Tiisetso Mpai
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Project Name/Description:
SOLVING NATIVE PLANT EXTINCTION PROBLEMS DRIVES MPAI Tiisetso Mpai was awarded a DSI Fellowships (Doctoral) Natural (Physical and Life) and Engineering Sciences in the 2018 SA Women in Science Awards Mpai obtained a BTech (2012) and an MTech in Crop Sciences cum laude (2017) from the Tshwane University of Technology, where she was nominated for the S2A3 Medal for Original Research at Master’s level. She is currently enrolled for a PhD focusing on legume plants and soil biochemistry at the same institution. In her current research, Mpai is evaluating the diversity and phylogeny of root-nodule bacteria that nodulate endangered native legumes of the Cape Core Region, and their symbiotic effectiveness on tropical grain legumes. She hopes that her research will help solve problems of native plant extinction and low soil fertility in the Cape fynbos. At a later stage, she hopes her findings will assist in addressing the low grain and shoot yields experienced by small-scale and commercial legume farmers in South Africa and the region. Mpai has published one paper and two conference proceedings in journals, including the South African Journal of Botany and Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B – Soil & Plant Science. She presented her research at the 2017 HBCU/HDI Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Conference in Washington, DC, USA, and at the 17th International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Gaborone, Botswana in 2016. At the latter conference, she was named the best student oral presenter. She has also presented her research locally at the South African Association of Botanists Annual Congress, the South African Young Scientists’ Conference and the African Combined Congress of the Soil and Plant Societies of South Africa.
