Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria

: Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” — Maya Angelou.

Learning is a lifelong journey. Every lesson learned is an opportunity to grow, improve, and make today count.

UP researcher Dr Bharti Arora is a wildlife endocrinologist whose research focuses on optimising and standardising blubber hormone extraction protocols to improve the accuracy, reproducibility and comparability of endocrine assessments across laboratories. Her work aims to establish a gold-standard protocol that is safer, more efficient and widely applicable.

Read more in the article ‘Sentinels of our changing seas’ in issue 13 of UP’s ReSearch magazine. https://ow.ly/4Vak50ZxEeM

Today, we celebrate the women who inspire excellence across the University of Pretoria community.

In his Women's Day message, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Francis Petersen reaffirms UP's commitment to advancing gender equality, fostering inclusive leadership and creating opportunities for women to thrive.

Read his message: https://ow.ly/w9Ej50ZxCuP

EMPOWERED WOMEN EMPOWER WOMEN. 💚💐

Today we celebrate the incredible women of the NAS Faculty from our professors, researchers, staff to students, who continue to inspire and make their mark in science.

May we continue to uplift one another, create opportunities for the women who follow and celebrate the strength, brilliance and contribution of women in science.

Happy Women’s Day to all the phenomenal women in NAS! 🌸🔬

🐋LEARNING WITH LEA:

Why are they called “Right” whales? The history behind their name is a sobering reminder of why our research exists today.

📜 The "Right" whale to hunt: In the 18th and 19th centuries, whalers dubbed them the “right” whale to target. They swam slowly near coastal waters, yielded vast amounts of valuable oil and baleen, and floated when dead due to their thick blubber layer.

⚓ Pushed to the brink: Intense whaling decimated their populations globally, killing over 150,000 southern right whales and driving them to the absolute brink of extinction. Though international protection was put in place for the species in 1935, illegal whaling continued well into the 1970s.

📈 A story of hope & ongoing challenges: Thanks to global conservation efforts like the global moratorium on whaling, southern right whale populations have made a remarkable comeback along coasts like South Africa’s, growing at roughly 6-7% per year!

But the journey isn’t over. While their global numbers have improved, certain populations (like in Chile-Peru) remain critically endangered. Modern threats, including entanglements in fishing gear, ship strikes, climate change altering food supply, and ocean noise, mean our monitoring work is as vital as ever.

University of Pretoria Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria Mammal Research Institute

Congratulations to Prof. Samuel Manda from the Department of Statistics on delivering his inaugural address, Biostatistics: The Science Providing Evidence for Better Health and Saving Lives: From Patient Outcomes to Population Health, Health Systems, and Global Development.

Drawing on nearly 40 years in academia, Prof. Manda reflected on a distinguished career dedicated to advancing biostatistics and transforming complex health data into evidence that informs research, strengthens health systems and ultimately saves lives. His work continues to shape healthcare decision making across South Africa and beyond.

As a Faculty, we are proud to have an expert of Prof Samuel Manda’s calibre among us. His commitment to academic excellence, impactful research and mentoring future scholars makes him a true role model and an inspiration to the next generation of scientists and researchers.

Congratulations on this remarkable milestone.🌟

✨ to last week’s school visit to Lichtenburg in the North West!

Connecting with high school learners and sharing the many opportunities available at the University of Pretoria is always a highlight for us. From exploring exciting career paths to answering questions about university life, every conversation is an opportunity to inspire young minds to dream bigger and discover what’s possible.

We look forward to welcoming many of these future leaders to our campus one day as UP students.