Marina is a PhD candidate specializing in savanna ecology, with a particular interest on vegetation dynamics, ecosystem resilience, and the impacts of woody encroachment in Southern Africa. She earned an honours degree in Botany from Rhodes University and completed her master’s degree in 2021. Her research aims to clarify how savanna ecosystems react to environmental changes and investigates how ecological knowledge may support the conservation of biodiversity and improve human livelihoods in African savannas where she grew up.

Research Project

Marina is conducting research on plant community dynamics in South African savannas. Her research involves the analysis of long-term field data and current field data to identify patterns of changing species compositions and tree stand structure in savannas. The research also aims to explain how bush encroachment alters species composition and drives the system toward a state that becomes difficult to reverse. Ultimately, the study will broaden understanding of why certain tree stands remain unchanged over time while others remain unstable, and what this implies for the overall function of savanna ecosystems.