Biography

When I look at Earth, with all its Life, environments and ecosystems in the present day, I liken it to a well-coordinated orchestral arrangement where everything has its place and role and in the place and role of everything, music happens. When one member of the orchestra is out, the entire arrangement, literally, comes crashing down… For lack of a better descriptor, I am an Earth Systems scientist who looks at interactions and feedback loops to unravel the nature of major events and crises of the past. As such, I consider large and diverse datasets, collaborating with leaders in an array of fields to fine-tune our understanding of past interactions and feedback loops. If we are to be a successful and altruistic species, we can use observed changes of the past as a guide to forward model the future to preserve (and improve) our current biodiversity, if not help us learn to live alongside it.

I am fascinated by the functioning of “non-normal” environments and ecosystems of the past (eg. low-latitude glacial systems and high-latitude non-glacial systems). These conditions are perhaps extreme for biodiversity in the present day but are well established to have happened multiple times in the past. Increasingly, it has become apparent that humanity should start imagining how Earth and its current biodiversity will function if we are to embrace an “ice-free” future thanks to anthropogenic global warming… On a lighter note, I have additional interests in brachiopod palaeobiology and palaeobiography as well as tectonics, palaeogeography and geological mapping. I too am active in the promotion of South African geoheritage and historical geoscience (inclusive of often overlooked collections management and conservation). I believe that the stones and bones of the past can be used as a tool for the nation-building and pride in the present to celebrate our deep-time heritage and diversity of the past. For this, I am currently developing a mobile app with the GSSA Western Cape that can be used in the promotion and education of South African geology and geoheritage.