Prof V Ralph Clark Pri Sci Nat

Director: Afromontane Research Unit, UFS

Fellow: Department of Geography, UFS

Board of Directors: International Mountain Society, University of Bern, Switzerland

Founding Trustee: African Mountain Research Foundation, United Kingdom

T: +27 58 718 5407

E: ClarkVR@ufs.ac.za

W: ResearchGate

Research

I am the pioneer Director of the ARU and the interim coordinator for the ARU’s Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) programme. Apart from leading a competent, multidisciplinary mountain research team with large funding and extensive domestic and international collaborations, my personal research expertise focuses on improving our understanding of plant diversity and plants endemic to Southern African mountains and translating these into better biogeographic understandings for conservation and sustainable use outcomes. My research areas include the southern Great Escarpment (South Africa), the Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe–Mozambique), the western Malotis (South Africa–Lesotho), and the Angolan Highlands.

I am the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA), have acted as guest editor for three mountain-focused special issues, and am a member of the international editorial board for the journal Mountain Research and Development. I am also a member of the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) and am on the board of directors for the International Mountain Society (Switzerland). Two of my most enjoyable mountain research benefits are relaxing in a cold mountain pool after heavy fieldwork and watching the sunset from the top of a remote mountain top. I am the proud husband of a Kilimanjaro climber, and a dad to three bush-loving boys.