DAY 2: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Session 1: Chair | Peter Makumbe (08:30 – 9:40)
SPEED PRESENTATION SESSION
Moss bioindicators: Factors influencing species diversity and community assembly along a rural-urban gradient in Madagascar’s capital city
Antonio Razafindramboa
Temminck’s pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) habitat use in a dryland environment
Benjamin Melamdowitz
Climate change and cyanobacteria: How construction of artificial waterholes can influence bloom potential in a semi-arid system
Laurene van Dijk
Spatial and temporal gradient effects on ant and spider diversity in the Natal Midlands
Asande Hadebe
White-browed sparrow-weaver structures as a resource to avian communities in the Kalahari
Lesedi Moagi
Wetlands provide a stable forage resource for ungulates in a variable Highveld ecosystem
Daleen Steenkamp
Legacy and emerging contaminants in an ecologically critical southern African river catchment
Shaskia John
SPEED PRESENTATION GROUP Q&A
Session 2: Chair | Tracey Webster (11:00 – 13:00)
PRESENTATIONS
Origins and invasion debt of Quilted melania (Tarebia granifera) (Lamarck, 1822) in Southern Africa
Results presentation Sive Kolisi
African lions: Safe and sound?
Full presentation Paul Funston
Should wild animal welfare be considered in conservation?
Results presentation Dilys Roe and Amy Dickman
Applicability of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for effective management of Transfrontier Conservation Areas involving Zimbabwe
Full presentation Patience Gandiwa
Triggering rapid scaling of agroforestry: A case of The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST) in Uganda
Results presentation Antony Emenyu
Morally contested conservation
Results presentation Darragh Hare
Session 3: Chair | Wendy Panaino (14:00 – 15:30)
PRESENTATIONS
Assessing nitrogen dioxide in the highveld trophosphere: Pandora insights and TROPOMI Sentinel-5P evaluation
Results presentation Refilwe Kai-Sikhakhane
Big data’s big daddy! Aerial-born multi-sensor data collection beyond the curve!
Results presentation Steven Johnson
How doth the little crocodile
Full presentation Stephan Woodborne
Improving AI for wildlife tracking: The value of expert tracker knowledge and training data
Results presentation Tinao Petso
Ecophysiological responses and projected climatic suitability of Podocarpaceae in South Africa
Results presentation Thando Twala
Session 4: Chair | Laura Pereira (16:00 – 17:00)
PANEL DISCUSSION
Future ecosystems for Africa: Lessons, impact and the path forward
NEW JWO RESEARCH GRANT RECIPIENT AWARD PRESENTATION (17:20 – 18:00)
DAY 3: Friday, 17 October 2025
Session 1: Chair | Andre Tranquilini (08:30 – 10:40)
PRESENTATION
Stuck in a rut: Variation in reproductive behaviour, spatial patterns and endocrine activity in impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Results presentation Juanita Wessels
Drugs, guns and eels: The decline of anguillid eels in East Africa and beyond
Full presentation Lee Baumgartner
Understanding climate change adaptation policy, barriers and readiness in South Africa
Results presentation Vhalinavho Khavhagali
Smuggled hitchhikers: Ticks on trafficked pangolins and scales pose a hidden pathogen threat
Results presentation Zwannda Nethavhani
Thulamela: Gold, human burials and a forgotten African kingdom
Results presentation Tim Forssman
Session 2: Chair | Max Makuvise (11:10 – 14:00)
PRESENTATIONS
How dehorning reduces rhino poaching
Results presentation Timothy Kuiper
What evidence exists for the financial performance of wildlife-based land use in southern and East Africa
Results presentation Susan de Witt
Fire frequency and experimental warming changes soil microbial diversity in alpine grassland, South Africa
Results presentation Sibusiso Dlamini
Clicks and the environment: Journalism’s responsibility to deepen climate literacy
Full presentation Journalism panel
The potential of legume cover crops to improve soil acidity and nutrients in South African sugarcane fields
Results presentation Naledi Zama
Understanding the cognitive consequences of climate change in wild animals
Results presentation Ben Ashton
Estimating large carnivore densities using spatial capture-recapture in the arid Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
Results presentation Marna Visagie
Human-centred conservation: Communities at the core
Full presentation Katie MacKenzie and Lessah Mandoloma
CONFERENCE AWARDS
Session 3: Chair | Jonah Western (15:00 – 16:00)
COMMUNITY SCIENCE ROUNDTABLE
How can conservation win space for wildlife beyond parks by engaging and improving the wellbeing of communities?
Duan Biggs and Victor Mose
