Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Douglas Loewenthal BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD (Cape Town) John Day Building: 2.18 Tel:+27 (0)21 650 3306 Fax: +27 (0)21 650 3295 Email: douglas.loewenthal@uct.ac.za

About Doug

Doug Loewenthal has studied at UCT throughout, completing a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology in 1997, an MSc in Conservation Biology in 1998 and a PhD in 2007. His MSc project assessed the problems facing a near-threatened shorebird, the African Black Oystercatcher. It was through this project that he became interested in the threats which face oystercatchers, not only as a result of increasing external pressures (such as increased human utilisation of the sea shore), but also as a result of their particular suite of life history characteristics and the implications these have for oystercatcher survival under differing conditions around the coast of South Africa. He therefore embarked on a doctoral research programme to investigate these and related questions in more detail. Concurrently with his doctoral research he has been involved with co-ordinating the Oystercatcher Conservation Programme. This has been critical not only for the success of his research but also for launching a concerted effort to develop a conservation strategy for the African Black Oystercatcher and other coastal species.