Scientist in Limbo

Established during my time between projects, this website aims to encompass a wide range of topics underpinned by my fascination of Mother Nature and all her weird and wonderful elements. Articles, grounded in scientific fact but with a smidge of the mystical, cover adventure, exploration and discovery. Read more about Cabo Talhado, Nomadic Conservation, Terra Australis Incognita, the Vomit Comet, Visitors from the Deep and the Kingdom in the Clouds by checking out the Articles page.

About Me

I am a BSc graduate, with a double major in Zoology and Botany, from the Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. I also spent a year in Scotland studying Marine Science at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and three years working through the Game Ranging and Wildlife Management course while volunteering at a local private game reserve. My key focus is on conservation biology, animal behaviour and rehabilitation while my other interests include exploring, writing and photography. I am a Cape Town-based writer of natural science with the aim of making accessible the findings usually trapped within the language of scientific journals and subsequently bridging the gap between the scientific and global communities. To find out more, head to the About Me page.

Guardians of the Deep

In 2019 I established this environmental education programme introducing children to Marine Science and Nature Conservation through after-school programmes, field trips, in-school lessons and holiday programmes. The 10-year curriculum offers courses for each age group. These groups include Blues (Grades 1-3 and named after juvenile African penguins), SeaStars (Grades 4 and 5), Raggies (Grades 6 and 7) and Orcas (Grades 8 and 9). We have recently added another age group to incorporate Early Childhood Development, the Pups (3-4 year olds). All content introduces students to the marine and terrestrial environments through field trips and activities, while focusing on maths and literacy skills.

Each term includes field trips that link to the topic being studied and, when available, guest speakers chat to the students about their initiatives to show that anyone is able to make a difference; exposing them to the great groundswell of positive change that is currently moving through society and shifting perceptions. Guardians is even able to link up with, and chat to (via Skype), researchers, conservationists and filmmakers from across the world.
More information can be found on the Guardians of the Deep website

ARKYS Outreach NPC

ARKYS Outreach NPC was established in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to fund environmental education in local communities as well as to act as a fundraising platform for community-based projects encompassing long-term upskilling, social enrichment and welfare projects. Through donor funding, we are able to increase the reach and impact of our projects and have even set up a Mentorship Programme. More information can be found on our website, ARKYS Outreach NPC.

Ocean Journey Book Series

This book series starts with A Journey of Hope, a book about a little girl’s journey and relationship with the sea. A story laced with tales of mystical creatures and intertwined with the wonder of South Africa’s rugged landscape. A chance encounter with an entangled bottlenose dolphin sets Hope on a path of magical awakening as she discovers the beauty and abundance of the ocean. The power held within our everyday choices inspires Hope to instigate change as she begins her mission to protect the environment through the founding of an eco-club at her school. Her dream of becoming a marine biologist is realised as she continues to explore the natural environment, decrypting the ocean’s many mysteries.

While Hope introduces the concept of how our everyday choices hold the power for environmental change, the other books in the Ocean Journey Book Series consider this from various animals’ perspectives as they undergo their own oceanic journey. Other than A Journey of Hope, there are currently 8 more planned books in the series. The entangled bottlenose dolphin in A Journey of Hope, is a wild dolphin that was first recorded in Plettenberg Bay on 19 May 1997 and was not seen in the bay again until he was photographed 18 years later on 19 May 2015 as part of the Garden Route Dolphin Research and Acoustic Monitoring Project. He became the inspiration for this story and also has a planned book of his own. The books will be available on the Ocean Journey Book Series page.

Explore. Dream. Discover.