Career History:
I am grew up and schooled in Laudium, a so-called “Indian area” just west of central Pretoria. Because of my love for biology and science, I later enrolled for a Science degree at Wits, where I eventually graduated with a PhD. I spent two years doing a postdoctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA. My research focuses on using the microscopic structure of fossil bones to reconstruct the biology of extinct animals. My work has been recognized by several highly acclaimed awards which I am not going to bore you with, except to mention last year's ones: I am the overall winner of the 2005 Shoprite Checkers/ SABC2 Woman of the Year Award, as well as winner in the Science and Technology Category. In 2005 I also received the “Distinguished Women Scientist” award from the Department of Science and Technology. I recently published the first-ever book entirely devoted to fossil bone microstructure: The Microstructure of Dinosaur Bone - Deciphering Biology Through Fine Scale Techniques (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005). I am Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and President of the Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering (SA WISE)..