Dr van Aardt is a senior lecturer at the Department of Plant Sciences. She completed her PhD in 2016 in Botany, specializing in Vegetation Science and Palaeoecology. Her research in these fields has led to extensive collaboration with national and international partners across South Africa and abroad. She has expertise in vegetation science and vegetation mapping, and her work spans National Parks, private nature reserves, and also privately owned game farms. Much of this research directly contributes to SANBI’s VegMap project. 

Her core research interests include plant-soil interactions, biodiversity patterns, and the influence of environmental drivers on plant community assemblages. She also investigates the species composition of past environments (palynology) to improve our understanding of ecosystem development and contemporary ecological states. This interest has led to collaborative projects with researchers from a range of institutions, both locally and internationally. She is particularly passionate about understanding ecosystems from the past and the present to inform predictions of future ecological responses to climate change.

Dr van Aardt manages a third stream income initiative within the Department, through which national and international researchers submit palaeoenvironmental samples for laboratory preparation and analysis.

She has authored and co-authored 16 publications in accredited scientific journals, including Koedoe, Quaternary International, and Journal of Archaeological Sciences. She regularly serves as a reviewer for national and international journals and acts as an external examiner for master`s and PhD studies from other tertiary institutions. She is also the author of a book chapter, has published two abstracts, and has produced nine industry reports on vegetation science. 

Her passion for nature and research is shared with the students she teaches at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has supervised and continues to supervise a range of honors, master’s, and doctoral candidates. Her research collaborations include partnerships with North West University, the National Museum (Bloemfontein), Texas State University, the Hebrew University, the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) in Spain, and the PEOPLE Project (PalaeoEcology and Open LandscapE adaptations of Pleistocene humans in South Africa), funded by Horizon Europe. 

Dr van Aardt is a registered plant ecologist (Pri Sci Nat) with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, and she is also a member of three professional bodies (South African Association of Botanists, South African Society for Quaternary Scientists, and International Association for Vegetation Science).

PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Matuvhunye, T., Berman, D.M., Esterhuizen, N., Razafimanantsoa, A.H., Neumann, F.H., Gharbi, D., Podile, K., Mmatladi, T., Langa, B., Moseri, M.E., Ajikah, L., Effiom, A., Ndlovu, N., Quick, L.J., Hilmer, E., Guscott, M., Davids, S., van Aardt, A.C., de Jager, J.C.L., Sithole, J.V., John, J., Garland, R.M., Hill, T., Finch, J., Chetty, K., Hoek, W., Bamford, M., Seedat, R.Y., Manjra, A.I., Upton, C.M., Peter, J. 2026. Five years of national airborne pollen monitoring in South Africa: biom-specific calendars to inform allergy diagnosis and prevention. Aerobiologia 42:23. DOI: 10.1007/s10453-026-09909-w. IF2.1, Q2


Sithole, J.V., Dayaram, A., van Aardt, A.C. 2025. Phytosociology of Golden Gate Highlands: A focus on Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane Fynbos. Koedoe 67(1), a1857. DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v67i1.1857 IF1.1, Q2


Van Aardt, A.C., Scott, L., Grundling, P.-L., Grundling, A.T., Woodborne, S. 2024. Revisiting past savanna environments: Pollen analysis of the Colbyn wetland on the southern African central plateau. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology IF 1.7. Q1


Van Aardt, A.C., de Jager, J.C.L., van Tol, J.J. 2024. Firebreaks and their effect on vegetation composition and diversity in grasslands of Golden Gate Highlands Park, South Africa. Diversity IF 2.5. Q2.


Gharbi, D., Berman, D., Neumann, F.H., Hill T., Sidla, S., Cilliers, S.S., Staats, J., Esterhuizen, N., Ajikah, L., Moseri, M., Quick, J.L, Hilmer, E., Van Aardt, A., John, J., Garland, R., Finch J., Hoek W., Bamford M., Seedat, Y.R, Manjra, I.A, Peter, J. 2024. Ambrosia (ragweed) pollen – a growing aeroallergen of concern in South Africa. World Allergy Organization Journal IF 5.1. Q2


Goder-Goldberger, M., Gilead I., Boaretto E., Edeltin L., Horwitz L.K., Jacoby-Glass, Y., Lavi R., Neumann F.H., Porat, N., Toffolo, M., Van Aardt, A.C., Zilberman, T., Crouvi, O. 2023. Living in an Ecotone: Late Middle Paleolithic occupations in the lower Besor Basin, north-western Negev Desert, Israel. Antiguity 97: 1-8. IF 1.953. Q1.


Esterhuizen, N., Berman, D., Neumann, F., Ajikah, L., Quick, L., Hilmer, E., Van Aardt, A., Hoek, W., John, J., Garland, R., Hill, T., Finch, J., Bamford, M., Seedat, R., Manjra, A., and Peter, J. 2023. The South African Pollen Monitoring Network: Insights from two years of national aerospora sampling (2019-2021). Clinical and Translational Allergy IF3.57. Q2


Lombard, M and van Aardt A.C. 2023. Method for generating foodplant fitness landscapes: With a foodplant checklist for southern Africa and its application to Klasies River. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 149: 1-12 IF 3.216.Q1


Scott, L., Neumann, F.H., van Aardt, A.C. and Botha, G.A. 2023. Palaeoenvironmental sequences surrounding Border Cave, South Africa, and review of conditions during Middle and Later Stone Age occupation. Quaternary Science Reviews 300:1-12 IF 4.112. Q1


Lombard, M and Van Aardt, A.C. 2022. Taking stock of foodplants growing in the Cradle of Humankind Fossil Hominin Site, South Africa. African Archaeological Review 39: 59-77 IF 1.29. Q1


Scott, L., Sobol, M., Neuman, F.H., Gil Romera, G., Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Bousman, C.B., Horwitz, L.K. and Van Aardt, A.C. 2022. Late Quaternary palaeoenvironments in the central semi-arid region of South Africa from pollen in cave, pan, spring, stream and dung deposits. Quaternary International 614: 84-97 IF 2.199. Q1

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Van Aardt A.C., Dayaram, A. Range expansion of the Grassland’s Bloemfontein Karroid Shrubland. Paper delivered at the 60th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society of South Africa (GSSA), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. 21-25 July 2025


Sithole, J.V., Dayaram, A., van Aardt, A.C. Post-Fire community composition of Drakensberg Amathole-Afromontane Fynbos (Gd6): A comparative study of Gd6 before and after the 2023 fires. Paper delivered at the 60th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society of South Africa (GSSA), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. 21-25 July 2025


Van Aardt, A.C., de Jager, J.C.L., van Tol, J.J. Effect of annual burning on diversity and vegetation composition of Golden Gate Highlands National Park. 59th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society at Gariep Forever Resort 22-26 July 2024.


Van Aardt, A.C., Scott, L., Grundling, P-L., Grundling, A., Woodborne, S. Late Holocene paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Savanna-Grassland ecotone, Gauteng, South Africa. XXIV Biennieal Congress Cango Valley, South Africa of the South African Society for Quaternary Research 19-24 May 2024.


Sithole, J.V., Dayaram, A., van Aardt, A.C. 2024. Influence of Aspect on the Drakensberg Amathole-Afromontane Fynbos (Gd6) vegetation composition, Golden Gate Highlands National Park. 49th South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) Conference, Richardsbay Campus, University of Zululand, 7-11 January 2024. 


Van Aardt, A.C., de Jager, J.C.L., Giddy, J.N., Dayaram., A. 2023. Karroid Islands in a sea of grasses, Free State Province, South Africa. 65th Annual Symposium of the International association of vegetation science, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 3 – 8 September 2023.


Scott, L. and van Aardt, A. C. 2022. Updating the African Pollen Database (APD) for the Quaternary in the South African interior. workshop of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), Pleistocene Archaeology and Palaeoecology of the Free State, Florisbad, Free State, 14 July 2022.


Müller, M., van Tol, J.J. van Aardt, A.C. 2022. Community distribution along topographical units in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Free State Province, South Africa. South African Mountain Conference, Champagne Sports Resort, KwaZulu-Natal, 14 – 17 March 2022


McLean, C.C., van Tol, J.J., van Aardt, A.C., Kotze, E., Edwards, A., Swart, W., Kotze, J.J. 2022. Quantifying soil degradation through microbial activity of alpine soils in the Northern Drakensberg, South Africa. South African Mountain Conference, Champagne Sports Resort, KwaZulu-Natal, 14 – 17 March 2022 


Ferreira, E.L., van Aardt, A.C., Joubert, L. 2022. Possible effect of community composition on pollination rewards in three Nemesia species from Namaqualand. South African Association of Botanists 28th Annual Conference, 17-20 January 2022


Nienaber, K, Van Aardt, A.C. Van Tol, J.J. 2021. Phytosociological classification of wetland vegetation in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Free State Province, South Africa. National Wetland Indaba 2021. Online. 20-21 October 2021

Vegetation Ecology

Palaeoevironmental reconstruction

Palynology

Soil-plant interactions

BLGY2615 – Fundamentals in Biological Sciences

BTNY2616 – Plant adaptations for survival on land (Vegetation Ecology)

BTNY3712 – Field Excursion 2 (Vegetation Ecology)

BTNY3734 – Vegetation science and environmental management (Terrestrial Ecology)

BTNA6804 – Advanced Plant Ecology

BTNE6804 – Methods in Palaeoecology (Pollen and Charcoal)

ECOL2612 – Introduction to Ecology

BTNY6798 – Botany Honours research project

BTNY6796 – Botany Honours literature studies

Various research projects and literature studies for post-graduate students in the fields of vegetation science and palaeoecology.