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 and contact a possible supervisor and select a research project prior to their application. Therefore, eligible students are encouraged to contact the main supervisor of the project they would like to pursue before applying.
| Partner | Title | Main supervisor | Email address |
| Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) | Diversity of epibiotic communities on the shells of the commercial South African Abalone Haliotis Midae Linnaeus, 1758 in the Western Cape, South Africa | Dr Courtney Puckree-Padua | puckreepaduac@cput.ac.za |
| Cape Peninsula University of Technology (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 | Dr Koebraa Peters | PetersK@cput.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) | Future fate of temporarily closed estuaries in response to climate change | Prof Janine Adams | Janine.Adams@mandela.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) | Eutrophication, algal blooms and impacts on estuarine biodiversity | Prof Janine Adams | Janine.Adams@mandela.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) |
Blue Carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes from a mangrove forest | Dr Lucienne Human | Lucienne.Human@mandela.ac.za / lr.human@saeon.nrf.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) | The Kromme Estuary as a potential climate change refuge for marine fishes in a warm-temperate South African Bay | Prof Nicola James | Nicola.James@mandela.ac.za / n.james@saiab.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) | Geological characterisation of the Table Mountain Sandstone on the Southern Coast of Gqeberha | Dr Gaathier Mahed | Gaathier.Mahed@mandela.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) | Does the Agulhas Bank (South Africa) undergo regime shifts and do these impact the squid fishery? | Prof Mike Roberts | Mike.Roberts@mandela.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (NMU) | Role of Durban Break-away eddies in primary production on the narrow east coast shelf of South Africa | Prof Mike Roberts | Mike.Roberts@mandela.ac.za |
| Nelson Mandela University (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 | Dr Zikhona Tywabi-Ngeva | Zikhona.Tywabi-Ngeva@mandela.ac.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) | Critical Thermal Minimum and Maximum Temperatures of Juvenile Cape Stumpnose (Rhabdosargus holubi) Under Varying Salinity Conditions | Dr Alexander Winkler | awinkler@ru.ac.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) | Quantifying de facto Marine Protected Areas and natural refugia along the South African coastline. | Dr Bruce Mann | bruce@ori.org.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) | A preliminary assessment on the feasibility of establishing a sustainable mud crab Scylla serrata fishery, ranching or aquaculture industry in South Africa | Prof Cliff Jones | c.jones@ru.ac.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) | Developing smarter feeding strategies for abalone in IMTA systems | Prof Cliff Jones | c.jones@ru.ac.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) |
Assessing seaweed-microbiome interactions in intertidal systems | Natanah Gusha | n.gusha@saiab.nrf.ac.za |
| Rhodes University (RU) | Post-release mortality of important South African linefish | Dr Matthew Farthing | matthew.farthing.rsa@gmail.com |
| Rhodes University (RU) | Effects of contaminant exposure on animal physiology | Dr Trishan Naidoo | trishan.naidoo@ru.ac.za |
| South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) | Studying the Agulhas Current using high resolution Argo floats | Dr Tamaryn Morris | Tamaryn.Morris@weathersa.co.za / t.morris@saeon.nrf.ac.za |
| South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) | Impact of trawling on functional diversity of offshore epifauna | Dr Lara Atkinson | lara@saeon.ac.za |
| South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) | Assessing vertical turbulence closure schemes in an ocean model of the southern Benguela Upwelling System | Dr Giles Fearon / Dr Jennifer Veitch | g.fearon@saeon.nrf.ac.za / jenny@saeon.ac.za |
| University of Fort Hare (UFH) | Optimisation of the culture requirements for the harpacticoid copepod, Tisbe sp. : A livefeed candidate for grey mullet larviculture | Prof Niall Vine | nvine@ufh.ac.za |
| University of Fort Hare (UFH) | Investigations into the occurrence, distribution and aquaculture potential of amphidromous shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa | Prof Niall Vine | nvine@ufh.ac.za |
| University of Fort Hare (UFH) | Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Red Algae Extracts from Different Species in Complementary Medicine: Biochemical Characterization and Applications in Disease Treatment | Dr Ntombekhaya Nqumla | ntombekhaya.nqumla@ufh.ac.za |
| University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) | Exploring resilience to thermal stress in corals from extreme habitats : the role of algal symbionts (zooxanthellae) | Dr David Glassom | glassom@ukzn.ac.za |
| University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) | Synergistic effects of salinity and temperature on the oxygen consumption rates of selected estuarine invertebrates | Dr Nicola Carrasco | carrasco@ukzn.ac.za |
| University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) | Who keeps it together? Ecological roles of species in ecosystem function | Prof Ursula Scharler | scharler@ukzn.ac.za |
| University of Zululand (UNIZULU) | Subtidal, soft-bottom macrozoobenthic community assemblage pattern in the Richards bay nearshore environment | Dr Ntuthuko Masikane | masikanen@unizulu.ac.za |
| University of Zululand (UNIZULU) | Sediment quality as a proxy for ecosystem health in northern KwaZulu-Natal estuarine systems | Prof Leon Vivier | VivierL@unizulu.ac.za |
| University of Zululand (UNIZULU) | Is there a spatial difference in nematode diversity in uMlalazi Estuary? | Mr Sazi Nzama | nzamas@unizulu.ac.za |
| University of the Western Cape (UWC) | Sargassum weed in the Gulf of Guinea – a source of alien marine species in the Caribbean | Prof Mark Gibbons | mgibbons@uwc.ac.za |
| University of the Western Cape (UWC) | Discovery of novel peptides from marine invertebrate symbionts | Prof Marla Trindade | ituffin@uwc.ac.za |
| University of the Western Cape (UWC) | Comparative chemotaxonomy of selected South African marine organisms (seaweeds/marine invertebrates/microorganisms) | Prof Denzil Beukes | dbeukes@uwc.ac.za |
| University of the Western Cape (UWC) | A time-frequency analysis of extreme thermal variations across the Agulhas Bank | Prof Albertus Smit | ajsmit@uwc.ac.za |
| University of the Western Cape (UWC) | Monitoring of seabird behaviour for improved conservation interventions | Prof Gavin Maneveldt | gmaneveldt@uwc.ac.za |
| Walter Sisulu University (WSU) | Heavy Metal Distribution and Concentration in Different Sizes and Tissues of Haliotis spadicea along the Wild Coast of South Africa | Prof Motebang Nakin | mnakin@wsu.ac.za |
| Walter Sisulu University (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 | Prof Motebang Nakin | mnakin@wsu.ac.za |
| Walter Sisulu University (WSU) | Size and gender-based gut analysis and meat yield comparison in wild-collected and cultured mud crab, Scylla serrata, from Mngazana estuary. | Dr Thembinkosi Steven Dlaza | tdlaza@wsu.ac.za |
