AOS-SAMOS
Research Thematics
With nine South African universities and two research infrastructures, SAMOS brings together a large diversity of experts in the different fields of Ocean Science. The table below provides an non-exhaustive list of potential research projects to be undertaken by students for their minor dissertation. It aims at illustrating the wide range of thematics covered by the academics and researchers participating in SAMOS, as well as helping students who apply for NRF funding to identify a research project supervisor.
Remember that students applying for NRF bursary must identify a supervisor in order to elaborate a research proposal prior to their application. Therefore, eligible students from one of the partner universities are encouraged to contact the reference person of their university.
| Partner | Title | Main supervisor |
| CPUT | Diversity of epibiotic communities on the shells of the commercial South African Abalone Haliotis Midae Linnaeus, 1758 in the Western Cape, South Africa | Courtney Puckree-Padua |
| CPUT | Taxonomic assessment of Bryozoa (Ehrenberg, 1831) of three coastal provinces from the Northern Cape, Western Cape (False Bay East and West), and Eastern Cape, South Africa | Koebraa Peters |
| NMU | Future fate of temporarily closed estuaries in response to climate change | Janine Adams |
| NMU | Eutrophication, algal blooms and impacts on estuarine biodiversity | Janine Adams |
| NMU | Blue Carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes from a mangrove forest | Lucienne Human |
| NMU | The Kromme Estuary as a potential climate change refuge for marine fishes in a warm-temperate South African Bay | Nicola James |
| NMU | Geological characterisation of the Table Mountain Sandstone on the Southern Coast of Gqeberha | Gaathier Mahed |
| NMU | Does the Agulhas Bank (South Africa) undergo regime shifts and do these impact the squid fishery? | Mike J. Roberts |
| NMU | Role of Durban Break-away eddies in primary production on the narrow east coast shelf of South Africa | Mike J. Roberts |
| NMU | Removal of Pesticides and Heavy Metals from Aqueous Matrices of Port Elizabeth Harbour Using Modified Green B-CD Derivatives: A Sustainable Approach for a Blue Economy | Zikhona Tywabi-Ngeva |
| RU | Critical Thermal Minimum and Maximum Temperatures of Juvenile Cape Stumpnose (Rhabdosargus holubi) Under Varying Salinity Conditions | Alexander Winkler |
| RU | Quantifying de facto Marine Protected Areas and natural refugia along the South African coastline. | Bruce Mann |
| RU | A preliminary assessment on the feasibility of establishing a sustainable mud crab Scylla serrata fishery, ranching or aquaculture industry in South Africa | Cliff Jones |
| RU | Developing smarter feeding strategies for abalone in IMTA systems | Cliff Jones |
| RU | Assessing seaweed-microbiome interactions in intertidal systems | Natanah Gusha |
| RU | Post-release mortality of important South African linefish | Matthew Farthing |
| RU | Effects of contaminant exposure on animal physiology | Trishan Naidoo |
| SAEON | Studying the Agulhas Current using high resolution Argo floats | Tamaryn Morris |
| SAEON | Impact of trawling on functional diversity of offshore epifauna | Lara Atkinson |
| SAEON | Assessing vertical turbulence closure schemes in an ocean model of the southern Benguela Upwelling System | Giles Fearon/Jennifer Veitch |
| UFH | Optimisation of the culture requirements for the harpacticoid copepod, Tisbe sp. : A livefeed candidate for grey mullet larviculture | Niall Vine |
| UFH | Investigations into the occurrence, distribution and aquaculture potential of amphidromous shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa | Niall Vine |
| UFH | Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Red Algae Extracts from Different Species in Complementary Medicine: Biochemical Characterization and Applications in Disease Treatment | Ntombekhaya Nqumla |
| UKZN | Exploring resilience to thermal stress in corals from extreme habitats : the role of algal symbionts (zooxanthellae) | David Glassom |
| UKZN | Synergistic effects of salinity and temperature on the oxygen consumption rates of selected estuarine invertebrates | Nicola Carrasco |
| UKZN | Who keeps it together? Ecological roles of species in ecosystem function | Ursula Scharler |
| UNIZULU | Subtidal, soft-bottom macrozoobenthic community assemblage pattern in the Richards bay nearshore environment | Ntuthuko Masikane |
| UNIZULU | Sediment quality as a proxy for ecosystem health in northern KwaZulu-Natal estuarine systems | L. Vivier |
| UNIZULU | Is there a spatial difference in nematode diversity in uMlalazi Estuary? | S. Nzama |
| UWC | Sargassum weed in the Gulf of Guinea – a source of alien marine species in the Caribbean | Mark J. Gibbons |
| UWC | Discovery of novel peptides from marine invertebrate symbionts | Marla Trinidade |
| UWC | Comparative chemotaxonomy of selected South African marine organisms (seaweeds/marine invertebrates/microorganisms) | Denzil R. Beukes |
| UWC | A time-frequency analysis of extreme thermal variations across the Agulhas Bank | AJ. Smit |
| UWC | Monitoring of seabird behaviour for improved conservation interventions | Gavin W. Maneveldt |
| WSU | Heavy Metal Distribution and Concentration in Different Sizes and Tissues of Haliotis spadicea along the Wild Coast of South Africa | Moteband Nakin |
| WSU | Patterns of Distribution, Population Density, Diversity, and Size Structure of Limpets on Boulders within intertidal Gullies of reserves and non-reserves on the Eastern Cape coast | Motebang Nakin |
| WSU | Size and gender-based gut analysis and meat yield comparison in wild-collected and cultured mud crab, Scylla serrata, from Mngazana estuary. | Thembinkosi Steven Dlaza |
