Prof Sandy-Lynn Steenhuisen

Subject Head and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences

T: +27 58 718 5330

E: sandysteenhuisen@gmail.com, steenhuisens@ufs.ac.za

Research:

I am an evolutionary ecologist specialising in the pollination and reproductive ecology of native and invasive alien plant species in South Africa. My primary passion is investigating shifts in pollination systems and associated floral traits in endemic flora, especially between bird, beetle, and mammal pollination systems in South Africa's flagship genus, Protea.

Currently, in collaboration with the Centre for Biological Control at Rhodes University, the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University, SANBI, and a SARChI Research Chair in Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, my research group at the UFS is primarily focusing on determining factors contributing to the spread of invasive alien plant species in sensitive high-elevation grasslands in South Africa. This research is essential to understand how these species may be impacting our natural biodiversity and farmlands and will contribute to integrated management regimes.