People & Partners

Prof. Karen Esler

Head of the Department of Conservation Ecology & Entomology, Stellenbosch University

Karen is head of the Department of Conservation Ecology & Entomology at Stellenbosch University (since 2015). She has been a core team member of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology since its inception (2004), and currently serves as African Associate Editor for the journal ‘Conservation Biology’.

Karen simultaneously navigates disciplinary depths in ecology to work across disciplines, allowing her to contribute to inter-disciplinary and applied spaces.  An overall goal of her research is to understand how drivers of change (e.g. over-exploitation, habitat fragmentation and alien invasion) influence population and community structure and processes in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, arid ecosystems and riparian vegetation.  The applied aspect of this work has been to develop and translate best-practice advice for management, restoration and conservation.