Affiliateship: 2020-2024
Cohort 5
Country (Nationality)
South Africa
Discipline
Geological, Environmental, Earth & Space Sciences
Bio
Dr Gavin Rishworth is a Marine Biologist and a Senior Lecturer in the Zoology Department at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He graduated with his PhD in Oceanography in 2017, after completing all his previous biological sciences studies at the Nelson Mandela University. His research has been supported by full scholarships and fellowships awarded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (MSc and PhD) and the Claude Leon Foundation (postdoctoral fellowship). Gavin studies many of the creatures and processes of the sea, from fish and seabirds, to unique and unusual coastal pools called 'stromatolites'. He has published over 35 international peer-reviewed scientific articles on his research. His recent work seeks to uncover how modern stromatolites might provide a glimpse into those early conditions which allowed complex life to evolve on Earth. His focus is on the links between microbial mat formation and metazoan bioturbation, including food-web dynamics and evolutionary drivers of biodiversity in space and time. Gavin is passionate about teaching and science communication, and regularly engages with university, high school and exchange students and the public about coastal and biological scientific intrigues. He has also presented his research discoveries internationally, including in Mozambique, Peru, Canada, Australia, England and Germany, and enjoys translating and sharing his science using interesting, understandable stories. Gavin is also on Twitter @gavinrish where he shares much of his research journey