/ 18 August 2014

Young women taking up the challenge in science

Only President Jacob Zuma's office is tasked with issuing updates about the health of the revered elder statesman.
Only President Jacob Zuma's office is tasked with issuing updates about the health of the revered elder statesman.

Master’s degree: Kgothatso Nhlengetwa

At the time of application Ms Nhlengetwa was enrolled for an MSc in artisanal and small-scale mining in South Africa, Ghana and Senegal, specifically gold mining. Her research is on the impact of this type of mining on the environment and livelihoods of artisanal miners, as well as gold grade, geochemical and water analysis. The results of her research should provide evidence to clarify the debate on artisanal and small-scale mining, and inform the Department of Mineral Resources policy in this regard.

In 2013 Nhlengetwa received a Canon Collins Scholarship for study in South Africa. Her manuscript on “Zama Zama” mining in the Durban Deep-Roodepoort area has been accepted by Elsevier for publication in The Extractive Industries and Society. In June 2014 her MSc was converted into a PhD.

Master’s degree: Indigenous Knowledge Systems – Nosipho Dlamini

Nompilo Dlamini is currently enrolled for a master’s degree in Indigenous Knowledge Systems at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Dlamini’s research interrogates the knowledge and perceptions of learners in former Model C schools towards the use of African indigenous languages in South Africa. 

Historically marginalised

African indigenous languages have been historically marginalised by colonialism and apartheid in the South African formal educational system, especially in former Model C schools. 

As an undergraduate student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal she worked as a research assistant at the School of Languages, Literacies, Media and Drama Education. Her responsibilities included translating postgraduates’ theses and policies that already existed in the School.

Dlamini believes that, since the majority of South Africans use African indigenous languages in their daily social interaction, these languages have the potential to enhance effective learning in the whole education system. They not only realise people’s cultural identity, but, if properly supported and promoted, especially among the younger generations, would enhance African indigenous ways of knowing, knowledge production and value systems for sustainable development.

Master’s degree: Tlhompho Gaoshebe

Tlhompho Gaoshebe is enrolled for a master’s degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her research focus is on African indigenous food security strategies for climate change adaptation in the rural areas of the North West. 

Preliminary findings point to the importance of documenting African indigenous food security strategies for climate change adaptation, taking into account the role of rural women, and identifying gaps in the indigenous food security strategies, which could be improved through interface with other knowledge systems. Most knowledge of indigenous food preservation systems is held by older generations.

Gaoshebe was one of the two South African postgraduate students who participated in Japan’s 2013 Hiroshima University International Summer School. She has co-authored an article on African indigenous food security strategies and climate change adaptation in South Africa, which is to be published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Human Ecology.

Doctoral degree: Lungile Sitole

Lungile Sitole is currently studying for a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Pretoria. She is researching the use of bioanalytical and biophysical techniques in the detection and identification of dysregulated metabolites in HIV infection. The potential output of this research is the discovery and development of novel markers that could be used as indicators of HIV disease progression, which could guide treatment response. 

Sitole received a BSc in chemistry (magna cum laude) from Jackson State University in the United States of America in 2007. She received Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement funding for her undergraduate research, and was placed on the President’s and Dean’s merit lists in 2005, 2006 and 2007. 

In recognition of her academic excellence, Sitole was awarded a Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation “Bridge to the Doctorate” fellowship, and completed her MSc (cum laude) in Organic Chemistry at Jackson State University in 2009. 

Sithole has co-authored several articles arising from the research done during her MSc studies in international peer-reviewed journals.

Doctoral degree: Caroline Pule

Caroline Pule is currently enrolled for a PhD at Stellenbosch University. Her research focuses on understanding the physiology of drug-resistant and tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the host response in the context of the host macrophage. Her work may lead to the development of novel drug targets to combat the spread of drug-resistant TB.

Some of Pule’s achievements include being counted among the 20 best performing students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2008, where she was awarded a merit bursary covering all the fees for her undergraduate studies. 

In May 2014 she was recognised by the Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering, and was awarded a Singapore International Pregraduate Award to work at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Bioinformatics Institute in Singapore for two months.

Doctoral degree: Mpho Ivy Raborife

Mpho Ivy Raborife is a PhD student at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Computer Science. Her research focus has shifted from human language technology (the focus of her master’s degree) to the virtual marketplace and the interaction of virtual agents in this space. 

She is interested in the current procurement processes used by small businesses to replenish stock, particularly in the retail sector. Her research is aimed at finding a mobile phone solution for payment and procurement, so that small enterprise owners do not have to travel to purchase stock. She hopes that this will enable small enterprises to form temporal cooperatives in the virtual marketplace and leverage group purchasing power to obtain favourable pricing from suppliers.

In 2013, along with nine other female young scientists in sub-Saharan Africa, Raborife received a L’Oréal-UNESCO Regional Fellowship for Women in Sciencetheir adherence to regulatory safety standards.

Doctoral degree: Kwezikazi Mkentane

Kwezikazi Mkentane is currently doing a PhD in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town. Her research is aimed at a holistic characterisation of human scalp hair using geometric, biochemical, ultra-structural and genetic approaches. This is crucial in establishing baseline characteristics of “normal” hair in the increasing use of hair as a testing substrate for drugs, forensics and medical purposes, given its ability to be used as a biomarker and long-term record of medical history, unlike blood or urine, which give only short-term information. The University of Cape Town’s dermatology division is setting up the country’s first dedicated hair testing laboratory, which will also validate the claims of product manufacturers and their adherence to regulatory safety standards. 

Mkentane’s achievements include the development and patenting of a hair treatment formulation that facilitates the process of detangling braids from African hair. In recognition for this work, Mkentane was the 2011 Nelson Mandela Bay Young Achiever for Science & Innovation.

Doctoral degree: Jinal Nomathemba Bhiman

Nomathemba Bhiman is a PhD student based at the HIV Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg. 
Bhiman was awarded a Columbia University-Southern African Aids International Training/Research Programme three-month Fogarty traineeship at the Vaccine Research Center of the US National Institutes of Health. Bhiman presented her MSc findings at two international conferences, and her PhD project at the 2013 Aids Vaccine conference. She co-authored an article related to her MSc studies in the high-impact journal Nature Medicine, as well as an article on aspects of her PhD project in Nature.

Doctoral degree: Indigenous Knowledge Systems – Cynthia Joan Henley-Smith

Cynthia Henley-Smith is currently at the University of Pretoria doing her doctoral studies on the biological activity against oral pathogens of Heteropyxis natalensis, an indigenous South African plant, using a novel predictive method.
During her studies, Henley-Smith developed a novel method for determining the anti-adherence effect of plants on bacteria using a scanning electron microscope. 

Recently she successfully developed and tested a novel approach to predicting the influence of multiple components on microbial inhibition using a logistic response model. She holds two patents related to her research, one through the Patent Cooperation Treaty and one a provisional South African National Patent. She has also co-authored a chapter and published two articles.

Henley-Smith was invited to join the Golden Key International Honour Society in 2012, won the best master’s/PhD presentation award at the Fanie de Meillon Post-Graduate Symposium in 2012 and third prize in the Young Botanist category at the South African Association of Botany in 2010.

Doctoral degree: Indigenous Knowledge Systems – Theresa Beelders

Theresa Beelders is currently enrolled for a PhD in Food Science at Stellenbosch University. In 2011, she was awarded the Stellenbosch University Medal for Top Magister in the Faculty of AgriSciences on the basis of her outstanding research into the characterisation of rooibos tea phenolic compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography. 

Her study produced five scientific papers that were all published in international peer-reviewed journals. She also presented her MSc research work at numerous local and international conferences. 

Beelders’s research interest lies in natural product characterisation, with specific focus on the phenolic composition of the indigenous Cape fynbos species, rooibos and honeybush, which are commonly used for the preparation of herbal teas. 

Her work has shed light on the chemistry of bioactive phenolic compounds in the commercially important honeybush species, Cyclopia genistoides. In-depth analysis of the chemical composition of Cyclopia genistoides aqueous extracts will give a better understanding of the chemistry of this species that will guide future research into its medicinal properties and other potential uses. Extracts of Cyclopia species are best known for their antioxidant, anti-diabetic and phytoestrogenic activities.

Beelders’s research project forms part of ongoing research by the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa regarding the establishment of a structured honeybush industry. A part of her doctoral research has already been submitted for publication in a high-impact scientific journal. It was also presented at the 20th Biennial International Congress of the South African Association for Food Science and Technology in 2013, at which Beelders was awarded the Dreosti Award for the best oral presentation.