Kate Cronin

Thesis topic: The role of Cape Town’s horticultural industry in the spread of invasive alien plants

Supervisors: Timm Hoffman (PCU), Mirijam Gaertner (CIB-SU)
Collaborating Institutions: Centre for Invasion Biology (CIS) - Stellenbosch University, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
Email: katecroninkc@gmail.com

Kate spent her first nine years growing up in the shopping-malled suburbs of Johannesburg. Her family’s move to Cape Town, a city with a mountain in the middle and sea on three sides, opened up new vistas. As she got older, Kate began to realise that this beautiful city also had an ugly side – huge inequalities, urban sprawl and dehumanising conditions for a large number of its citizens. She also came to realise that the social challenges had serious implications for the environment. This growing awareness led Kate to choose to do an undergraduate BSc in Ecology and Evolution and Applied Biology at UCT. 

During her undergraduate studies, Kate developed a particular interest in Botany and its relationship to wider social and environmental issues. In 2013, she completed her Biological Science Honours, focussing on two botanically-based research projects. Kate is currently completing her Conservation Biology Masters at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute. Her thesis explores Cape Town nursery managers’ levels of awareness, compliance, and attitudes towards the new NEMBA regulations on invasive alien plants.