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Thulani is currently the deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics at the University of Pretoria.


Thulani still has ties with the North-West University, having visited the Mafikeng Campus as recently as 12 February 2016 where he presented several seminars.

 

Both his parents are involved with the NWU too. “My dad completed his honours at the Potchefstroom Campus – while working – and my mom has started a business management degree. They’re hard-working people.”

 

 

Thulani takes a closer

look at climate change

Alarm bells about climate change are ringing worldwide. Mafikeng Campus alumnus Dr Thulani Makhalanyane is a South African scientist with a closer view than most of the phenomenon.

 

His search for understanding has taken him to some of the driest, loneliest, most extreme environments on the planet, from the scorching Namib Desert to icy, windswept Antarctica.

 

That’s a long way from Klerksdorp where Thulani grew up, the son of a school principal and a nurse, and where he served as head boy of his high school and junior mayor of the town council.

 

His life would have been very different had he pursued the business career he seemed cut out for.

 

Science is exciting

 

“Business is boring,” says Thulani, who excelled at the subject at school. “Can you think of a more exciting job than doing research in a lot of different areas and getting to travel all over the world? It’s better than being an accountant!”

 

His passion for research was ignited at the Mafikeng Campus, where he completed a BSc degree in Chemistry and Biology, followed by his BSc honours.

 

Hooked on research, Thulani went on to complete his MSc and PhD at the University of the Western Cape. In 2012, he joined the University of Pretoria for his postdoctoral studies, quickly moving up the ranks to his current position as deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics.

 

Along the way, he has visited every continent, including Antarctica.

That was in 2014 when Thulani was part of a New Zealand-led research expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys – the tiny portion of land in Antarctica which is free of ice and snow for part of the year.

 

Ideal conditions to observe climate change

 

Nothing grows or lives in this barren, arid landscape, which is exactly why it is so ideal for scientific study on the effects of climate change.

 

“Because there are no plants or animals, we can study the microbial communities in the soil with nothing else to complicate the findings.”

These microbial communities are important because they are responsible for carbon and nitrogen fixation in the soil. In layman’s terms: “Carbon and nitrogen are essential for plant life. Without these communities, plants can’t fix nitrogen, so there’s no food for us.”

 

With no other life forms to complicate things, scientists can attribute any changes in the diversity or functioning of the microbial communities purely to one thing: climate change.

 

“Since the 1960s, the Antarctica has undergone high rates of temperature increase. Therefore, its microbial communities are ideal models for understanding the effects of climate change.”

 

His biggest career highlight to date was having an article accepted in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal, which has an impact factor of 9,4. A close second was being lead author of a review for FEMS Microbial Ecology Reviews, with an impact factor of 13,8.

 

Thulani has vivid memories of his three weeks in Antarctica.  The silence is what he remembers best. “It’s so silent and really beautiful.”Dream for the future

 

Ultimately, Thulani would like to become one of the leading researchers in the world! “That’s my dream – a South African working at Princeton.”

 

In the meantime, he’s content to pursue various research projects with his students, share his life with his wife Andiswa and watch his three-year-old daughter Azahlume grow up.

 

 

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Hooked on research: The research project that sparked Dr Thulani Makhalanyane’s interest while he was studying at the Mafikeng Campus, was on the quality of groundwater in Madibogo, a rural village in the North-West Province.

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NWU & U  |

Thulani takes a closer

look at climate change

Thulani is currently the deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics at the University of Pretoria.Alarm bells about climate change are ringing worldwide. Mafikeng Campus alumnus Dr Thulani Makhalanyane is a South African scientist with a closer view than most of the phenomenon

 

His search for understanding has taken him to some of the driest, loneliest, most extreme environments on the planet, from the scorching Namib Desert to icy, windswept Antarctica.

 

That’s a long way from Klerksdorp where Thulani grew up, the son of a school principal and a nurse, and where he served as head boy of his high school and junior mayor of the town council.

 

His life would have been very different had he pursued the business career he seemed cut out for.

 

Science is exciting

 

“Business is boring,” says Thulani, who excelled at the subject at school. “Can you think of a more exciting job than doing research in a lot of different areas and getting to travel all over the world? It’s better than being an accountant!”

 

His passion for research was ignited at the Mafikeng Campus, where he completed a BSc degree in Chemistry and Biology, followed by his BSc honours.

 

Hooked on research, Thulani went on to complete his MSc and PhD at the University of the Western Cape. In 2012, he joined the University of Pretoria for his postdoctoral studies, quickly moving up the ranks to his current position as deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics.

 

Along the way, he has visited every continent, including Antarctica.

That was in 2014 when Thulani was part of a New Zealand-led research expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys – the tiny portion of land in Antarctica which is free of ice and snow for part of the year.

 

Ideal conditions to observe climate change

 

Nothing grows or lives in this barren, arid landscape, which is exactly why it is so ideal for scientific study on the effects of climate change.

 

“Because there are no plants or animals, we can study the microbial communities in the soil with nothing else to complicate the findings.”

These microbial communities are important because they are responsible for carbon and nitrogen fixation in the soil. In layman’s terms: “Carbon and nitrogen are essential for plant life. Without these communities, plants can’t fix nitrogen, so there’s no food for us.”

 

With no other life forms to complicate things, scientists can attribute any changes in the diversity or functioning of the microbial communities purely to one thing: climate change.

 

“Since the 1960s, the Antarctica has undergone high rates of temperature increase. Therefore, its microbial communities are ideal models for understanding the effects of climate change.”

His biggest career highlight to date was having an article accepted in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal, which has an impact factor of 9.4. A close second was being lead author of a review for FEMS Microbial Ecology Reviews, with an impact factor of 13.8.

 

Thulani has vivid memories of his three weeks in Antarctica.  The silence is what he remembers best. “It’s so silent and really beautiful.”Dream for the future

 

Ultimately, Thulani would like to become one of the leading researchers in the world! “That’s my dream – a South African working at Princeton.”

 

In the meantime, he’s content to pursue various research projects with his students, share his life with his wife Andiswa and watch his three-year-old daughter Azahlume grow up.


Thulani still has ties with the North-West University, having visited the Mafikeng Campus as recently as 12 February 2016 where he presented several seminars.

 

Both his parents are involved with the NWU too. “My dad completed his honours at the Potchefstroom Campus – while working – and my mom has started a business management degree. They’re hard-working people.”

 

 

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Contents

Thulani takes a closer

look at climate change

Thulani is currently the deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics at the University of Pretoria.

Alarm bells about climate change are ringing worldwide. Mafikeng Campus alumnus Dr Thulani Makhalanyane is a South African scientist with a closer view than most of the phenomenon.

 

His search for understanding has taken him to some of the driest, loneliest, most extreme environments on the planet, from the scorching Namib Desert to icy, windswept Antarctica.

 

That’s a long way from Klerksdorp where Thulani grew up, the son of a school principal and a nurse, and where he served as head boy of his high school and junior mayor of the town council.

 

His life would have been very different had he pursued the business career he seemed cut out for.

 

Science is exciting

 

“Business is boring,” says Thulani, who excelled at the subject at school. “Can you think of a more exciting job than doing research in a lot of different areas and getting to travel all over the world? It’s better than being an accountant!”

 

His passion for research was ignited at the Mafikeng Campus, where he completed a BSc degree in Chemistry and Biology, followed by his BSc honours.

 

Hooked on research, Thulani went on to complete his MSc and PhD at the University of the Western Cape. In 2012, he joined the University of Pretoria for his postdoctoral studies, quickly moving up the ranks to his current position as deputy director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics.

 

Along the way, he has visited every continent, including Antarctica.

That was in 2014 when Thulani was part of a New Zealand-led research expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys – the tiny portion of land in Antarctica which is free of ice and snow for part of the year.

 

Ideal conditions to observe climate change

 

Nothing grows or lives in this barren, arid landscape, which is exactly why it is so ideal for scientific study on the effects of climate change.

 

“Because there are no plants or animals, we can study the microbial communities in the soil with nothing else to complicate the findings.”

These microbial communities are important because they are responsible for carbon and nitrogen fixation in the soil. In layman’s terms: “Carbon and nitrogen are essential for plant life. Without these communities, plants can’t fix nitrogen, so there’s no food for us.”

 

With no other life forms to complicate things, scientists can attribute any changes in the diversity or functioning of the microbial communities purely to one thing: climate change.

 

“Since the 1960s, the Antarctica has undergone high rates of temperature increase. Therefore, its microbial communities are ideal models for understanding the effects of climate change.”

 

His biggest career highlight to date was having an article accepted in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal, which has an impact factor of 9.4. A close second was being lead author of a review for FEMS Microbial Ecology Reviews, with an impact factor of 13.8.

 

Thulani has vivid memories of his three weeks in Antarctica.  The silence is what he remembers best. “It’s so silent and really beautiful.”

Dream for the future

 

Ultimately, Thulani would like to become one of the leading researchers in the world! “That’s my dream – a South African working at Princeton.”

 

In the meantime, he’s content to pursue various research projects with his students, share his life with his wife Andiswa and watch his three-year-old daughter Azahlume grow up.

 

Hooked on research: The research project that sparked Dr Thulani Makhalanyane’s interest while he was studying at the Mafikeng Campus, was on the quality of groundwater in Madibogo, a rural village in the North-West Province.


Thulani still has ties with the North-West University, having visited the Mafikeng Campus as recently as 12 February 2016 where he presented several seminars.

 

Both his parents are involved with the NWU too. “My dad completed his honours at the Potchefstroom Campus – while working – and my mom has started a business management degree. They’re hard-working people.”

 

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