“The more you gain knowledge about a species, the more you understand about how better to help protect the species and the environment”
Dr Siphosenkosi Mbonani (BSc, BSc Hons, MSc, PGDipHE, PhD) is a Lecturer at the Southern African Wildlife College, a Sessional Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand (School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences), and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, USA. He completed his PhD through the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, with research focusing on the population ecology, genetics, and management of invasive cactus species in Africa.
Dr Mbonani was named a Winner of the 2025 Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in the Climate Change and Environment category, recognising his contributions to science, conservation education, and youth development. He was also honoured as a Distinguished Graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2025 by the Alumni Office.
Internationally, he was selected as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2023/24) and in 2025, shortlisted for the Schmidt Science Fellows, one of the world’s most competitive postdoctoral fellowship programs. He has published widely in national and international plant science journals, including Weed Research, International Journal of Plant Sciences, and Biocontrol Science and Technology. He has also co-authored technical reports, notably serving as a lead assessor on the risk analysis of invasive cactus species in South Africa. His research has been presented at more than eight national and international conferences, three annual research meetings, and numerous working group engagements. In teaching, Dr Mbonani has extensive experience across multiple institutions and academic levels.
At the Southern African Wildlife College, he lectures in Conservation Science, focusing on applied ecology, biodiversity, and field-based learning. At the University of the Witwatersrand, he has taught and coordinated courses from first-year to honours level, including Microscopy, Complementary Life Sciences, and Global Change Impacts on Medicinal Plants. His commitment to inclusive and engaging pedagogy has been recognised with two Faculty of Science Teaching Assistant Awards (2017, 2019) at Wits.
Dr Mbonani’s academic excellence is reflected in consistently achieving distinctions across his postgraduate qualifications, alongside securing competitive funding from the National Research Foundation, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, the Centre for Invasion Biology, and the Fulbright Program.