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Aviwe Homani

If you ever lose me in a building with a garden out, best check the garden, you'll definitely find me amongst the foliage. My near-obsessive curiosity with nature has led me into a world I never imagined being in. Most folk in the ecology/biology space have almost always known they’d be biologists from a tender age – not me. My love of science started in the weirdest way. It was grade 8, I had a natural science test I hadn't prepared for but lucky for me the worst invigilator was on duty. So I whipped out my notebook and had an open book test. The test was over and yet I still had this notebook open during social science, during maths, reading period... It got to a point where I'd just go to school for Life Sciences (History was cool too), the only class I willingly participated in. Fast-forward a few decades, a few NatGeo specials and BAM! Achieved two BSc degrees in Biodiversity and conservation biology with a mini-thesis "Investigating the effects of topography and management on Namaqualand Hardeveld Vegetation in the Succulent Karoo biome" at the University of Western Cape. In choosing the biodiversity route as a career I knew I would never be far from research and nature – something I prefer. Being an intern at Robben Island Museum opened up the world of Estate Managing for me, which reignited the rangeland management interests I'd developed in my honours year. Working for SANBI under Ecosystem services shifted me back to research at the academic level. Funny enough the honeybees I grew up being stung by (seasonal honeybee tenants in the roof at home) have become a research focus for me currently at the Conservation ecology and entomology department, Stellenbosch University. But even better I'm attempting to understand how Patersons Curse effects pollination networks in Renosterveld. Although my research career is at its dawn, getting here has been quite the experience. It's been riveting really, still is. 

Aviwe Homani

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