Nortje , Janneke Margaretha (PhD)
Mrs Nortje was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and holds BSc and BSc Honours degrees from the University of Pretoria and an MSc in Botany ( cum laude ) from the University of Johannesburg. She enrolled for a PhD at the University of Johannesburg in 2015. The doctoral study resulted in a comprehensive inventory and analysis of indigenous plant use in the Namaqualand region of South Africa, an area of some 55 000 km 2 . It includes 162 medicinal plants, 152 food plants, 157 craft plants and numerous hitherto unrecorded practical uses and vernacular names. Forty-five species were recorded for the first time as having ethnobotanical relevance, two of which were entirely new to science. Quantification was done using state-of-the-art analytical methods, importance indices and ranking statistics. The high quality primary data contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and will over time serve as a source of pride for local people. Many theoretical and practical applications are envisaged that are relevant to anthropology, natural history, language studies, new product development, food security and ecotourism. The results were presented at three international conferences and two peer-reviewed scientific papers have thus far been published.
Supervisor: Prof B-E van Wyk
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