As Women’s Month draws to a close, the Department of Genetics at Stellenbosch University is taking a moment to acknowledge the women whose work forms part of the Department every day.

Their contributions extend across research, teaching, technical expertise, postgraduate training, administration and the care of the environments in which our science takes place. Together, they also reflect the remarkable breadth of genetics represented within the Department.

Across cereal genetics and plant breeding, Prof Anna-Maria Botha-Oberholster, Mrs Lezaan Hess and Ms Cecile Bester contribute to research in wheat genetics, crop improvement, plant phenotyping and breeding. Their work connects molecular and genomic approaches with the practical challenges of developing crops for changing agricultural environments.

The Department’s work in population, conservation and evolutionary genetics is represented through researchers including Prof Aletta Bester-van der Merwe, whose research spans marine and aquatic species, population genetics and conservation. Dr Barbara van Asch applies genetics to questions involving insects, biodiversity, agricultural pests and invasive species, and Emeritus Prof Louise Warnich has made longstanding contributions to human genetics and pharmacogenomics.

Within plant molecular genetics and biotechnology, Dr Christell van der Vyver works across plant transformation, stress biology and crop biotechnology; Dr Manuela Campa applies molecular and genome-editing approaches within grapevine research; and Dr Bianke Loedolff contributes across plant biotechnology and applied biological research. Dr Rachelle Bester’s work brings together citrus genetics, molecular diagnostics, sequencing and plant–pathogen biology and Dr Nanette Christie contributes to forest genomics, molecular breeding and statistical genomics, particularly in Eucalyptus improvement.

Teaching is equally embedded in this scientific environment. Ms Mandi Engelbrecht contributes molecular biology expertise and practical training to student learning, helping translate genetics from the lecture theatre into the laboratory.

An important part of this research environment is also created by our technical officers. Sonalia Hirday, Rebecca Hurst,  Aletta Ellis, Casey Gill, Shannon Goodchild,  Suhavna Hiralal and Leigh-Anne Cundill work across different laboratories and research platforms in the Department. Although their roles are technical by designation, their day-to-day activities are deeply embedded in research.

They contribute practical expertise, continuity and problem-solving across molecular laboratories, tissue-culture environments, plant breeding, biotechnology and other experimental systems. They work alongside academics, postgraduate students and research teams to maintain specialised facilities, troubleshoot experiments and help translate research plans into everyday practice.

The women of Genetics also include the many students developing their own scientific paths within the Department. Across our Honours, MSc and PhD programmes, female students are undertaking research across the spectrum of genetics represented within our laboratories. Alongside them are our experienced postdoctoral researchers, who bring specialist knowledge into research groups, contribute to publications and collaborations, and provide valuable mentorship to developing researchers.

They represent different stages of a research career, but collectively they are actively contributing to the questions being asked, experiments being conducted and knowledge being generated within Genetics.

Beyond the laboratory and lecture environment, the Department also depends on the coordination and administrative work of colleagues such as Mrs Thanja Allison, together with those who provide administrative and operational support and the colleagues who care for the shared spaces in which we teach, work and conduct research. These contributions may take different forms, but each is part of the same departmental community.