TSHIAMO strikes GOLD!

Pioneering 27-year-old geologist Tshiamo Legoale has garnered international acclaim for creating a process that can potentially use wheat to ‘grow’ gold! It’s earned her the FameLab International award for 2017 – and she’s the first African to win it. We

My mother was a single parent. She taught me a philosophy that she lived by: ‘You should not satisfy immediate needs but rather think about the future.’ I saw this playing out in our lives as she endeavoured to give my siblings and me an education. She knew she would not be able to afford varsity fees for three children on her income as a teacher so she sent me to the best school she could afford, working on the theory that if I were in a good environment I’d get great results and a bursary. She was right. My aunt always used to say, ‘It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you dust yourself off and move on.’ She had a strong influence on me while I was growing up. She was married with six children and it was almost taboo for a black woman to leave her family to pursue her studies, especially in the eighties. Still, my aunt achieved a master’s degree. She encouraged me to use every opportunity that came my way. She made me a strong woman. In matric I was head girl. I attended an all-girls school and was quite active in the debating team, the public speaking groups and the SRC, so I guess I’ve always had a passion for public speaking. I think this has helped me a lot and has shaped me. I was always academically strong but

‘My aunt was married, with six children, and it was almost taboo for a black woman to leave her family to pursue her studies.’

I was equally troublesome… (Once, I had to attend a disciplinary hearing!)

It was only in my first week of lectures that I learnt what geology was all about.

I actually didn’t choose geology; it was my late brother Thabo, a mine surveyor, who planted the seed. I’d originally set my sights on public relations, but once Thabo suggested geology my entire family started singing the geology song.

My work is to use science to change people’s lives.

It’s humbling to be the first African to win the FameLab International award [a global science communications competition] and it opens doors: I’m able to have conversations about science that I couldn’t before. My opinion and views can be shared in a space where they’re taken seriously. It gives me a platform to say to young people ‘enter this sector!’ People don’t often believe that science can be used

‘We identified a plant that is able to store gold: wheat.’

to uplift a community – that’s what I do on a day-to-day basis.

Scientists are not nerds. I hope my interaction with other people and the media conveys the message that scientists are not boring or dull people. We are colourful! I like to drink wine, I go out, I like music and I’m like every other person. I just happen to enjoy science.

I’m not just Tshiamo the scientist…

I am a daughter, a sister, a friend and a lot of other things to a lot of other people. Knowing this helped me overcome my toughest year, my biggest obstacle: in 2015 I lost my brother and cousin-brother in an accident. This took a toll on the whole family. Other things also went wrong and I ended up in a state of depression. I had to learn to prioritise myself again and to love myself. I learnt that while I may fail at something it doesn’t make me a failure. It was the hardest time but it was also my ‘aha’ moment.

In 10 years’ time I see myself

expanding on science communication, which isn’t something that is well understood in South Africa. I see myself engaging more with young people and training them to be better science communicators. However, I will definitely still be a geologist; I don’t see myself giving up rocks!

Not everything is black and white;

there is a lot of grey. This grey is absolutely dependent on your opinion, and personal experiences and preferences. If people were able to believe that the grey area exists the world would be more peaceful – and more tolerant about sexuality, religion, culture and race. My right or wrong isn’t necessarily someone else’s right or wrong.