Dr Ismari van der Merwe believes that by forging strong relationships, women can affect virtually every aspect of their students' lives, teaching them vital life lessons that will help them succeed beyond term papers and standardised tests.
She states that it is not always easy to change a student's life, so it takes a great teacher to do so. “You, as a teacher, have a very significant, lifelong impact on all your students. This impact involves not only the teaching of particular academic skills, but as importantly, the fostering of student self-esteem.”
“Reinforcing self-esteem in the classroom is associated with increased motivation and learning,” she says.
On 11 February – I
nternational Day of Women and Girls in Science – the UFS is celebrating her not only for the impact she has on her students, but also for being instrumental in establishing the new Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, putting the UFS on the international forefront.
A sustainable food system
“We want our students to be part of a sustainable food system that provides healthy food that meets food needs, while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come, with minimal negative impact to the environment,” she says.
“The right to food is a fundamental human right.”
Dr Van der Merwe believes that a healthy personal food system and how it is managed is now more critical than ever before.
Her current work involves managing the five main food-related values of taste, health, cost, time, and social relationships, as well as other less prominent values of symbolism, ethics, variety, safety, waste, and quality within these personal food systems. She feels the prominence of these values varies among us as well as across our eating situations. “More research on this will be fascinating,” says Dr Van der Merwe.
A male-dominated field
On the role of women in science, Dr Van der Merwe says it is often considered a male-dominated field. “According to United Nations data, less than 30% of scientific researchers worldwide are women,” she states.
Telling her story about becoming a scientist, she says that science chose her. “Many scientists have reported that their interest and curiosity in science or the natural world started in early childhood.”
We want our students to be part of a sustainable food system that provides healthy food that meets food needs, while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come, with minimal negative impact to the environment. – Dr Ismari van der Merwe
“I started as a teacher and ended up working for the Agricultural Research Council, where I was responsible for a research programme on dry beans and started a small-scale research factory.”
“Later when we moved to Bloemfontein, I joined the UFS. Here I am privileged to be able to do research and teach. Science chose me as part of my life journey, and I never looked back.”