Short cv:

I am a Physical Oceanographer with a background in Marine Biology. I have a Master’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I am currently enrolled in a PhD in Physical Oceanography programme at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

During my masters, I studied the structure of rocky shore communities along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The research required me to collect in-situ samples and present a community structure based on observations. I had further questions that I would have loved to answer, but I was limited to the data I was able to collect. Thereafter, I developed a keen interest in numerical modelling as a means of overcoming the limitations of in-situ research.

Going into my PhD, I became a part of the 2021 cohort of the Ocean Womxn fellows. Which gave me an opportunity to work with Dr Juliet Hermes who leads the numerical modelling research component of the fellowship. We are investigating the physical dynamics of the Kingklip ridge, which is a subsurface feature, found on the upper slope of the Agulhas Bank. I will be using historical in-situ data to validate an already existing hydrodynamic model of the Agulhas bank, thereafter, I will use the model to investigate the effect of the Kingklip ridge on the physical dynamics of the Bank.

With my background in Marine biology, I have had limited exposure to in-situ research on offshore communities through programmes like the SEAmester programme. The 2022 North South Atlantic Training transect will give me better understanding on what it takes to obtain the hydrodynamic data and how it is converted from raw data to a uniform format that any person can use.