Sachin Doarsamy DST-NRF-SAEON intern at the Grassland-Forest-Wetland node (2019/2020)

As a young child I have always had a fascination with the natural world, in particular plants. My passion grew when I began my degree in Ecology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus. Exposure during this time to countless fieldtrips, brilliant lecturers, and diverse fields within science from rangeland ecology to entomology, vacation work in biocontrol, volunteering at Bews Herbarium (NU) and bonding with students with a similar views boosted my passion.

My honours project combined my interests for plants and insects. I investigated the changes in riparian vegetation and macroinvertebrates communities along river banks in the Umgeni System that were invaded and cleared of invasive trees. My master’s projects is a phylogenetic analysis of the genus, Wurmbea (Colchicaceae) in South Africa with the importance of floral scent chemistry for pollination.

During my university career I have been privileged to volunteer and work for the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW), be a research assistant for countless post graduate students, help feed data into the Karoo Biogaps project, and contribute plant records to an ongoing series of BioBlitz within KwaZulu-Natal.

Lastly, SAEON has a positive reputation amongst students as a place for growth and learning. My internship period will be a year of growing with the help of SAEON. I look forward to applying my knowledge, learning new techniques and becoming a better scientist.