Juan Swanepoel- Deputy Chairperson & Secretariat

Juan is a PhD student registered at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and hosted by the South African Environmental Observation Network’s (SAEON) Arid Lands Node, Kimberley. His thesis project focuses on the spatial distribution and patterning of a unique landscape feature (heuweltjies) in arid areas, and how these together with biodiversity and certain abiotic measures influence landscape productivity, under the supervision of Prof. Mike Picker (UCT), Dr. Joh Henschel (SAEON), and Dr. Sue Milton-Dean (Wolwekraal Conservation and Research Organization). Completing his undergraduate studies in Botany and Zoology through the University of South Africa (UNISA), followed by Honours in ecology, on the vegetation classification of Iron Age sites in the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, and a Masters in ecophysiology investigating the symptoms and cause of a new malformation disease of native Searsia lancea trees at the University of the Free State (UFS), Juan has a diverse research interest and experience of the academic culture.