THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

To help South Africa’s paper, packaging and tissue industry secure a more sustainable future — that is the mission of a new demonstration plant at a papermill in KwaZulu-Natal. Driven by the ingenuity of Stellenbosch University’s chemical engineers, it was put into operation in 2023. The plant showcases the value of a process by which paper waste sludge destined for disposal in a landfill is turned into purified, high-value bioethanol.

At the turn of the millennium, microbiologist Prof Emile van Zyl took up the challenge of driving postgraduate research and training in biofuels and other clean fuel options at Stellenbosch University. His aim? To gather expertise, drive research outputs, and develop human capital to help build the necessary technology for boosting the biofuels industry in South Africa and beyond.

Tuberculosis (TB) is often thought of as a disease that affects only humans when, in fact, it is a multi-host disease [that affects many species]. A team of researchers, based in Stellenbosch University's ​Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, are determined to understand exactly how the transmission of TB occurs between wildlife, livestock, and people.

Shark-specific barrier technology developed by marine biologists from Stellenbosch University and their collaborators has been installed in the Bahamas by a client with a private island in the Bahamas. The installation of the 30-metre-long SharkSafe Barrier along a bay on one of the islands will further strengthen marine conservation efforts in the region.

Prof Anriëtte (Annie) Bekker, a vibration science expert at Stellenbosch University, is willing to brave harsh conditions in pursuit of new knowledge. Her interest lies in how data from mechanical sensors and engineering models on board a polar vessel can help seafarers make more informed decisions towards safer ship operations.

The Western Cape is renowned for its diverse geophyte flora in the world, including roughly 2 100 species from 20 families. Among these flowering bulbs are species of the Southern African Oxalis genus. They may seem like some of the most fragile, puny little plants out there, but in terms of adaptation, they are punching way above their weight.

Nowadays, when Roanné Coetzer (24) looks at a black and white African penguin, she sees coloured dots. This is because penguins have been keeping this MEng student very busy during her studies. She has been using her knowledge of deep neural networks and other data science skills to write a computer program that automatically detects African penguin behaviour caught on camera.

The recent discovery of fossil assemblages and ash deposits in the East Gobi Basin in Mongolia could provide new knowledge of the dinosaurs and extreme climate conditions on Earth 120 million to 80 million years ago. This is according to Dr Ryan Tucker, a sedimentologist and taphonomist at Stellenbosch University. He is a part of a team of scientists who undertook the expedition that led to this discovery.

Dealing with the twin crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss requires collective effort, and now demands novel academic support across ‘traditional’ academic silos. The world is facing cascading and intersecting crises such as these, warns Prof Guy Midgley, who heads up Stellenbosch University’s (SU’s) School for Climate Studies.

Dr Emmanuel Dufourq has never seen one of the last 30 remaining Hainan gibbons on Earth, but he knows very well what their calls sound like, or at least what a spectrogram image of the highs and lows of their chatter looks like. He uses his computational skills to make it easier for conservation ecologists to analyse animal sound, video and photo footage. His group’s mission is to do this one keyboard stroke, one algorithm at a time.