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Faculty of Science
Abdool Karim, Q. and Abdool Karim, S. 2012. Genital tract
inflammation during early HIV-1infection predicts higher
plasma viral load setpoint in women. Journal of Infectious
Diseases, 205: 194-203.
Sharp, C., Barr, G.D.I., Ross, D.A., Bhimani, R., Ha, C. and
Vuchinich, R. 2012. Social discounting and externalizing
behavior problems in boys. Journal of Behavioral Decision
Making, 25(3): 239-247.
Silal, S.P., Penn-Kekana, L., Harris, B., Birch, S. and McIntyre,
D.E. 2012. Exploring inequalities in access to and use
of maternal health services in South Africa. BMC Health
Services Research, 12: 12.
Scriba, T.J., Tameris, M.D., Smit, E., Van der Merwe, L.,
Hughes, J., Kadira, B., Mauff, K.A.L., Moyo, S., Brittain, N.,
Lawrie, A., Mulenga, H., de Kock, M., Makhethe, L., van
Rensburg, J.E., Gelderbloem, S., Veldsman, A., Hatherill,
M., Geldenhuys, H.D., Hill, A.V.S., Hawkridge, A.J., Hussey,
G.D., Hanekom, W.A., McShane, H. and Mahomed, H.
2012. A phase IIA trial of the new tuberculosis vaccine,
MVA85A, in HIV- and/or mycobacterium tuberculosis-
infected adults. American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine, 185(7): 769-778.
Master’s degrees (by research)
Anyogu, A. 2012. The use of problem structuring methods
to explore the functioning and management of a selected
NGO. Master’s. Supervised by Scott, L.
Cecchini, L. 2012. Robben Island penguin pressure model:
A decision support tool for an ecosystems approach to
fisheries management. Master’s. Supervised by Scott, L.
Gavine, L. 2012. The use of environmental damage
schedules and conjoint analysis in environmental valuation
and decision making. Master’s. Supervised by Stewart, T.
Timm, A. 2012. An investigation of multidimensional scaling
with an emphasis on the development of an R based
graphical user interface for performing multidimensional
scaling procedures. Master’s. Supervised by Lubbe, S.
Department of Zoology
(Including the FitzPatrick Institute, DST/
NRF Centre of Excellence, the Marine
Research Institute and the Animal
Demography Unit)
Head of Department: Professor Anusuya
Chinsamy-Turan
Department Profile
The Zoology Department houses the Marine Biology
Research Centre (MBRC), the Percy FitzPatrick Institute,
DST/NRF Centre of Excellence (PFIAO); the Freshwater
Research Unit (FRU) and the Animal Demography Unit
(ADU). Other smaller cogent groups co-ordinate research
on mammals, palaeobiology, entomology and physiology.
The Department hosts South African Research Chairs
in Evolution and Systematics and in Marine Ecology
and Fisheries. The Department has a large postgraduate
school of some 173 master’s and doctoral students and a
significant portion of the research publications produced
by UCT originate from Zoology.
Research interests of the MBRC include fisheries and
coastal zone management, rocky shore ecology, seaweed
and invertebrate biodiversity and systematics, the biology
of the Benguela upwelling ecosystem, and biogeochemical
cycles of the ocean, particularly of carbon and nitrogen,
and how such cycles may be impacted by climate change.
The PFIAO remains primarily involved in avian research,
coupled with a strong emphasis on conservation biology.
Research in the FRU focuses on the ecology of freshwater
ecosystems, and on the conservation and management
of rivers and wetlands. The Animal Demography Unit
focuses on statistical ecology, with two strands of activities:
a series of monitoring projects for birds, butterflies and
reptiles, and a cohort of postgraduate students with
statistics-rich research projects relating to various aspects
of population dynamics. Other research in the department
is centred around: the behaviour, ecology, physiology,
systematics and evolutionary biology of a variety of small
mammals (molerats, golden moles, rodents, bats), seals
and primates; palaeobiology and osteohistology, including
factors that affect bone depositional rates in modern birds
and reptiles and the biological signals recorded in fossil
bones of non-mammalian therapsids, mammals, dinosaurs
and other archosaurs; the systematics and biogeography
of insects and insect ecology in arid ecosystems; biological
control, especially the use of herbivorous insects to curb
the seeding capacity and invasiveness of problematic
Australian acacia species; and physiological studies on