SAAB Silver Medal Recipient:
Prof. Kevin Balkwill
Kevin Balkwill is a professor in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and was Interim Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Botany until very recently (February 2022 – June 2023). Before joining Wits as the curator of the C.E. Moss Herbarium in 1988, Kevin completed his undergraduate BSc degree, Higher diploma in Education and BSc Honours at Wits, followed by a doctorate at the then University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal) under the supervision of Prof. Fiona Getliffe-Norris with a thesis titled “Taxonomic studies in the tribe Justicieae of the family Acanthaceae” in 1985. In addition to lecturing and coordinating various undergraduate and postgraduate courses, Kevin served as Head of School for 10 years, as Assistant Dean for Staff Development in the Faculty of Science for 7 years, and as Curator of the C.E. Moss Herbarium for 31 years. Kevin also developed and facilitated many paper writing workshops for staff and postgraduates, has peer reviewed articles submitted to over 22 scientific journals, and served on editorial boards and committees for journals.
SAAB Silver Medal Recipient:
Prof Stefan Siebert
Stefan Siebert has a well-balanced and rounded profile as a leader and scholar in botany, strong scientific outputs, continued excellence in the mentorship and training of students, and major contributions towards internationalization of research and researchers. His postgraduate students often win awards and continue to work in related fields where their scarce skills are sought-after. Through his work and own research profile, international collaborative projects, and networks, he has created highly impactful opportunities for staff and postgraduate students to build their own careers, improve their research outputs and impact, and establish themselves internationally. His mentorship and the way he opens up the world to young researchers is commendable. In addition, he has also elevated the profile of geoecology locally and in the international research arena. It is through his high-quality research outputs and international networks that South African geoecologists are enabled to create an international footprint. He is also the initiator of impactful community engagement activities that add value to student training. The impact which he has had in this field has been recognized by the School of Biological Sciences at NWU, promoting him to professor in 2018, the NRF in 2022, rating him as a C1 researcher, and receiving a Research Excellence Award from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NWU) in 2023.
SAAB Certificate of Merit Recipient:
Mrs Di Turner
Mrs Turner has voluntarily conducted and co-managed botanical surveys for the past 50 years. Mrs Turner is an amateur botanist. Her hiking expeditions in the Southern Cape Mountains led to an interest in plants and her consequently joining the local Botanical Society branch. Through this branch, she heard of the call for volunteers for the Protea Atlas Project and joined the project. Mrs Turner spent 10 years dedicating much time and energy to survey Proteaceae across the mountains and plains. Needless to say, this project is invaluable for conservation and science and could not have been achieved without such dedicated volunteers.
Shortly after this project, Mrs Turner started the southern Cape CREW group (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers, coordinated by the South African National Biodiversity Institute). She spent the next 20 years dedicated to surveying plants. This involved not only many hiking expeditions and learning many plant species, but also handling all the logistics and issues that go along with organising these outings.
SAAB Bronze Medal Recipient:
Dr Hannah Butler
Hannah Butler submitted her PhD thesis at the end of 2022 and graduated in early 2023. The title of her thesis was “The role of mutualisms in the evolution of flower and fruit traits in the Haemanthinae (Amaryllidaceae)”. The thesis topic was unusual in that it required a high level of competency in both pollination biology and seed dispersal biology. The completed work sheds new light on the reproductive biology of an iconic group of plants that had been neglected in terms of ecological and evolutionary research on mutualisms.
SAAB Student Prize Winners:
Best Young Botanist:
Mr Thaabiet Parker
Best PhD:
Ms Ancia Cornelius
Best MSc:
Mr Thaabiet Parker
Best Honours:
Mr Benjamin Morris
Poster Winners:
Ethnobotany (with phytochemistry):
Ms. Dineo Raphasha
Plant Evolutionary Ecology (with Conservation Biology; Invasive Alien Plant Biology):
Mr. Duran Chetty
Plant Physiology (with Plant Biotechnology and Phycology):
Mr. Senzo M.M Zwane
Plant Systematics (with Plant Taxonomy):
Miss. Tshepiso Tsime
