Staff, Students & Associates

Masters Students (Dissertation)

Philna Botha BSc (Hons) (Stellenbosch) John Day Building: 5.01 Tel: +27 (0)21 650 4381 Cell: +27 (0)72 210 6131 Email: philnab11@gmail.com

About Philna

Philna completed her BSc(Hons) in Conservation Ecology at Stellenbosch University in 2011. For her final year project, she conducted a conservation management plan for a local wine cellar with four contributing farms. The objective of the management plan was to ensure that no agricultural practices would have a negative effect on the endemic Fynbos biome surrounding the area. Critical emphasis was placed on the documentation of the natural environment, both fauna and flora, and ensuring that the wildlife native to the endemic Fynbos biome was left unharmed. Philna has always known that she wanted to continue her studies within the field of conservation. She started an MSc on Bank Cormorant Conservation Research in 2012 with the goal of understanding the reasons for the decline of this endangered species so that urgent conservation management plans can be put in place.

Thesis

Testing the food-shortage hypothesis on the long-term population dynamics of the endangered Bank Cormorant (Supervisors: Timothée Cook, Richard Sherley, Les Underhill and Peter Ryan).