Name: Dr Shingirayi Chamisa

Position: Lecturer, Industrial Psychology

Qualifications: PhD Industrial Psychology

Dr Shingirayi Chamisa is an Industrial Psychologist, Lecturer and Researcher in the Industrial Psychology Department at the University of the Free State, Qwaqwa Campus. Her specialist and generalist wealth of experience has been accumulated in the Academia, Mining, Energy and Health Industries.

Shingirayi’s teaching and research interests fall within Positive psychology, more generally, in terms of employee coping strategies and individual and organisational wellness. She is interested in research-informed teaching, and her teaching philosophy is rooted in providing my students with the information, tools, and skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing environment, which is becoming increasingly globalised and automated. Shingirayi’s goal is that students not only learn psychology and management theories but also practise the theories and concepts and engage with real-life organisational scenarios and personalities. 

She teaches and supervises both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Shingirayi is also an academic and industry supervisor for Industrial and Organisational interns. Her work has been published in local and international journals, and she has professional memberships with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), the British Psychological Society (BSP) and the American Psychological Association (APA).

Name: Dr Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura

Position: Senior Lecturer/Researcher, Department of Public Administration and Management 

Qualifications: PhD Public Management and Water Governance from NWU (2018); 

Dr Maramura has the zeal to make a distinct difference by carving out a space in the teaching, learning, and research frontiers. She also has the conviction that, as an emerging young academic, she must actively contribute to the transdisciplinary discourse of research through impactful work on sustainable service delivery in a VUCA environment towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. As a young emerging researcher in Africa, her research interests are in water governance, sustainable service delivery, and public policies spanning across Africa. As a mixed-method researcher, her research has led to the publication of at least 30 peer-reviewed national and international accredited articles and six book chapters. Her research work has also seen her present at various national and international conferences across the globe. She was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the end of 2021. To date, she has supervised over 50 honours and 15 master’s students, and she is currently co-supervising a PhD student. 

She is a Brightest Young Mind in Africa (BYM) 2017 alumna. BYM is a network whose aim is to counter topical challenges to which the public sector in Africa is succumbing as the targets towards Agenda 2030 are slowly folding. In 2017, she also became a research catalyst for the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS), an initiative of the University of California, Berkeley which supports the reproducibility and transparency of social research in Africa. In 2019, she became a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Fort Hare's Research Campus, where she worked on an NRF-funded project with her mentors. In 2022, she became the portfolio manager for the Association of Southern African Schools and Departments of Public Administration and Management (ASSADPAM). ASSADPAM is a professional network of higher education schools and departments in the disciplines of Public Administration, Public Management, Public Governance, and Development Management in southern Africa. In 2023, she became a Fellow of the Emerging Scholars Acceleration Programme of the University of the Free State and she was also awarded the KIC Travel and Conference Research Grant by the National Research Foundation

Current research:
She is currently working on book chapter collaborations with a research pool of colleagues in the sustainability space. The book chapters are focused on the water–health nexus in failed states, thereby merging Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 6 on health and water respectively.

Name: Dr Edson Vengesai 

Position: Snr Lecturer, Finance

Qualifications: PhD in Finance

Dr Edson Vengesai, PhD, is a dedicated and passionate Senior Lecturer in Finance at the University of the Free State, serving in the Department of Economics & Finance since February 2020. In 2023, he extended his expertise as a visiting scholar at Fulda University in Germany, where he was invited to present Finance modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Education: Dr Edson is a distinguished finance specialist, holding a PhD in Finance, a Master of Commerce in Finance with Distinction, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) in Finance, also with Distinction. His unwavering commitment to knowledge led him to pursue a PhD in Finance, specializing in firm investment behaviours within African markets. 

Professional Affiliation: In addition to his impressive academic credentials, Dr Edson completed the prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program board exams, earning one of the highest and most respected distinctions in the finance and investment field—a global gold standard in investment management. He is an active member of the CFA Institute, the world's largest association of investment professionals. As the CFA principal contact person at the UFS, he administers CFA student scholarships. He guides students aspiring to attain their CFA charters, thus contributing to the crucial development of financial analyst skills in South Africa.

Teaching and Mentoring: Dr Edson is celebrated among students and peers for his dynamic and engaging teaching style. In 2022, he was honoured with both the Faculty Learning and Teaching and the Khothatsa (to inspire) awards. His ability to make complex financial concepts accessible continues to inspire countless students in the fields of Finance, Investments, and Portfolio Management. Edson has taught, coordinated, and examined numerous postgraduate and undergraduate Finance modules across various institutions throughout his academic journey. He plays an active role in several committees, including faculty curriculum review and General Human Research Ethics.

Curriculum development: Dr Edson developed a financial modelling module and integrated multiple Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques into his curriculum. This strategic initiative aims to empower students with the essential skills required to thrive in an ever-evolving industrial landscape, positioning them at the forefront of the technological revolution, and aligning with the university’s vision to foster excellence.

Research Interests: Dr Edson's research interests lie in Financial Economics, encompassing Corporate Finance, Financial Markets, Portfolio and Investment Management, Risk Management, Banking, and Fintech. His career has been principally in corporate finance research, resulting in multiple peer-reviewed publications in international journals. His work predominantly focuses on practical solutions to African financial challenges.

Community Engagement: Beyond his professional and academic pursuits, Dr Edson is deeply committed to community engagement. He is a regular participant in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Universities and Schools outreach programs, where he imparts investment knowledge to university and high school students. His efforts aim to accelerate financial literacy and foster an investment culture among young people, bridging the financial literacy gap.

Dr Edson Vengesai's dedication to education, extensive expertise in Finance, and commitment to community development make him a remarkable asset to both academia and society at large. His tireless efforts continue to shape the future of Finance in South Africa and beyond.

Name: Dr Constance Motsitsi 

Position: Lecturer, Public Administration and Management

Qualifications: PhD Public Management and Administration

Dr Constance Motsitsi is a lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Management at the University of the Free State. She specializes in public financial management and service delivery. Constance has obtained the following qualifications: Ph.D. in Public Administration and Management (2022); a master’s degree in public administration and management (2018); BA Honors in Development and Management (2015); and a BA in Development and Management Degree (2014). Constance aims to publish and do research in her research field and other related fields. She currently lectures Public financial management, municipal financial management, and Research methodology in the Department of Public Administration and Management, under the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty. Constance has been employed at the UFS since January 2019. 

In 2022, Constance won the Faculty and Institution 3minute thesis competition. She also won the best Conference Paper at the 2022 ASSADPAM annual conference. Constance has attended and presented at 6 conferences, 4 national conferences, and two international conferences. In 2023, she presented two papers at the conference. In 2023, she joined the Emerging Scholar Accelerator Program at the UFS and has participated in a number of leadership programs and workshops. Constance is currently enrolled in two leadership programs, (i) Engage Leadership and (ii) Management Mindset.

Name: Dr Makobo Mogale

Position: Lecturer in Curriculum Studies and Higher Education  

Qualification: PhD in Education

Dr Makobo Mogale has been a Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies and Higher Education at the Faculty of Education of the University of the Free State (UFS) since February 2022. Before joining the UFS, she was a teacher and taught in both secondary and primary schools. She obtained her Bachelor of Education in the Senior and FET Phase and an Honours and Master of Education with specialisation in Curriculum Studies from the University of Limpopo. In 2022, she completed her doctoral qualification at the Tshwane University of Technology on research titled ‘Pedagogical Implications for Progressed Learners: Towards a Curriculum Support Model in Secondary Schools’. Her research interests centre on education policy, focusing on progression policy implementation, curriculum support, language education, learner support, and teacher professional development.

In 2022, she received a funding subsidy from the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) subsidy to attend and present a paper at the South African Education Research Association (SAERA) Conference hosted by the University of the Western Cape, as an early-career researcher in Education. She has published four articles in accredited journals and presented papers at several conferences. She serves on various committees in the department and faculty. Dr Mogale is in the third cohort of the Emerging Scholars Acceleration Programme (ESAP) as of January 2023. Through the ESAP fellowship, she is currently enrolled in r CREST, an online training course for supervisors of doctoral candidates at African universities offered by Stellenbosch University. 

Name: Dr Petra Maass

Qualification: PhD Anatomy (University of Cape Town, 2016)

Position: Senior Lecturer / Researcher,  Department of Basic Medical Sciences

Dr Petra Maass has been a Forensic Anthropologist and Anatomist based in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) since 2017. Her interest in interdisciplinary forensic science stems from her extensive exposure to different scientific fields through her BSc in Genetics and Physiology, B(Med)Sc Honours in Biological Anthropology, Master of Science in Medicine, and PhD in Anatomy. Her PhD research focused on the statistical shape analysis of anatomical variations of South Africans' skull and long bones. The findings of this research, as well as her analysis of the demographic profile of the University of Cape Town Skeletal Collection, have been published in internationally accredited peer-reviewed journals such as Forensic Science International and HOMO: Journal of Comparative Anatomy.

Dr Maass has served as the manager of the Forensic Anthropology Cape Town (FACT) Laboratory at the University of Cape Town and consulted on decomposed and skeletal forensic cases for the Western Cape Forensic Pathology Services (FPS). She currently provides similar consultation services for the Free State FPS and presents introductory anthropology workshops to forensic pathologists and human osteology and forensic archaeology workshops to UFS Forensic Sciences students.

She currently teaches anatomy, embryology, and biological anthropology components of BSc and MBChB courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As module leader / course convenor for some of these modules, she has reintroduced practical components such as forensic excavation techniques, scientific communication skills, and anthropology research projects. She has supervised 14 honours and four masters students in the fields of Anatomy, Anthropology, and Interdisciplinary Forensic Sciences.

Dr Maass is also active in the wider academic community, serving as a council member of the Anatomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA) since 2019 and chairperson of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences Student Research Forum from 2020 to 2022. She is a regular peer reviewer for academic journals, such as the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology and Anthropologischer Anzeiger, as well as an external examiner for several postgraduate courses and dissertations of other institutions.

In 2017, Dr Maass established a documented human skeletal research collection, the Free State Collection for Anthropological Research (FS-CAR) at the UFS, currently only the fifth of its kind on the African continent. Based on this collection, her current research focuses on regional human skeletal variation in terms of the biological profile, disease, and trauma. She has also completed a study on the origins and demographic profile of the FS-CAR. She is continuing with research exploring the anthropometry of living individuals, anatomical variations of the cadavers received by the UFS for training purposes, as well as the origins and demographic profiles of these cadaveric remains.

Name: Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo

Position: Lecturer Public Health

Qualification:  PhD Interdisciplinary Doctor of Philosophy in Community Health and Health Professions Education

Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo, is a lecturer-researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS). She has been instrumental in establishing the first Division of Public Health at the UFS, where she is also currently based. She is also currently the acting Programme Coordinator in the division.

In 2022, she was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative, where she was hosted in North Carolina, United States. There, she established a public health research collaborative partnership with Appalachian State University. In 2023, she was awarded a University Partnership Initiative Impact-orientated Grant to strengthen this collaborative partnership.

In 2022, Dr Mulondo was awarded an Emerging Researcher Delegate Support Grant to present her papers at the SANORD (Southern African-Nordic) International Conference. In 2023, she assumed the Emerging Scholar Accelerator Programme fellowship, where she was specially selected as one of the leading emerging scholars at the UFS.

Dr Mulondo is engaged in the community and, due to her leadership and service, was recognised in 2021 among the Mail & Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans in the health category. She also represents South Africa as a council member in the Golden Key International Council of Advisors, overseeing 19 institutional chapters. Furthermore, she is a Golden Key International Honor Society Advisor at the UFS.

In 2023, she was awarded a Novartis Reimagining Healthcare Scholarship, where she became a global delegate at the One Young World Summit.  She is now a One Young World Ambassador, through which she first convened with fellow delegates in the United Kingdom. Moreover, she is a member of the International Leadership Association (ILA) and an Organising Committee member of the Postdoctoral Research Conference in Africa.

Dr Mulondo completed an interdisciplinary doctoral degree at the UFS in the Departments of Community Health and Health Sciences Education with a thesis titled, ‘Towards the Development of a Capacity Development Framework for Research Ethics Administrators: Lessons from South Africa’. She has a Master’s in Psychology from the University of Pretoria, has published nationally and internationally, and supervises both master’s and PhD students. Her research interests are in public health issues, mental health, ethics, and capacity development.

Name: Dr Claudia Ntsapi 

Position: Lecturer Physiology

Qualification: PhD Physiological Sciences (Specialization in Neurophysiology).
Completed a PhD in Neurophysiological Sciences at Stellenbosch University in 2018 and obtained a joint M.Med.Sc in Human Genetics from Stellenbosch University and the Brain and Spine Institute at L'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, France, in 2015.

Dr Claudia Ntsapi, PhD, is a registered Natural Scientist (Pri. Sci. Nat) with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP). She joined the University of the Free State in late 2019 as a lecturer in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences. In addition to her teaching responsibilities spanning the first to third-year medical program in the School of Medicine, Dr Ntsapi leads the NeuroCancer Research Group, overseeing a multidisciplinary team specializing in cell biology, cell physiology, microscopy, biochemistry, and pharmaceutical methodologies.

The primary focus of the research group centers on understanding the complex dynamics and functions related to protein degradation, particularly in the context of neurodegeneration and cancer. Autophagy-related pathways play a pivotal role in their research, representing essential cellular mechanisms that promote cell survival under stressful cellular conditions by facilitating the degradation of long-lived proteins. The team’s research efforts include the development and characterization of three-dimensional cell-based models, aiming to closely replicate the pathological features found in neurodegenerative and cancerous conditions. Furthermore, they actively explore potential therapeutic applications of indigenous medicinal extracts, particularly in addressing conditions like Alzheimer's and liver cancer. Funding for these research initiatives is provided by the National Research Foundation, the UFS Three Schools of Medicine, and the UFS Interdisciplinary Grant.

Claudia’s research contributions include the publication of nine peer-reviewed articles in high-impact factor journals, along with a book chapter. Beyond academia, she has effectively shared her research findings to the broader public through various media outlets, with a notable presence on online platforms such as 'The Conversation.' Her publication in 'The Conversation' earned recognition as the top article released by the University of the Free State in July 2023, attracting a national readership of over 15,000 within two weeks of its online publication.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Claudia holds leadership roles within various faculty positions and is a member of the University of the Free State Council.

Before joining the DSLD, Dr Tlalajoe-Mokhatla started as a Junior Lecturer in Biochemistry in 2013 and left in 2015 as a Lecturer in Biochemistry from North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus). She presented Bioinformatics practicals (the study of ‘omics’) to third-year students and Molecular Biology contact and practical sessions to the UNISA third-year students. She also lectured Medical Biochemistry to second-year students in both contact and practical sessions entailing a variety of practical biochemical applications (genomic DNA isolation, forensic DNA profiling, electrophoresis, and enzyme activity) and, in addition to this, also handled the dry practicals of metabolomics analyses on organic acid analysis, new-born screening using ELISA, and carbohydrate analysis. Subsequently, she presented a Writing Technique course to the Molecular Biology honours group. She supervised a project with a group of third-year students and an honours project in the years (2014 and 2015).

Since her transition in 2015 from hard-core sciences into soft sciences, Dr Tlalajoe-Mokhatla has been actively working on establishing a niche for her research profile. She contributed to the body of knowledge through her PhD studies titled ‘A Support Framework for Social Learning and Integration of Undergraduate First-Year Medical Students’. Apart from the articles published from her thesis, she is currently working on implementing the recommendations communicated through her study’s findings. Moreover, Dr Tlalajoe-Mokhatla continuously improves her consultations and class sessions through evidence-based interventions. As a result, she is also actively researching her approaches to facilitating soft skills in her consultations, so much so that she won the second prize in Excellence in the Teaching and Learning Innovation Awards in 2018 from the Centre for Teaching and Learning, UFS. That same year, she participated in the institutional Three-minute Thesis Competition for PhDs and was selected to participate nationally, as she won the People's Choice Award within the UFS. Moreover, she also won the runner-up junior researcher award for an educational paper presented at the Faculty Forum in 2018.

Dr Tlalajoe-Mokhatla is active in supervising master’s students within the Health Professions Education programme and attends conferences to present papers and/or posters locally, nationally, and internationally. She reviews academic peer-reviewed articles for journals (Perspectives in Education and African Journal in Health Professions Education), reviews master’s and PhD theses internally and externally, reviews abstracts for conferences (SoTL), and participates in evaluation committees for postgraduate students. She started participating in the Emerging Scholar Accelerator Programme in 2023 and has been allocated a mentor and sponsored a research assistant to expand her research footprint.

Name: Dr Jeanette Sebaeng

Position: Snr Lecturer School of Nursing

Qualification: PhD Nursing Sciences

Dr Jeanette Sebaeng holds a PhD from the University of Pretoria, a master’s and three advanced university diplomas in Nursing Education, Health Service Management and Forensic Nursing from North-West University and the University of the Free State respectively. She worked in clinical practice at the Impala Platinum Mine, Helen Joseph, and Mafikeng provincial hospitals as professional nurse prior to joining higher education  from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, she worked for the Mmabatho College of Nursing as a Lecturer for undergraduate students for five years, teaching different nursing modules.

Dr Sebaeng left the college for the North-West University, where she continued teaching undergraduate students and supervising postgraduate students. She has successfully graduated master’s students and continues to supervise both as a co- and main supervisor for one PhD candidate. Dr Sebaeng is a founder and executive member of the South African Forensic Nursing Association (SAFNA), an association that was instrumental in the accreditation of Forensic Nursing as postgraduate diploma for the first time in South Africa. 

She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences both locally and internationally. Currently a member of the International Forensics Association (IFA), Dr Sebaeng received the Teaching and Learning Award (TEA) from North-West University in 2016, and she is the scholarship winner for conference attendance for the International Conference on Forensic Nursing Science and Practice in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2019. She is currently refocusing her research on gender-based violence with medico-legal implications.

Name: Dr Alta Grobbelaar 

Position: Lecturer and Programme director Dept Political Studies & Governance 

Qualification: PhD A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Interrelationship between the Media and Terrorist Groups in Africa

Name: Dr Adelheid von Maltitz  

Position: Lecturer, Dept. Fine Arts

Qualification: PhD in Fine Arts

Dr Adelheid von Maltitz is a South African artist and practices under her grandfather’s surname Frackiewicz. Adelheid is a senior lecturer at the University of the Free State and presents mainly drawing and sculpture and supervises both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Adelheid holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree form the Faculty of the Humanities, Departments of Fine Arts and Art History and Image Studies at the University of the Free State. Her thesis for her doctoral degree was titled:  Art, Place, Death: The Transformative Power of Dynamic Thresholds. In 2021 Adelheid won one of the three Absa L’ Atelier Ambassador awards which is arguable the most prestigious art award in Africa. She has further exhibited extensively on a national and international level. Notably in 2023, Adelheid has been invited to Nirox sculpture park for an artist residency and in her three-person group show titled Refuge: and uncommon home, is being exhibited at the Institute Museum of Ghana-Noldor Artist Residency in Accra, Ghana.

Name: Dr Xany Jansen van Vuuren   

Position: Lecturer Dept. Linguistics and Language Practice

Qualification: PhD Language Practice

Dr Jansen van Vuuren obtained her Ph.D. from the University of the Free State in 2022, where she is also a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice. She teaches interpreting and translation on undergraduate and postgraduate level. 

With regard to research, her areas of focus include ecosemiotics, eco-translation, knowledge translation, translation and activism, and interspecies translation and interpreting. Her current research projects include work on the role and purpose of Translation Studies in the ecological crisis, and interspecies translation and semiosis. Her recent publications address these topics. She is currently completing her monograph, entitled “Interpreting, communication and animal welfare: An ecosemiotic analysis of interspecies translation” with De Gruyter Mouton. She is part of the Eco-translation Network, an international network of scholars working on translation, ecology and environment hosted by The University of Edinburgh.

Name: Dr Helen-Mary Cawood   

Position: Lecturer Dept. Philosophy and Classics

Qualification: PhD Philosophy

Name: Dr Trudie Strauss   

Position: Lecturer - German

Qualification: PhD in Mathematical Statistics

Name: Dr Khangelani Moyo

Position: Snr Lecturer Dept Sociology

Qualification: PhD Zimbabwean Migrants in Johannesburg, SA: Space, Movement and Spatial Identity

Dr Khangelani Moyo is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Sociology, University of the Free State – Qwaqwa Campus, South Africa. He is involved in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, and the supervision of Honours and Masters students’ research. He has academic training in the fields of Sociology, Social Anthropology, Migration studies and Urban studies. He completed his PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2017, focusing on migrant space, mobilities and spatial identities in Johannesburg. His research interests include migration management, refugee governance, migrant transnationalism, spatial identity in the city and social vulnerabilities in the urban peripheries. He has published in internationally accredited journals and presented his work to global audiences. Before joining the University of the Free State he was an FFVT fellow at the Centre for Human Rights Erlangen Nürnberg (CHREN), Germany in 2022 and DFG-TWAS Cooperation visiting fellow at the Africa Centre for Transregional Research (ACT), University of Freiburg, Germany in 2021. As part of his fellowship at CHREN and ACT, his research focused on refugee integration in Germany. 

Name: Dr Anthea-Lee September-Van Huffel

Position: Lecturer Private Law

Qualification: LLD

Dr Anthea-lee is a lecturer in the private law department at the University of the Free State. She holds an LLB and LLM degree from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Anthea-lee obtained her Magister in Legum (LLM) degree in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law. She is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa with practice experience in a broad range of property law aspects. She practised at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc (ENS), and Webber Wentzel and Linklaters (WW) in Sandton Johannesburg in the commercial property law departments. She has been responsible for contracts involving property and land matters on various commercial, national and international property matters. 

Anthea-lee commenced her academic scholarly career as a permanent academic staff member at the University of the Free State (UFS) in the private law department in 2017. She completed her doctoral studies in 2022. Her LLD thesis is titled “A Critical Investigation of State Custodianship and its implications for South African Land Reform”. 

Anthea-lee continues to consult on the security of tenure, property and communal land-related matters and has been involved in a number of community scholarly engagements in these research areas. In addition to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision, she taught the Executive Development Programme at the UFS Business School directed at managers in various South African industries, providing training on the best legal practices in finance, human and asset resource management within the legal environment.

Name: Dr Robert Muir

Position: Snr Lecturer – Sedimentology & stratigraphy and Field Mapping

Qualification: PhD in Geology

Name: Dr Dimitri Veldkornet   

Position: Lecturer Plant Sciences

Qualification: PhD Botany

Dr Veldkornet is currently a Lecturer in Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State. He completed his PhD in Botany in 2016 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in South Africa. His thesis focused on the distribution of estuarine plants and vegetation in South Africa. He has broad training in ecology with a postgraduate specialisation in estuarine ecology and environmental management. 

In 2021, he was a Senior Lecturer in Veld Management and Pasture Science at the University of Limpopo. In 2020, he was an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, and in 2019, he was a Part-Time Lecturer in Game Ranch Management at the School of Natural Resource Management at NMMU. Between 2017 and 2018, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the University of the Western Cape. He has also supervised three honours students. In 2010, he was a Lecturer Assistant / Laboratory Technician at NMMU, working in extended phase studies. He also has teaching experience at primary and secondary schools.

He is researching saline vegetation and its response to climate change, which includes phylogenetic and environmental analysis and species distribution modelling using climate and other geospatial data. He has co-authored nine scientific papers over the past eight years and has been exposed to several inter- and multidisciplinary fields and techniques. 

He has presented his research at numerous conferences and peer-reviewed papers for the Annals of Botany, Journal of Mountain Science, South African Journal of Botany, American Journal of Botany, International Journal of Soil Science, and Estuaries and Coasts.  He has extensive research experience and has participated in various environmental management studies (for catchments and estuaries) locally and nationally. and have been participating in several environmental education programmes (e.g. National Marine Week, National Science Week, conferences, and public schools). As an emerging scholar, he would like to contribute to the knowledge of South African and global estuaries and inland saline environments. He hopes to achieve this by applying and broadening his research training and professional development.

Name:  Dr Janus Henning

Position: Senior Lecturer: Agricultural Economics

Qualification: PhD Agricultural Economics

Dr Henning is an Agricultural Economist who obtained both his undergraduate and postgraduate education at the University of the Free State (UFS). He obtained his PhD in Agricultural Economics at the UFS in 2016 and, ever since, his research has been mostly interdisciplinary, relating to farm management, finance, entrepreneurship, and agricultural development. He is actively involved in research concerning youth and youth development as well as their involvement in the agricultural sector. His current research focus is on attracting and involving youth in the agricultural sector, which would enhance rural livelihoods while reducing rural household vulnerability and unemployment.  

Janus is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He teaches modules related to Agricultural Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business Management. He has successfully supervised ten Master’s students and is currently supervising both Master’s and PhD students in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Janus has published 13 peer-reviewed publications and has been involved with eight international and seven national conference presentations. He has also published articles in several popular magazines, including Veeplaas, Farmbiz, Stockfarm, GrainSA, Tuli Journal, and Landbouweekblad. 

Name:  Dr Ayanda Maqhashu 

Position: Snr Lecturer Animal Sciences

Qualification: PhD Animal Science (Reproduction physiology)

Name: Dr Sogo Mayokun Abolarin

Position:  Facilitator and Researcher in the Department Engineering Sciences

Qualification: PhD in Engineering from the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria

Dr Sogo Abolarin, Pr Eng, PhD, earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos and a PhD in Engineering from the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria with a thesis titled ‘Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics in the Transitional Flow Regime with Twisted Tape Inserts’. He is presently a quality teaching and learning facilitator and a researcher in the Department Engineering Sciences at the University of the Free State. In this department, Dr Abolarin facilitates the engineering modules Material Science, Fluid Mechanics, and Engineering Thermodynamics. 

With over 13 years of work experience, his research focuses on the promotion, planning, design, capacity development, and implementation of clean energy technologies for energy performance improvement, with specific attention to energy efficiency, energy conservation, renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, thermal properties of bricks used as building materials, experimental and numerical heat transfer, and pressure drop enhancement as well as entropy generation analyses in thermal systems. Dr Abolarin is passionate about assisting countries in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 7 (affordable and clean energy) and 13 (climate action). He believes that, through Goal 4 (quality education), every institution, municipality, province (state), country, region, or continent needs to communicate the strategies to achieve the SDGs to communities in such a way that everyone understands and takes the actions required to achieve these two goals.

To him, achieving these goals also means that other goals within the SDGs, such as Goals 8 (decent work and economic growth), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and 12 (responsible consumption and production) can be accelerated and achieved to meet Goals 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), and 3 (good health and well-being). 

Dr Abolarin has continued to contribute to knowledge; he has published 23 papers in top-rated journals and presented more than 22 conference papers at international conferences worldwide. He is passionate about mentoring research enthusiasts who are natural thinkers, passionate about adding value to our society and making the world a better place, and interested in postgraduate studies (MSc and PhD). He has extensive and productive collaborations with local and international institutions, and he is a reviewer for high-impact journals in his research field, including Energy and Buildings, International Journal of Refrigeration, Journal of Building Engineering, SPE Production and Operation, and Thermal Sciences and Engineering Progress. He is also a certified board member of the Institute of Energy Professional Africa. He is also a South African Advisory Committee member of the 17th International Heat Transfer Conference, which took place from 14 to 18 August 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Professionally, Dr Abolarin is a mechanical engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa; a Certified Energy Auditor with the Association of Energy Engineers, United States; a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional with the Efficiency Valuation Organization, United States, a Lead Auditor ISO50001:2018 in Energy Management Systems, and a Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.

Name: Dr Mpho Ramoejane

Position:  Lecturer Zoology and Entomology

Qualification: PhD Ichthyology

Dr Ramoejane is a molecular geneticist by specialisation and have worked with Afromontane reptiles (lizards of the Leceatidae family) and freshwater fish (Labeo). I am currently working on Afromontane small mammals (rodents and shrews). I am interested in systematics, phylogenetics, phylogeography, taxonomy, conservation and molecular ecology. My research has led to the publication of several scientific research papers in peer-reviewed, accredited international journals. I have presented my work at both national and international conferences. I was introduced to small mammal research during my Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2018) at the University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus, which I found to be very interesting as it sometimes involved hiking, which I love doing.  I was appointed as a lecturer at the Department of Zoology and Entomology in April 2020.  To date, I supervised and co-supervised honours and MSc students, and hosted one intern. My research is currently funded by startup funds from the department. However, I have applied to the National Research Foundation – Thuthuka funding and hoping for positive results.

Contribution to previous research:
Genetic diversity, evolutionary relationships and conservation of southern African Labeo fishes in relation to water management

The previous research contributed to the ongoing resolution of phylogenetic relationships of the African Labeo species by providing data on the relationships and evolutionary history of southern African Labeo species, with a particular focus on the Labeo umbratus species group. Labeo umbratus was shown to comprise two evolutionary lineages that inhabit the Orange and the southward-flowing river systems, respectively. For the southern lineages, conservation action needs to be directed at the genetic conservation units (ESUs or MUs) that were identified for L. umbratus. This is particularly pertinent because of the demonstrated threat of hybridisation between L. capensis and L. umbratus. The research proposed that future research investigates the extent of hybridisation in the extralimital and native ranges of southern African Labeo spp.. 

Current research:
Molecular systematics and Conservation of Afromontane small mammals (rodents and shrews)

The research aims to document the genetic diversity of small mammals in the Afromontane region of the Eastern Free State and delineate species and populations. The Eastern Free State is a unique region of Afromontane grasslands bordering Lesotho. There has been considerable progress towards documenting the biodiversity and discovery of endemic flora and fauna in the region. This indicates how unique and important the region is regarding its biodiversity. However, this research effort has been more focused on plants and more limited to animals, especially small mammals. A gap in our knowledge of these species in the region still exists and more species still need to be discovered or described. The present study was motivated by the biodiversity gaps as well as increasing threats to biodiversity, including anthropogenic factors (urbanisation, over-grazing, hunting and uncontrolled fires) and climate change.

Name: Dr Carmien Tolmie 

Position: Lecturer Biochemistry

Qualification: PhD Biochemistry

Dr Carmien Tolmie, Ph.D., is a lecturer in Biochemistry in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of the Free State and has occupied this position since 2020. Dr Tolmie obtained her doctorate in 2019 with a thesis entitled ‘Natural roles and biocatalytic applications of Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases from Aspergillus flavus’. Dr Tolmie is currently the principal investigator of the Structure-Based Drug Discovery research group, which focuses on using structural biology to develop new therapies for fungal and viral infections of particular concern to South Africa. In addition, she is collaborating on a number of Biocatalysis projects. She currently supervises and co-supervises BSc Hons, MSc and PhD students in Drug Discovery and Biocatalysis, and has co-supervised MSc and PhD students to completion. In terms of lecturing, Carmien teaches second-year undergraduate Biochemistry students.

Dr Tolmie has published several articles in internationally peer-reviewed journals, and has presented at national and international conferences since 2013, most recently at the International School of Crystallography: Structural Drug Design 2023, in Italy. She is committed to improving the macromolecular crystallographic education of South African postgraduate students, and thus acted as the lead local organiser for an international workshop held in South Africa in 2021, namely ‘CCP4 Crystallographic School in South Africa: From Data Collection to Structure Refinement and Beyond’. Dr Tolmie has been selected for the Emerging Scholars Accelerator Programme in 2023.

Name: Dr Melissa Hansen   

Position: Lecturer Geography (QwaQwa Campus)

Qualification: PhD Sustainability Science

Dr Melissa Hansen, PhD, Lund University, is a passionate teacher and researcher of Human Geography, Sustainability Science and Political Ecology in the Department of Geography, on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State, since 2016. She is currently Subject Head of the Department, since April 2022. As such her role is to manage and administer the department, provide academic leadership and facilitate teaching and learning, engage in research and publication, and conduct external engagements.

Dr Hansen completed her doctoral studies in 2014 with a thesis titled “Struggles over conservation space: Social justice in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa” at Lund University in Sweden. The research shows that ultimately, local inhabitants have been alienated from land, as well as from management practices in the park. This juxtaposes efforts to restore local land and resource rights against national and global interest in conservation. The implementation of global conservation through market mechanisms is particularly problematic where there is structural inequality with historical roots, such as in South Africa.

Her current and future research will continue to build on her roots as a Sustainability Scientist, where she continues to focus on discussions around development and social justice. Her overall research frame aims to capitalise on the Qwaqwa campus’ geographic location as fundamental to its positioning as a ‘Sustainability Science’ hub. Her research is located within the transdisciplinary Afromontane Research Unit, which endeavours to promote research contributing to sustainable mountain development in the Maloti-Drakensberg area. The Maloti-Drakensberg is one of the most biologically diverse areas of South Africa, and is the most important water catchment for both South Africa and Lesotho.