Degree: MScAgric (Animal Sciences)
Main Supervisor: Dr E. Pieterse
Co-supervisor: Dr BJ Grobler
Project Title:
Evaluation of black soldier fly larvae's (BSFL) ameliorating ability of intensive system mortalities
Short Bio:
I live in Kommetjie, a small coastal town in the Deep South, where I grew up with the ocean and penguins rather than lucerne fields and sheep. I had very little direct on-farm experience before I started my degree, but that has never dampened my passion for animals and agriculture. If anything, it has pushed me to be better and to drive my learning. My undergraduate studies in gave me an extensive scientific understanding of how animals function, the influence of what we feed them and how farming systems can thrive under the right conditions among many other things. It showed me how to identify factors that drive peak animal performance under conditions both favourable and not. Practical experience working on farms in the Karoo and on the experimental farms at Stellenbosch University then showed me the real world, day to day challenges that farmers face, such as limited resources, harsh environments, and the effect that South Africa’s unpredictable market can have on farming. This contrast between theory and practice is what drew me into research and motivated me to look for a project that could benefit the sustainability of industry on both large and small scales. I’m currently doing an MScAgric in Animal Science at Stellenbosch University. My project is titled: Evaluation of Black Soldier Fly Larvae’s (BSFL) Ameliorating Ability of Intensive System Mortalities. Research into Black Soldier Flies and their ability to process whole animal carcasses is poorly understood and my research will hopefully build a baseline degree of understanding which can be built upon by further studies and projects. My hope is that this research will help reduce the environmental and economic burden of dealing with dead animals on farms. By morphing what would be seen as a financial burden into a window of opportunity. In the next 5-10 years, I would like to complete my MSc, and work in a way that connects research with practical farming solutions. At the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I have contributed to sustainable animal production practices that benefits farmers, the environment, and society.
