Our first marine scientists are done, with more to come!

Dr. Sohana Singh is Dr. Drift a marine geneticist at the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) who studies the diversity of zooplankton and how marine protected areas (MPAs), we have 41 in South Africa, benefit these critical animals and if and how they move from one MPA to another. ORI is part of the SAAMBR. Know about Ushaka Marine World, then you know the other part of SAAMBR - science, education and recreation.  Next time you’re thinking of the fun times in Durban know that if you were to take a right turn you could end up in the lab with Sohana and all the other cool scientists that are cracking away at the mysteries of our Indian Ocean.

 Dr. Nelson Miranda, is Captain Caracol and co-leads Argonaut Science, an environmental science research, services and education company. (Not all science has to be done within in the university!) His work includes studies of the invasive snail Tarebia granifera that lives in KZN and Mozambique (caracol is snail in Portugesse) along with a host of other research and education activities. He’s already a hero to many kids in Cape Town through his work with youth and community led marine appreciation and education groups - Oceano Reddentes, The Future Kids Club, and See The Bigger Picture.

Tivarihanyo, aka Dr Tivani Mashamba-Thompson, joins the SuperScientists crew! Tivani’s work is all about speed. She studies point-of-care testing, medical tests that can be done at the clinic or at home instead of having to be transported to a laboratory. She studies how effective point-of-care (POC) tests are, their impact on health outcomes, and how to implement and scale POC tests to reach more people. Tivarihanyo means “know your health” in Xitsonga, Tivani’s mother tongue, and making medical results easier to come by, does just that.

Thanks to The Sunday Times and IOL Saturday! Being in the newspaper is a fabulous experience, it makes your parents proud while getting out to so many people that you would never imagine learning about your work.

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Great fun being in the Saturday Independent this weekend! Really got the word out to thousands. . . Fab art by @curtis.x #iolnews #independentonsaturday #powerofnewspapers #thisiswhatsciencelookslike #thisiswhatscientistslooklike #tbscientist #hivscientist #southafricanscientists #africanscientists

A post shared by SuperScientists (@scisuperheroes) on Sep 2, 2019 at 12:42am PDT

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Banner day, Sunday Times article today! Read The Eradicator's story maybe soon coming to a comic book near you. . 🧘Art by @curtis.x . #superscientists #scientists #scienceeducation #scienceinspiration #tbscientist #hivscientist #southafricanscientists #africanscientists

A post shared by SuperScientists (@scisuperheroes) on Sep 22, 2019 at 7:00am PDT

Comic Con 2019 was amazing. We drove up to Joburg with 2,000 SuperScientists cards, 200 posters, t-shirts, stickers and a lot of hope that people would dig what we are doing. They did! We met so many great people, handed out 1000 cards, and met many people who want SuperScientists materials for their kids schools.

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We put 1000 cards profiling living SA scientists into the hands of kids and adults at Comic Con Africa! It was great fun, we met so many people excited about this project, kids, parents, teachers, scientists and more. @comicconafrica_official @kidscon_official was fabulous, it's open for one more day but we have to get back to Durban. Thanks to all the organisers! . . #comicconafrica #comiccon #comicconafrica2019

A post shared by SuperScientists (@scisuperheroes) on Sep 23, 2019 at 10:08am PDT

Our first four SuperScientists have been launched! Thanks to everyone who has shown us support and shared what we are doing. The scientists from the Africa Health Research Institute(AHRI) and University of KwaZulu-Natal College of Health Sciences have been really accommodating as we have put this together. Thank you! It been fabulous to see so many people behind this idea and celebrating the excellence that is these scientists. We are working on more scientists and hope to get them out as soon as possible.