multi-proxy study that com-bines geochemical, botanical and chronolog-ical evidence of changing terrestrial andmarine environmental conditions during theperiod of deposition. The thesis develops apalaeoenvironmental interpretation of thepollen assemblages and stable isotopes inconjunction with a chronology based on car-bon and lead isotope dating. The difficultiesin interpreting the age of the mudbelt de-posits are resolved to reveal an improved un-derstanding of the changing terrestrialenvironment represented in the mudbelt sed-iments. This corresponds well with other es-tablished proxies for the Holocene and showshow climate change and human-induced landuse change have influenced the dynamics ofsediment yield in southern Africa’s largestcatchment.

Supervisor: Professor ME Meadows(Environmental and Geographical Science)Co-supervisor: Professor J Lee-Thorpe(University of Bradford, United Kingdom)

In Mathematics:Tamar JanelidzeThesis Title: Foundation of relativenon-abelian homological algebra

Tamar Janelidze began her MSc studies atUCT in 2005 after completing her under-graduate studies at Tbilisi State University(Tbilisi, Georgia). She upgraded from anMSc to a PhD in 2007. She was awarded aUCT Research Associateship in 2007.

Tamar Janelidze’s thesis intro-duces and systematically examines the newconcepts of a relative homological and a rel-ative semi-abelian category, and she extendsand develops various fundamental construc-tions of non-abelian homological algebra insuch categories.

Supervisor: Professor H-P Kunzi (Mathe-matics and Applied Mathematics)Co-supervisors: Professor G Janelidze(Mathematics and Applied Mathematics)Professor W Tholen (York University,Canada)

Hui-Ching LuThesis Title: Non‑linear effects in theuniverse

Hui‑Ching Lu has been a post‑graduate stu-

dent in the Cosmology group in the depart-ment of Mathematics and Applied Mathe-matics at UCT since 2004. During thisperiod, she has published, in total, four pa-pers in international refereed journals; andthree of which were published during hertime as a PhD student. One of her PhD pa-pers has been particularly well received bythe scientific community. This year, she wasawarded UCT research associateship at doc-toral level in recognition of her outstandingachievements.

One of the distinct trends in mod-ern cosmology is in testing its theoretical as-pects against the high precision dataavailable in recent years. Although the stan-dard cosmological model has already showncertain satisfactory results in matching thedata from observations of the Cosmic Mi-crowave Background and Large Scale Struc-ture, we are by far unable to be convinced ofits ability in describing the complete natureof the universe. Therefore, detailed study hasto be done in the theory of higher order cos-mological perturbation to enable us the abil-ity in describing the non-linear aspects of theuniverse. Only then we shall be equippedwith better knowledge/understanding tobegin to appreciate better the vastness of thehistory/evolution of the universe. What ismore troubling in being satisfied with thestandard cosmological model is that the veryfoundation of the building blocks in the stan-dard model - namely the Copernican princi-ple - has yet to be tested against data withhigh accuracy. In Hui‑Ching Lu’s thesis, con-tributions are made in advancing these topicsin the study of modern cosmology.

Supervisor: Dr C Clarkson (Mathematicsand Applied Mathematics)

*Zechariah MushaandjaThesis Title: A quasi-pseudometrizabilityproblem for ordered metric spaces

Zechariah Mushaandja was born in Os-higambo, a village in Northern Namibia,where he completed his schooling. He thenenrolled at the University of Namibia wherehe obtained a BSc in Mathematics andChemistry. After a year of tutoring in math-ematics at the University of Namibia, hemoved south to pursue mathematics at UCTwhere he was awarded a BSc(Hons) and lateran MSc in mathematics (Topology). He re-turned to his home university to serve as alecturer in the Department of Mathematics.After three and half years of lecturing, hemade another southward move and regis-16

tered as a PhD candidate at UCT in August2006.

Zechariah Mushaandja's thesispresents a study of a problem which involvesobjects called topological spaces and bitopo-logical spaces (bispaces). The natural con-cept of an order is central in his thesis and,put vaguely, the study focuses on metricspaces with some kind of order on them andthe associated bispaces given by their uppertopology and their lower topology. His workwas motivated by a well-known topologicalresult called the Hanai-Morita-Stone Theo-rem.Apartial analogue of this theorem in thetheory of ordered topological spaces is es-tablished in his dissertation. Furthermore,using methods from the study of topologicalas well as uniform spaces, his research es-tablishes that specified ordered topologicalspaces which satisfy additional propertieslike separability or local connectedness havetheir associated bispaces obtainable via dis-tance functions called quasi-pseudometrics.In this context a new kind of compatibilitycondition between partial order and uniformstructure is introduced under the name of afriendly partial order. As an application ofthis notion, it is shown that the upper topol-ogy and the lower topology associated withany uniform space with a friendly partialorder can be obtained from objects calledquasi-uniformities.

Supervisor: Professor H-P Kunzi(Mathematics and Applied Mathematics)

In Molecular and Cell Biology:Kamal Omer Mohamed Ali AbdallaThesis Title: Analysis of the nuclearproteome of the resurrection plantXerophyta viscosa (Baker) and its responseto dehydration stress

Kamal Omer Mohamed Ali Abdalla wasborn in Sudan and pursued undergraduatestudies at the University of Saint-Petersburgin Russia where he also obtained his MSc de-gree in Biochemistry. He returned to Sudanwhere he lectured at the University ofGadarif before commencing his PhD degreeat UCT in the Department of Molecular andCell Biology in August 2005.

His thesis investigates the molec-ular mechanisms enabling the indigenousdesiccation tolerant resurrection plant X. vis-cosa to survive extremes of dehydration. Thisplant can lose 95% of its relative water con-tent and resume full physiological activityupon rehydration. To understand this phe-nomenon, he optimized nuclei isolation andnuclear protein extraction protocols fromfully hydrated and dehydrated X. viscosa leaf

samples. He then used proteomic technolo-gies in combination with mass spectrometrictechniques to characterize the role of the nu-clear proteins in acquisition of desiccationtolerance. His study revealed that the nuclearproteins of X. viscosa that are up-regulatedin response to dehydration stress involveboth regulatory and functional proteins andare implicated in diverse cellular functions.The characteristic feature of the X. viscosanuclear proteins are the high level of dehy-dration responsive proteins with evidentfunctions in defense mechanisms comparedto proteins that were down regulated orshowing consistent levels of expression. Theprotective mechanisms of desiccation toler-ance utilized by X. viscosa appear to involvesignal perception genes and modulating ex-pression of genes encoding protective mole-cules including antioxidants, molecularchaperones, compatible solutes, proteins oftranslation and degradation machinery, pro-teins with miscellaneous functions and novelprotein factors. The results demonstrate thatenhanced defense capacity is crucial to des-iccation tolerance in resurrection plants andstrongly supports the notion that late dehy-dration responsive proteins are involved inprotection of the cellular structures duringdehydration stress and in the dried state.

Supervisor:Dr MS Rafudeen (Molecular andCell Biology)

Chanel AvenantThesis Title: Molecular mechanism ofaction of the glucocorticoid receptor:Role of ligand-dependent receptorphosphorylation and half-life indetermination of ligand-specifictranscriptional activity.

Chanel Avenant graduated cum laude with aBSc(Hons) in Biochemistry from the Uni-versity of Stellenbosch in 2004. She startedher MSc at Stellenbosch and up-graded to aPhD degree and moved to UCT in 2007.

Her thesis examines the mecha-nism of action of an important hormone re-ceptor in mammals, the glucocorticoidreceptor or GR. In humans this is the re-ceptor that mediates the effects of the steroidcortisol, via changing the expression patternsof many key target genes. The GR plays arole in most physiological processes and glu-cocorticoids are currently used pharmaco-logically to treat a variety of diseases, inparticular asthma and inflammation. How-ever, long-term treatment with glucocorti-coids results in a variety of side-effects and abetter understanding of how the GR func-

tions, as well as what forms the basis of drug-selective biological responses, is required inorder to design more effective drugs withfewer side-effects.A central issue in Chanel’sthesis is how different hormones and drugselicit different biological responses via thesame receptor protein. Chanel found that dif-ferent compounds that bind to the GR resultin different extents of modification (i.e. phos-phorylation) and breakdown of the GR,which correlates with their differing biolog-ical activity. In addition, the mechanismwhereby GR phosphorylation influencesGR-mediated transcription, or the biologicalresponse, was investigated. Chanel foundthat phosphorylation plays a critical role inthe ability of the GR to recruit other proteinscalled coactivators, which enhance its bio-logical response. Her work has significantlycontributed to the understanding of how thisimportant receptor functions at the molecularlevel and is under review in a top interna-tional journal.

Supervisor: Professor JP Hapgood(Molecular and Cell Biology)

Lara Elizabeth DonaldsonThesis Title: An investigation of the role ofArabidopsis thaliana plant natriureticpeptide in planta

Lara Donaldson matriculated from BergvlietHigh School in Cape Town in 1998. Shecommenced her studies at UCT in 1999 andwas awarded her BSc degree in 2001. Shethen completed her BSc(Hons) degree inMolecular and Cell Biology in 2002.

Lara Donaldson’s thesis investi-gates the role of a peptide hormone, plant na-triuretic peptide, in plants. Plant natriureticpeptides had previously been proposed toplay a role in water and ion homeostasis inplants. Lara achieved this by measuring sec-ond messenger responses of Arabidopsisseedlings to stresses that disrupt water andion homeostasis and to a recombinant Ara-bidopsis thaliana plant natiuretic peptide(AtPNP-A). Additionally she described anArabidopsis mutant that harbors a T-DNA in-sertion in the AtPNP-A gene. This mutantdisplayed phenotypes that imply function ofthe wildtype gene. She then used a compu-tational analysis of the transcript profile ofAtPNP-A across the publicly available mi-croarray data to provide further evidence tosupport the conclusions drawn from theAtPNP-A mutant study.

Supervisor: Dr R Ingle(Molecular and Cell Biology) 17

Andrea KotitschkeThesis Title: Genomic and non-genomiccross talk between the gonadotropin-releas-ing hormone receptor and glucocorticoidreceptor signalling pathways

Andrea Kotitschke completed her Mastersdegree in September 2005 at the Universityof Rostock in Germany. She began her PhDin Biochemistry at the University of Stellen-bosch and completed the degree at UCT.

Andrea’s research focussed at themolecular level on cross talk between hor-monal pathways, in particular those relevantto stress and reproduction in mammals. Thegonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) re-ceptor, expressed in the pituitary gland, is acentral regulator of reproductive function viabinding of the hormone GnRH. On the otherhand, the hormone cortisol regulates thestress response as well as many other physi-ological functions, via binding to another re-ceptor, the glucocorticoid receptor or GR.Using a mouse tissue culture model cell sys-tem, Andrea investigated the molecularmechanisms whereby these hormones andreceptors cross talk to result in different ef-fects on gene expression. Her results re-vealed a novel mechanism whereby theGnRH hormone can activate the GR in theabsence of the GR hormone, via a mecha-nism involving GR protein modification, i.e.phosphorylation. In addition, she showedthat co-incubation with both hormones re-sults in a synergistic response, mediated atthe molecular level by changes in the natureof proteins recruited to a target gene. Her re-sults have important implications for under-standing cross talk between theneuroendocrine and stress response in mam-mals and integration of signalling pathwaysvia hormone receptors, in general. Her workhas been recently published in a top interna-tional journal.

Supervisor: Professor J Hapgood(Molecular and Cell Biology)

Nobubelo Kwanele NganduThesis Title: Evolutionary analysis ofHIV-1 protein-coding sequences: Adapta-tion to host cytotoxic immune responsesand purifying selection at synonymous sites

Nobubelo Ngandu obtained a BSc(Hons) inBiochemistry from the University of Zim-babwe and subsequently taught at secondarylevel. She came to UCT in 2005 to study foran MSc degree in Bioinformatics. Followingexcellent early progress she upgraded to aPhD. She was awarded a prestigious

scholarship by the Stanford-South AfricaBiomedical Informatics Program (SSABMI),which both supported her studies and al-lowed her to undertake a research visit atStanford University, where she also partici-pated in graduate coursework.

Her thesis investigates the rela-tionship between the evolution of HIV genesand the immune responses mounted by in-fected individuals. The nature of the immuneresponse mounted against the virus, and thepatterns of viral evolution that result in es-cape from those immune responses, are im-portant for vaccine development and forunderstanding the progression to AIDS.Nobubelo discovered that the immune re-sponse against HIV subtype C, which is themost prevalent strain in South Africa, waspoorly predicted by existing methods andthat this was likely the result of insufficientrepresentation of developing world strains inthe international HIV information resources.She went on to investigate other aspects ofthe evolution of HIV, including selectiveforces acting on parts of the virus that werethought to evolve neutrally and the adapta-tion of HIV genes to human populations fol-lowing transmission from chimpanzees. Herwork resulted in four papers published in in-ternational journals, including three as firstauthor.

Supervisor:A/Professor Cathal Seoighe(Institue for Infectious Diseases andMolecular Medicine)

Richard Oduor OkothThesis Title: Functional analysis of thestress- inducible XvPsap promoter isolatedfrom Xerophyta Viscosa

Born in Siaya district in Kenya, Richard hailsfrom a humble background. He attendedKenyatta University (Nairobi, Kenya) andgraduated with a BSc degree in Biochem-istry, followed by an MSc degree in Biotech-nology, which he completed 2 years later.Soon thereafter, Richard arrived in SouthAfrica to study towards a PhD degree atUCT. Richard is currently a WHO/TDRpostdoctoral fellow in Pfizer (Sandwich,UK) where he is involved in research onmalaria and trypanosomiasis.

Resurrection plants have the abil-ity to survive extremes of dehydration andsubsequent rehydration from the air-driedstate. Xerophyta viscosa (Family Vellozi-aceae), endemic to southern Africa, Mada-gascar and southernAmerica, is such a plant.Richard’s thesis employed recombinantDNA technology to assess differential activ-ity of 5' promoter deletion constructs. These

constructs were used in the generation oftransgenic Zea mays, Nicotiana tabacum andBlack Mexican Sweetcorn throughAgrobac-terium tumefaciens-mediated transformation.He elucidated that the XvPsap promoter wasstress-inducible increasing by up to 7 foldduring dehydration stress. The promoter hasrecently been patented due to its commercialvalue.

Supervisor: Professor JA Thomson(Molecular and Cell Biology)

Natalie June RoetzThesis Title: Investigating genetic diversityat neutral and adaptive DNA markers in theseverely bottlenecked southern whiterhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)

Natalie Roetz matriculated from St. Cypri-ans, Cape Town. She completed a BSc de-gree at the University of Stellenbosch. Shemoved to UCT and did BSc(Hons) in HumanGenetics and an MSc in Population Genet-ics.

Natalie Roetz’s thesis examinesthe genetic diversity in contemporary popu-lations of southern white rhinoceroses usingneutral microsatellite and mitochondrialDNA, as well as two adaptive major histo-compatibility genes. The results reveal thatall populations are genetically depauperate.The source Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Re-serve population and three seeded popula-tions do not display genetic evidence of theirrecent or historic bottlenecks, despite thedocumented 19th century decline and knownfounder events. Seeded populations do notdisplay reduced diversity relative to thesource population. This genetic diversity wasalso insufficent to resolve parentage assign-ments, although evidence of calf-swappingbetween adult females was supported. Theobserved data suggest that low levels of vari-ation are most likely due to an ancient bot-tleneck and are not the result of recentanthropogenic decline and near extinction.Simulations suggest that current conserva-tion strategies that maintain white rhinocer-oses in small and isolated populations, maynot maintain contemporary diversity.Amoreeffective strategy would be to maximise fi-nancial and logistical investment in largerpopulations of 100 or more individuals tolimit the effects of genetic drift and improvethe chances of existing genetic diversity per-sisting into the future.

Supervisor: Dr C O'Ryan (Molecular andCellular Biology)Co-supervisor: Dr Jacqueline Bishop(Zoology)18

Yu-Hung WeiThesis Title: Dissecting the jasmonatesignalling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

Linda Wei obtained her BSc degree in 1999from UCT with a double major in Biochem-istry and Zoology. In 2000, she obtained herBSc(Hon) in Biochemistry. Linda then pur-sued an MSc degree in Molecular and CellBiology with which she graduated in 2002with distinction. She then enrolled for a PhDdegree also in Molecular and Cell Biology.

Jasmonates are important sig-nalling molecules in plants which have a de-velopmental role, as well as a role in insectdefence and disease resistance. They causechanges in gene expression which is regu-lated by transcription factors that bind to spe-cific cis-elements in gene promoters. Thework outlined in Linda Wei’s thesis aims tofurther our understanding of jasmonate sig-nalling by identifying specific promoter ele-ments and associated transcription factorsimportant for gene regulation by methyl jas-monate using the PYK10 gene of Arabidop-sis. Through mutant analysis, PYK10induction by methyl jasmonate was found tobe dependent on COI1, an F-box proteinwhich forms part of the receptor for jasmonicacid but independent of the jasmonate tran-scription factor MYC2. Via luciferase assays,important genomic regions in the PYK10promoter directing methyl jasmonate ex-pression of PYK10 were delineated. A W-box motif in this region was found to displayspecific DNA-binding activity with Ara-bidopsis nuclear proteins which was en-hanced upon methyl jasmonate treatment anddependent on its core sequence and flankingnucleotides. W-box motifs are bound byWRKY transcription factors which havebeen predominately associated with the sali-cylic acid pathway, only a few WRKY tran-scription factors have been implicated in thejasmonate signalling pathway. This studydemonstrates the important role of a W-boxmotif and an, as yet unidentified, WRKYtranscription factor in the jasmonate sig-nalling pathway of plants.

Supervisor: Dr Katherine Denby(Molecular and Cell Biology)Co-supervisor: Dr Rob Ingle (Molecularand Cell Biology)

In Physical Oceanography:Agnes Lawrence KijaziThesis Title: An analysis of recent severeclimate events over Tanzania

Agnes Kijazi has a BSc from the University

of Nairobi and an MSc from UCT. She is aDeputy Director of the Tanzania Meteoro-logical Agency and needed to complete thelast part of her PhD while based in Dar esSalaam due to the onerous duties of her po-sition there.

Agnes Kijazi’s thesis examines thenature of several intense drought and floodevents that have occurred in the last decadeor so in Tanzania with huge impacts on thelocal economy including significant loss oflife. The large scale atmospheric circulationanomalies and regional ocean conditions as-sociated with these drought and flood eventshave been examined to better understandtheir mechanisms, evolution and potentialpredictability. Another important aspect ofher work is to diagnose and understand thehigher frequency intra-seasonal rainfall fluc-tuations that occur within a particular rainyseason. These are important because theyhelp to determine how a particular anom-alously wet or dry rainy season is made upof a series of wet or dry spells of differentlengths and intensities. The nature of thesespells then determines how severe the im-pacts are on agriculture, health and the ruraleconomy. The thesis demonstrates how cer-tain atmospheric and sea surface temperaturepatterns lead to particular periods of wet ordry conditions over Tanzania and lays thegroundwork to help improve seasonal fore-casts of rainfall over that country.

Supervisor: Prof CJC Reason(Oceanography)

Sebastiaan SwartThesis Title: The variability and dynamicsof the Antarctic Circumpolar Current southof Africa using proxy methods

Sebastiaan Swart graduated with aBSc(Hons) degree in Oceanography fromUCT in 2004. Since then he has been fortu-nate to have travelled extensively either on-board research vessels or through hiscollaboration and PhD study with various in-ternational institutes. Sebastiaan has a widerange of interests including surfing, learninglanguages, painting and is currently one ofSouth Africa’s top salsa dancers!

The general circulation of theSouthern Ocean is dominated by the east-ward flowingAntarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC). This is a continuous current linkingthe three major ocean basins and forms avital link in the balance of heat and salt be-tween the tropics and poles. The dominantforcing of the ACC is by the strong westerlywinds between 45-55°S. Indirectly, the west-

erlies are thought to influence the rate of pro-duction and export of various water masses.For this reason, the ACC plays a major rolein regulating mean global climate throughchanges in heat supplied by the deeper oceanand through changes in the cryosphere. In thehigh latitudes where conditions are hostile,routine hydrographic observations are scarceresulting in a poor understanding of the phys-ical and dynamic processes, which controlthe variability of theACC.Amajor objectiveof Sebastiaan Swart’s thesis has been to pro-vide sound estimates of ACC transport andvariability using both in-situ measurementsand remote sensing techniques. These esti-mates are crucial in understanding the roletheACC plays in the global thermohaline cir-culation and how the region south of Africaacts as a major conveyor of heat and salt be-tween the tropics and poles.Supervisor: Dr I Ansorge (Oceanography)Co-supervisor: S Speich (Laboratoire dePhysique des Oceans, France)

In Physics:Mark Sean HerbertThesis Title: Determination of neutronenergy spectra inside a water phantomirradiated by neutrons of energy up to 64MeV.

Mark Sean Herbert was in born Elsies River,Cape Town. He completed his schooling atVallhalla Secondary School in Elsies Riverand commenced his tertiary education atUCT where he obtained his BSc(Hons) inphysics in 1988. This was followed by anHDE (PG) in 1990. His keen interest in nu-clear physics lead him to postgraduate stud-ies in this area and he completed an MSc inexperimental nuclear physics in 1998. He hastaught physics at high schools in disadvan-taged areas of Cape Town. He was also em-ployed as a lecturer at the Cape PeninsulaUniversity of Technology. At present he isemployed as a lecturer at the University ofthe Western Cape in the physics department.

Fast neutron therapy is used for thetreatment of different types of cancers.A keystep during treatment planning is to calculatethe dose that will be delivered to the tumouras accurately as possible. Thus, a detailedknowledge of how the neutron beam evolvesas it passes through the body is crucial. It isdifficult to measure such changes experi-mentally and therefore, computer modellingis relied on. Mark Herbert’s thesis involvesan experimental study of the spectral changesof a fast neutron beam as it passes throughwater which mimics human tissue in thiscontext. These challenging experiments were 19

carried out using a neutron beam of energyup to 64 MeV directed on a water phantom.For this work he developed a neutron spec-trometer based on NE230 deuterated organicliquid scintillator that was then used to meas-ure neutron pulse height spectra at differentpositions in a water phantom. The neutronenergy spectra were then calculated from thisinformation using Bayesian unfolding tech-niques.

Supervisor: Professor MS Allie (Physics)

Bibi Bashirah IbrahimThesis Title: Model-based teaching andlearning of kinematics in an introductoryphysics course for under prepared students

Bashirah Ibrahim was born in Port Louis,Mauritius, in 1979, and matriculated fromthe Renganaden Seeneevassen State Second-ary School in Port Louis in 1997. She com-pleted a BSc in 2001 and thereafterBSc(Hons) in Physics in 2002, both from theUniversity of Natal. Bashirah subsequentlypursued her interests in tertiary physics edu-cation research at UCT by completing anMSc in Physics, with distinction, in 2000,which focused on fundamental issues per-taining to the teaching and learning of uni-versity physics.

Bashirah Ibrahim’s thesis focuseson the introductory physics course within theGeneral Entry to Programmes in Science(GEPS) at UCT. GEPS is an alternative ac-cess route for the BSc degree at UCT and isdesigned in particular for students from edu-cationally disadvantaged backgrounds, byoffering an adjusted curriculum that takes ac-count of poor preparation at school, particu-larly in Mathematics and Science. Within thecontext of the foundational component ofthis physics course, Bashirah explored stu-dents’ application of different representationswhen attempting kinematics tasks, in partic-ular the abilities of students to translate be-tween different types of models of the samephysical context. Her work developed anovel method of representing a moving bodyby a series of static depictions, which was in-troduced as a visual bridge between particu-lar representations. The internal modes ofreasoning used by students during represen-tation-rich activities were also categorized,providing new implications for the teachingand learning of physics at the introductorylevel.

Supervisor:A/Professor A Buffler (Physics)Co-supervisor: Professor FE Lubben(University of York, UK)

Ayodele Ekundare OdoThesis Title: Synthesis, characterisationand device application of silicon nanoparti-cles produced by mechanical attrition

Ayodele Odo obtained his BSc(Hons) degreefrom the Obafemi Awolowo UniversityNigeria in Engineering Physics in 1997 andMTech degree in Physics (Electronic Instru-mentation) from the Federal University ofTechnology Akure (FUTA) Nigeria in 2002.During the period of his study he worked forthe Engineering Material Development In-stitute inAkure, Nigeria. In 2004 he obtaineda prestigious DAAD scholarship to com-mence his PhD studies in nanosciences inPhysics at UCT in 2004.

Ayodele Odo’s PhD research fo-cuses on nanostructured silicon as a promis-ing material as building blocks for advancedtechnological applications in electronics andphotovoltaics. Many of the synthesis meth-ods utilise increased levels of sophistication,and thus the unit cost of material produced ishigh. This thesis study shows that cheap andmass production of silicon nanoparticles canbe achieved efficiently with a top-downprocess of mechanical attrition.Ayodele’s re-search further showed that the inclusion ofthe powder in naturally occurring polymericbinders resulted in a new class of nanocom-posite whose electrical properties are prom-ising for device applications using simpleprinting processes. At a fundamental levelthe bulk of his research focussed on under-standing the dominant charge carrier trans-port mechanisms in the nanocompositematerial. As a demonstration of applicationshe fabricated transistors using printed siliconas the active semiconductor.

Supervisor: Professor DT Britton (Physics)Co-supervisor: Professor M Harting(Physics)

In Statistical Sciences:Freedom Nkhululeko GumedzeThesis Title: A variance shift model foroutlier detection and estimation in linearand linear mixed models

Freedom Gumedze was born in Swaziland.He matriculated from Mhlatane High School,Pigg’s Peak, Swaziland, in 1989. In 1993 heearned his BA in Social Science with a majorin Statistics, from the University of Swazi-land. For a period he worked as an assistantstatistician for the Central Statistical ServiceOffice, Government of Swaziland. In 1997he obtained his BSc(Hons) in Statistical Sci-ences and in 1999, an MSc in Mathematical

Statistics, both from UCT.Freedom Gumedze’s doctoral

studies attack the problem of deciding whena numerical observation is somehow anom-alous within the context from which a dataset arises, what the effect of an anomalymight be upon usual methods of data analy-sis, and how to handle an anomaly appropri-ately. Earlier scholarship developed twoapproaches. One approach took the extremeroute of effectively eliminating any anom-alous observations, and paying the penalty ofhaving a smaller data set. The second ap-proach treats the anomalies as valid data, butdiminishes their influence within the analysisin ways that are explicit and open to scrutinyby the specialists in the disciplines fromwhich the data set arose.

Freedom Gumedze’s work essen-tially takes these two traditions and enfoldsthem into the analysis of modern statisticalmodels for data. These so-called mixed mod-els allow for several types of variability anduncertainty to be simultaneously present inthe elements of a data set. By his work onthese models, Gumedze has shown how newtypes of anomalies can be detected and han-dled in the analysis, and how the outputs ofthe analysis can enrich the scientific under-standing of the phenomena lurking within thedata structure.The mathematical structures and insights forthis new approach have been accompaniedby an extensive programming of the meth-ods in statistical software. The programmingis complemented by explicit analyses of realand simulated data sets that illustrate therichness of the innovation.

Supervisor: Professor T Dunne(Statistical Sciences)Co-supervisors:A/Professor C Thiart(Statistical Sciences)Prof R Thompson (Rothamsted, UK)Dr Sue Welham (Rothamsted, UK)

In Zoology:Azwianewi Benedict MakhadoThesis Title: Investigation of the impact offur seals on the conservation status ofseabirds at islands off South Africa and atthe Prince Edward Islands

Azwianewi Makhado obtained his BSc,BSc(Hons) and UED from the University ofVenda and his MSc from the University ofPretoria. Azwianewi is currently employedas Marine Scientist by the Department of En-vironmental Affairs in the Branch Marineand Coastal Management (MCM). He is re-sponsible for the management and conserva-20

tion of seabirds at the islands off the coast ofSouth Africa and the Prince Edward Islands.

Azwianewi Makhado’s thesis in-vestigates the impact of predation by Capefur seals on seabirds breeding in SouthAfrican Islands, including the Prince Ed-wards Islands. It assesses the impact of sealpredation on those seabirds especially Capegannets, Cape cormorants and African pen-guins. These seabirds are of conservationconcern, in IUCN threat categories. Thefieldwork involved long hours of observationfrom vantage points on islands, quantifyingthe rate and impact of seal predation onseabirds. It also investigated the influence ofenvironmental factors on the rates of sealpredation and the possibility of mitigationmeasures for managing the mortality toseabirds caused by seals. This informationwas required by conservation managementto assess the sustainability of the observedlevels of predation. In some cases, the seal-induced mortality was not sustainable. Hiswork has led to a much better understandingof this interaction and how it may best behandled.

Supervisor: Professor LG Underhill(Zoology)Co-supervisors:A/Professor RJM Craw-ford (Marine and Coastal Management,Department of Environmental Affairs)Professor MN Bester(University of Pretoria)

Angua Amis MaoThesis Title: An integrated approach to theconservation of freshwater ecosystems inSouth Africa

Mao Amis was born in Yumbe, Uganda. Heobtained a BSc(Honours) degree in educa-tion (botany and chemistry) from Moi Uni-versity, Kenya, in 2002 and then underwentfield training in tropical ecology in Tanzaniaand SouthAfrica. In 2004 he was awarded aprestigious scholarship by the Tropical Biol-ogy Association to pursue an MSc in Con-servation Biology at the FitzPatrick Instituteof the Zoology Department at UCT, wherehe graduated in 2005, registering for the PhDdegree in 2006. In 2007 received an awardfrom the Society for Conservation Biology(SCB) in recognition for his achievementsand excellence. Mao is currently the ProgramManager for Integrated Catchment Manage-ment at WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)South Africa.

Mao Amis’ thesis developed vari-ous strategies for effective prioritisation offreshwater biodiversity for conservation pur-

poses. Freshwater biodiversity faces enor-mous pressure from anthropogenic distur-bances, and there are limited resourcesavailable for conservation. There is thereforea need to prioritise conservation actions inthe most comprehensive, adequate and rep-resentative manner to maximise conservationinvestments. Using scenario analysis in GIS(geographical information systems), and adecision support tool, the thesis first demon-strates how freshwater biodiversity prioritiescan be used to drive the selection of areas forterrestrial biodiversity in a manner that willoptimally achieve conservation targets forboth systems. Then a framework for au-tomating wetland classification using GIS isdeveloped and tested as a way of incorporat-ing wetland function and benefits into con-servation planning. Finally the potential ofusing biodiversity priority maps as a tool forenhancing management effectiveness andfostering inter-agency cooperation was in-vestigated through the evaluation of five keygovernment agencies mandated with the pro-tection of freshwater biodiversity in SouthAfrica. Mao’s thesis is a multi-disciplinaryundertaking that offers practical solutions tothe current freshwater biodiversity crisis, andis a unique contribution to conservation sci-ence and management.

Supervisor: Professor J Day (Zoology)Co-supervisors: Dr M Rouget (SouthAfrican National Biodiversity Institute)Dr WThuiller (CNRS, France)

Bruce Randall PaxtonThesis Title: The influence of hydraulics,hydrology and temperature on thedistribution, habitat use and recruitment ofthreatened cyprinids in a western caperiver, South Africa

Bruce Paxton received his BSc (Hons) in Zo-ology from the University of Cape Town in2001. Following his graduation he was em-ployed by an ecological consulting firmwhere he first began work on the endemicfishes of the Olifants and Doring Rivers.This early work formed part of a pre-feasi-bility study on a range of water-resource de-velopment options in the catchment. Hecommenced his PhD research in 2004.

Bruce Paxton’s study explored therelationships between river flow and fishecology in the context of the riverscapemodel of river ecosystems by examining theseasonal distribution of two fish species en-demic to the Olifants and Doring Rivers inthe Western Cape, i.e. the Clanwilliam yel-lowfish Labeobarbus capensis and Clan-

william sawfin Barbus serra, in relation totheir physical (structural) and hydraulic habi-tat requirements at several scales. It assessedthe importance of temporal changes in flowand temperature in relation to the timing ofkey life-history events and recruitment.Habitat Suitability Criteria (HSC) were usedto describe the hydraulic (velocity and depth)as well as substratum habitat use, and thesuitability of a two-dimensional hydraulicmodelling programme (River2D) for simu-lating hydraulic habitat was investigated.The rate of daily increment deposition onotoliths was validated using known-age lar-vae reared under laboratory conditions andthe early development stages of sawfin eggsand larvae were described. Age-length rela-tionships for larval and early juvenile sawfinwere then established from wild-caught fish.This information was used to investigate theinfluence of flow and water temperature onspawning and recruitment patterns. Thestudy successfully demonstrated that sawfindepend on certain key components of the an-nual flow and temperature regime and accessto a range different habitats through the year– definable at a range of scales – for theirsuccessful reproduction and recruitment. Itthereby demonstrated the critical importanceof these habitat types for the persistence offish populations living in rivers and, to thispurpose, reinforced the importance of con-serving both the hydrological and geomor-phological integrity of river systems.

Supervisor: Dr J King (Zoology)Co-supervisor: Dr J Cambray(Albany Museum, Grahamstown)

*Damiana Francesca Celine RavasiThesis Title: Gastrointestinal parasiteinfections in chacma baboons of the CapePeninsula and the influence of individual,troop and anthropogenic factors

Damiana Ravasi has a Bachelor of Scienceand Master of Science both from the Univer-sity of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland. She spenta number of years in South-East Asia work-ing for primate conservation and arrived inSouth Africa in 2005 as a field research as-sistant on baboon behaviour for the BaboonResearch Unit at UCT.

Damiana Ravasi’s thesis study in-vestigates how an ecological process, namelyparasite infection dynamics, is affected by arange of factors in the geographically iso-lated and fragmented population of chacmababoons ranging in the Cape Peninsula. Themethods utilized for data collection arestrictly non-invasive and involved long days 21

in the field collecting faeces for subsequentanalysis in the laboratory. Damiana obtainedover 600 samples from eight different troopsand investigated inter-troop variations in par-asite infections in addition to host-intrinsic(e.g. host sex and age) and host-extrinsic(e.g. troop characteristics, climate) determi-nants of host-parasite dynamics. Her find-ings revealed that the Cape Peninsulababoons have similar parasites to other pop-ulations of baboons throughout SouthAfricadespite the prolonged exposure of the popu-lation to humans and their domestic animals.However, sharing urban space with humanswould appear to have come at a price. Mo-lecular analyses of the ubiquitous and highlyprevalent nematode, Trichuris sp., provideevidence of two genetically distinct Trichurisspecies, including a newly identified baboonparasite, named T. papionis, and another thatstrongly resembles the human T. trichiura.The latter finding provides the first evidenceof a likely reverse zoonotic infection of ba-boons with human parasites and providesmanagement authorities with a strong moti-vation to restrict the spatial overlap betweenthe humans and baboons in the Cape Penin-sula.

Supervisor: Dr J O'Riain (Zoology)

*Angela Christine van DoornThesis Title: The interface between socioe-cology and management of chacma ba-boons (Papio ursinus) in the CapePeninsula, South Africa

Angela van Doorn has a BA inAnthropologyfrom the University of Washington. She hasbeen studying at UCT since 2000 and ob-tained her MPhil in Environmental Manage-ment in 2003.

Angela van Doorn’s thesis investi-gates the effects of a baboon monitors (whoherd baboons) on the behavioural ecology ofbaboons living within anthropogenicallymodified habitats. The thesis study com-pares the habitat use, activity budget, diet andraiding patterns of two troops of baboonswithin the Cape Peninsula over a three yearperiod. The results of her thesis reveal howaccess to human derived foods and livingwithin a Mediterranean climate has dramati-cally altered the behaviour and diet of free-living Peninsula baboons. Baboon monitorswere found to have a significant effect on themovement patterns, habitat use and diet ofbaboons. Monitors did reduce the presenceof baboons in urban areas and reduced thetotal time that baboons spent raiding humanderived food items. Intensive, unsystematicherding of baboons was shown to have a pro-found influence on how baboons utilize theirhome range and effectively prevented ba-

boons from tracking subtle changes in foodavailability within different habitat typesthroughout the year. The information gainedfrom this study was used to suggest severalpractical guidelines to enhance the reductionof human/baboon conflict in the Cape Penin-sula while reducing the impact of monitorson the behaviour and movement free-livingbaboon troops. Ultimately the sustainabilityof the wildlife populations living in closeproximity to humans depends on the suc-cessful implementation of novel conserva-tion interventions. This thesis represents thefirst attempt on the Peninsula to perform hy-pothesis driven research that examines causeand effect relationships between threats andinterventions.

Supervisor: Dr MJ O’Riain (Zoology)

Mariëtte WheelerThesis Title: The effects of humandisturbance on the seabirds and seals atsub-Antarctic Marion Island

Mariëtte Wheeler graduated with an MSccum laude from the Nelson Mandela Metro-politan University. She then relocated to theremote sub-Antarctic Marion Island whereshe completed her field work for her PhD, in-vestigating the influence of human activitieson seabirds and seals.

Mariëtte Wheeler’s thesis investi-gates the impacts of logistic disturbance (es-pecially helicopter noise), incidentalpedestrian disturbance and research distur-bance on the albatrosses, penguins and sealsof Marion Island. Mariette spent hours in thecold sub-Antarctic environment collectingdata to compare the behaviour of animals be-fore, during and after disturbance events. Shealso measured chick survival and hormonelevels of birds relative to the levels of distur-bance that they experienced. Results indi-cated that certain human activities on theisland affected the behaviour, breeding suc-cess and physiology of some species. Previ-ous regulations for the management ofwildlife disturbance on Marion Island, SouthAfrica’s only Special Nature Reserve werebased on ad hoc observations. This studyprovides quantitative evidence of the effectsof human disturbance and makes recommen-dations for the management of disturbance atthe island.

Supervisor: Professor L Underhill(Zoology)Co-supervisors: Dr M de Villiers (Zoology)Professor M Bester (Zoology, University ofPretoria)

22

��

��

��

��

� � ��

��

� ��

� ��

� ��

��

��

��

� ��

� ��

� �� !��

��

� ��

� ��

� ��

� ��

" ��

� ��

��

� ��

#� ��

��

��

��

��

23

John Derrington Simpson, BBusSc MBA PhD Cape Town

24

��

��

!�� "��

�� #�� $��

��

��

��

�� %&&�� '&��&��&�� &

� �� $�� (�� )* +, -�� ..�� /0.1 /0�1 23� ,.42

5��

�� 6�� 7

25

ˇ - university of cape town€¦ · the university of cape town gratefully acknowledges the...

Documents