Rynhardt Le Roux
Research student, School of Biosciences
- lerouxr@cardiff.ac.uk
- C/5.15, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX
Overview
My science background is in population genetics and bioinformatics. During my Master’s degree I looked at the conservation genetics of Hooded vultures across their pan African distribution. My PhD project will investigates the spread and transmission patterns of avian influenza-like diseases that spill-over from domestic animals, such as poultry, to populations of African penguins and other seabirds. The project will focus on some of the island populations around Cape Town and one mainland population in Cape Town (Boulders beach). This work will be conducted in collaboration with South African National Parks (SANParks) and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
I started my academic career in 2017 at the University of Johannesburg, studying a BSc degree in Life and Environmental sciences focused on Zoology and Botany. I finished this undergraduate degree in 2019 and then went on to do my BSc Honours degree in Zoology in 2020 at the same University, which was funded by the NRF council by means of a General Honours grant. During my Honours degree my research projected focused on the De Nova assemblage of the liver transcriptome of sardines.
I went on to do my MSc in Genetics at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in 2021, with a projected focused on the conservation genetics of Hooded vultures. This projected aimed to shed some light on the population genetics of Hooded vultures across there pan African distribution. This project also aimed to clarify the taxonomic statues of Hooded vultures using genetics marks. My second year of my MSc was funded by a NRF general Masters grant.
In 2019 I also had the opportunity to work as a research assistance in the Ecology genetics and Wildlife conservation lab at University of Johannesburg. During this time, I was responsible for sorting collembola samples from Marion Island. In 2023 I was offered the opportunity to work as a working group member on the GbiKe project. During this time I was tasked with doing a literature review on category I genetic monitoring, and implementing R scripts to text mine meta data from relevant papers that will be used for manuscript writing.
Research
Thesis
Surveillance, detection, and environmental drivers of avian influenza-like viruses in African birds
My project will investigate the spread and transmission patterns of avian influenza-like diseases that spill-over from domestic animals, such as poultry, to populations of African penguins and other seabirds. The project will focus on some of the island populations around Cape Town and one mainland population in Cape Town (Boulders beach). This work will be conducted in collaboration with South African National Parks (SANParks) and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). Other partners will include Queens University and the Agri-Food & Biotechnology Institute (AFBI) in Belfast.
Funding source
OneZoo CDT funded by NERC, BBSRC, and MRC
