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14 August 2018
WomenofKovsies Dr Lize Joubert on flowers and their favourite insects
Pollination is important to maintain diversity in our natural ecosystem and maintain ecosystem health

“Pollination is important to maintain diversity in our natural ecosystem and maintain ecosystem health.” So says Dr Lize Joubert, lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State. “Research helps to understand the interaction between insects and flowers and their many implications on real-world problems.”

Plant systematics and pollination biology, Dr Joubert’s research field, looks at how plants diversify, adapt to environmental changes and how their flowers evolve to keep attracting insects to pollinate them for reproduction. 

Dependency on pollination

Crop production is, in many cases, dependent on pollination. About 75% of the world’s crops are to some extent dependant on pollination. “Pollination is really important for us as human beings, but it is also important to maintain diversity in our natural ecosystem and maintain ecosystem health.”

Dr Joubert obtained her PhD in plant systematics in 2013 and was subsequently awarded the EM van Zinderen-Bakker Prize for an outstanding PhD dissertation in Botany.

She is also the curator of the Geo Potts Herbarium in Bloemfontein, the internationally accredited herbarium housing over 30 000 plant specimens, mainly representing the flora of central South Africa and several special collections from Marion Island, the Okavango Delta, and KwaZulu-Natal. 

Learning from the experts

As a young researcher Dr Joubert became part of the Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP) at the UFS which led her to Cambridge University where she became part of a research group for nearly two years under an expert in her field, Prof Beverley Glover. The PSP at UFS identifies and promotes promising young academics at the university to become full professors with excellent research accomplishments. 

Dr Joubert views the PSP Programme to a large extent as her academic home. She is proud to be part of the programme that has brought her closer to other experts in her field and resulted in collaborations in which she is involved in cutting-edge research. 

News Archive

UFS hosts schools festival
2010-08-19

 
From the left are: Neville Engelbrecht, Director: Arts Education, Prof. Nico Luwes, Head of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the UFS, Dangazele and Coletane Carey, CSI Specialist: Sasol.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted a two-day Sasol Free State/Northern Cape Schools Festival presented on the Main Campus. The festival provided young South Africans with a unique opportunity to develop their entire person – mind, body and soul. It also offered them a chance to explore the diverse South African cultural heritage through encounters with their peers and new creative expressions. The guest speaker was actress and director, Nobulali Dangazele, who is also the founder and leader of ShakesExperiential. The festival is a project of the Grahamstown Foundation. . 
 

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