I grew up in the biodiverse village of Mfekayi, near Isimangaliso Wetland Park. From a young age, I was captured by the amazing diversity of plants and animals and later got interested in understanding plant-animal interactions. Co-existing, morphologically similar flowers that flower simultaneously, may interact with the same pool of pollinators, therefore sharing pollinating species and individuals. Pollinator sharing may be detrimental (i.e. competition), beneficial (i.e. facilitation or mimicry) or have no effect on the interacting species. For my MSc, I worked on Sebaea grandis and Thunbergia atriplicifolia to describe the reproductive biology of the two species, determine the degree of similarity between them, and investigate the effects of pollinator sharing on their fecundity and distribution.
For my PhD, I am using plant-pollinator interactions networks in order to investigate the changes in pollinator assemblages along an altitudinal gradient in South African grasslands. With this work I hope to quantify the relative contribution of different pollinators in maintaining grassland species, and see whether this relative contribution changes with altitude.
Apart from research, I am interested in policy making and therefore closely follow the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and continuously participate in it as a youth delegate. As a black woman living in the unequal society of South Africa (with strong racial and gender inequalities), I am passionate about community development and participate in initiatives that seek to address these inequalities and further provide a just society for marginalised groups.
E-mail: simangelemmsweli@gmail.com
Pollination Research Lab 