Dorcas Lekganyane
Dorcas Lekganyane obtained a BSc honours in botany from UJ in 2015, and is enrolled at the university for an MSc specialising in molecular systematics and DNA barcoding.
Her research interest is using DNA barcoding to aid in rapidly identifying and describing new or existing species to better understand South Africa’s rich biodiversity. This research addresses a major threat to biodiversity, the illegal trade of protected and threatened species, together with overharvesting of wild plants for local medicinal markets, which results in notable levels of species depletion.
Lekganyane’s study focuses on evaluating the authenticity and conservation status of traded medicinal plant products at “muthi” markets in South Africa. Preliminary results of her study have been described as exciting by her peers, and are in alignment with the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa’s call to develop herbal pharmacopoeias as well as applying scientific criteria to prove the safety and efficacy of medicinal plant products.
Lekganyane has been awarded numerous accolades over the past few years. In 2015, she won the Office of Research Grand Prize for the best oral presentation by a student at the 6th International Barcode of Life conference hosted by the University of Guelph, Canada. Her work was published in the project’s Barcode Bulletin. In 2016, she won the prize for the best MSc presentation at the Southern African Society for Systematic Biology conference at the University of the Free State. In 2017, at the South African Association of Botanist (SAAB) conference, she received an award for the best MSc oral presentation along with Best Young Scientist Award (best oral paper delivered by a young botanist under the age of 30), which gives her the opportunity to make a presentation at SAAB 2018.