Stefan Goets

Stefan was born and raised in the Mother City, in which he spent a lot of his childhood in some of the urban nature reserves. Thus, he gained a great affinity to all things nature-related, which also fed his inquisitive mind. During his time at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, he went from having an interest in everything related to nature (as he still does), to becoming more specialized in plants, and finally obtaining his MSc in Conservation (specializing in invasive species management and rehabilitation) in 2017. Stefan was appointed as intern at SAEON Arid Lands Node for the 2017/2018 period under the DST/NRF Internship Programme, based in Prince Albert. He will be assisting with the implementation of a new study related to the historical "trek-bokken" of the Karoo, attempting to determine the effect that these massive herds of springbok had on various aspects of the local ecology (through herbivory, trampling, nutrient addition, etc.) This project will be conducted at the Tierberg LTER facility, where Stefan will also be monitoring plants as the start of a long-term study of the effects of climate change on plant phenology. He will also be involved with science education outreach with the local schools of Prince Albert, and is also involved with the construction of a new educational hiking trail at Wolwekraal Nature Reserve. Stefan is hoping that this internship will be a stepping stone for future ventures into research, especially that of plant ecology.