Intombizanele Chonga

Intombizanele was appointed to assist with the Arid Lands Node's science education outreach, starting in April 2015, as part of the DST/NRF Internship Programme 2015/2016. She holds an undergraduate BSc degree in Human Molecular Biology. In future, she intends on furthering her studies in the Science field by obtaining a BSc Honours degree in Genetics.

Her role at the node includes assisting with planning of- and conducting education outreach events and projects, assisting with administrative and reception duties for the node, and assisting research technicians with data collection for environmental monitoring and research projects, when required.

Intombizanele has a particular passion for SAEON's education events, including science festivals, school visits, and Educator- and Learner Support programmes. The latter include teacher training workshops, learner camps and the school based monitoring project which provides weather stations to selected schools, which provide real-time weather data as part of everyday lessons in classrooms. This experience is enriching Intombizanele for her future career.