Lab Alumni
Amy Collop – Masters student
Project title: The population genetics of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, in South Africa
Nadia Viljoen – Masters student
Project title: Exploring combinations of insect growth regulators and entomopathogenic nematodes for integrated pest management of false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)
Dr Quentin Willot – Postdoctoral researcher
Project title: Deciphering abiotic stress tolerance pathways in both model and non model organisms.
Amy Liu – PhD
Project title: Strangers in a strange land: Key physiological innovations underpin radiation into hot, dry niches by the genus Seira (Collembola: Entomobryoidea).
Marion Javal – Postdoctoral Researcher
Project title: Investigating host shifts and biosecurity in a novel sugarcane pest, the longhorn beetle Cacosceles newmannii.
Chantelle Smit – Masters student
Project title: Metabolic responses and host plants of the novel sugarcane pest Cacosceles newmannii.
Davina Saccaggi – PhD
Project title: Mechanisms and determinants of transport and establishment of invasive terrestrial arthropods.
Dr. Madeleine Barton – Postdoctoral Researcher
Project title: Predicting how agricultural insect pests in South Africa will respond to climate change.
Dr. Welma Pieterse – Phd
Project title: Forecasting the invasion potential of bactrocera invadens in the Western Cape of South Africa using a trait-based approach.
Dr. Berlize Groenewald – Phd (Co-supervisor: Prof. Steven Chown)
Project title: Testing current hypotheses of Discontinuous Gas Exchange in Orthoptera
Dr. Minette Karsten – Phd (Supervisor: Dr P. Addison)
Project title: Fruit fly pest management and gene flow in South Africa
Dr. Elsje Kleynhans – Phd (supervisor: Prof. D. Conlong)
Project title: Understanding population dynamics of Eldana in sugarcane from a thermal ecology perspective.
Dr. Matt Hill – Phd
Project title: Insect niche shifts and global invasions
Dr. Leigh Boardman – Phd
Project title: Biochemical and physiological responses of False Codling Moth to temperature and artificial atmospheres
Dr. Kate Mitchell – Phd
Project title – Thermal adaptation and transcriptional responses in tephritid fruit flies.
Dr. Bev Grieshaber – Phd
Project title – Modelling discontinuous gas exchange in insects.
Saskia Thomas –Masters student
Project title: Pest Management and Risk Analyses of Future Pest Invasions of Sugarcane in Mazabuka, Zambia
Nevill Boersma – Masters student
Project title: Thermal response to cold tolerance, fecundity, longevity and flying ability of false codling moth Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).
Marcé Doubell – Masters student
Project title: Investigating the biology and ecology of katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) pests in vineyards of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Sinead O’Toole – Masters student
Project title: Testing metabolic cold adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster along a latitudinal gradient in Australia
Frank Chidawanyika -Masters student
Project title: Costs and benefits of thermal acclimation for codling moth
Nanike Esterhuizen – Masters student (co-supervisors: Dr S. Clusella-Trullas & Dr C. van Daalen)
Project title: Impact of thermal history on flight performance of Mediterannean fruit flies (Tephritidae)
Zoe de Jager – Masters student (Primary supervisor: Dr P. Addison)
Project title: Revisiting diapause in False Codling Moth
Ruben Schoombie – Masters student (Co-supervisors: Dr S. Clusella-Trullas)
Project title: Potential impacts of climate change on Breviceps rain frogs
Rebecca Shinner – Masters student (Supervisor: Dr S. Clusella-Trullas)
Project title: Thermal responses and thermoregulation in Harmonia axyridis
Wilmari Uys – Masters student (Co-supervisors: Dr Leigh Boardman & Dr. Kate Mitchell)
Project title: Thermal limits of False Codling Moth
Vernon Steyn – Masters student (Co-supervisors: Dr Kate Mitchell)
Project title: Dispersal and flight physiology of Mediterranean fruit flies
Matt Lachenicht – Honours Student
Project title: Thermal acclimation effects on locomotor performance and respiratory metabolism in crickets
Helene Basson – Honours Student
Project title: Tsetse fly metabolic responses to hypoxia and temperature
Paige Potter – Honours student
Project title: Discontinuous gas exchange in Table Mountain Cockroaches
Dr. Casper Nyamukondiwa
Project title: Fruit fly (Tephritidae) thermal biology: implications for pest management
Liana Isabel De Araujo – Laboratory Technician
Current Affiliation is XSIT (Citrusdal)