B.Sc. (Honours) in Applied Freshwater Biology. Class 2:1University ofLiverpool,United Kingdom. Four year honours freshwater biology course including a one year industrial placement (1991-92) as Education Officer in Shipstern Nature Reserve, Sarteneja, Belize. Advisor Prof. Brian Moss. Dissertation Title: “A qualitative assessment of sampling invertebrate stream fauna, using the methods and guidelines set down by the National Rivers Authority” 1993.
Ph.D.Advisor Prof. Richard Tinsley. University of Bristol, United Kingdom. Thesis Title: “The ecology of Xenopus” 1997.
June 1998 to February 2001: Royal Society Post-doctoral fellowship at University of the Western Cape, South Africa on tadpole behaviour and the molecular phylogeny of southern African Xenopus.
June to September 2000: Post-doctoral research assistant at the Natural History Museum, London. Ecology of Gegeneophisramaswamii in the Western Ghats,India.
March to September 2001: Royal Society visiting fellowship to PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Ecology of Chthonerpetonindistinctum in southernBrazil.
November 2001 to September 2004: Marie-Curie ResearchFellowat Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Sols Tropicaux, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France. Africancaecilianecology.
October 2004 to September 2006: FWO Visiting post-doctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Animal Ecology, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Population genetics of Taita Hills amphibians.
2009 to 2017: Editor-in-Chief of African Journal of Herpetology.
2009 to present:IUCN Red List Assessor (RLA) for African amphibians.
2006 to 2011:Post-doctoral researcher in Applied Biodiversity, SANBI, South Africa.
2011 to 2019: Associate Editor of Salamandra.
September 2011 to June 2012:Post-doctoral researcher at School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North-West University, South Africa.
2012 to 2014: Research Associate of Centre for Invasion Biology.
2012 to 2021:IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group Regional Chair for Southern Africa.
2012 to present: Academic Editor of PeerJ
2012 to present: Associate Editor of Herpetological Conservation and Biology
2012 to 2014: Senior Lecturer, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
2012 to 2023: Associate Editor of BioInvasions Records
2023 to present: Section Editor of PeerJ
University ofBristol(1995-1996):
Continuing education “Pond Ecology”
University of the Western Cape (1998-2000):
1st year U-grad.: “Genetics and Evolution”
2nd year U-grad.: “Animal Diversity I”
2nd year U-grad.: “Animal Diversity I & II”
3rd year U-grad.: “Comparative Physiology”
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (2012-2014)
1st year U-grad: "Cell Biology and Histology"
2nd year U-grad: "Community Ecology"
3rd year U-grad: "Integrated Topics in Evolution"
Honours: "Global Change and Biodiversity"
*Cressey, E. R. (2012) The conservation genetics of a newly recognised Cape Peninsula endemic Rose's Mountain toad (Capensibufo rosei) MSc
de Villiers, F. A. (2016) The dispersal ability, performance and population dynamics of Cape Xenopus frogs MSc
Mokhatla, M. M. (2018) Evaluating the effects of changing global climate on amphibian functional groups of southern Africa: an ecophysiology modelling approach PhD
Louw, M. (2018) Acoustic Spatial Capture-Recapture (aSCR) and the Cryptic Cape Peninsula Moss Frog Arthroleptella lightfooti MSc
Mertens, L. (2021) Assessing the evolutionary and physiological resilience of southern African marine species PhD