All-women science team to set sail
AN ALL-female team of scientists from the University of Pretoria (UP) will be joining the South African ice-breaking polar supply and research ship RV SA Agulhas II in order to reveal new insights into micro-organisms in the South Atlantic.
The four postgraduate students from the UP department of biochemistry, genetics and microbiology will be setting sail for the South Atlantic to spend 36 days aboard the Agulhas II ship.
The expedition, operated by the National Department of Environmental Affairs as part of a programme supported by the National Research Foundation and the South African National Antarctic Programme, will see the students collecting samples and conducting several experiments in the under-explored ocean.
Team leader Mancha Mabaso, alongside Caitlyn Fourie and Sade Magabotha, with the Microbiome Research Group at the university, as well as Francinah Ratsoma, a member of the university’s Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, will be joined by a team of scientific researchers from several other South African universities.
“We hope to reveal new insights into micro-organisms in the South Atlantic as the large research programme focuses on marine environments that are geographically strategic for South Africa,” said Mabaso.
Mabaso said this was important as even though there have been projects focused on birds, seals and other so-called charismatic macrofauna, few studies had assessed the role played by micro-organisms in the South Atlantic.
Mabaso said the project, titled “Enhanced insights regarding the ecology, evolution and function of marine microbiomes”, would aim to provide insights on microbial responses to environmental change and to assess their potential feedback on ecosystem services.
Although Mabaso, a PhD genetics student, has participated in several marine voyages in the Southern and Pacific Oceans, the new programme will be her first to the South Atlantic.
“I’m enthusiastic about the role of women – especially black women, in marine microbial ecology and in science. Research has always been notoriously male-centric, so it’s empowering to be part of a research group that gives us a platform to grow and make a meaningful contribution to the field,” she said.