Sixolile Mazwane | Solstice

My interests are in pelagic ecosystems with an emphasis on phytoplankton dynamics and primary production. I have done my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa. I have worked with phytoplankton from my undergraduate studies, focusing on the growth responses of phytoplankton from ephemeral wetlands. More recently, my work has been focused on biological oceanography, mainly looking at the phytoplankton biomass and primary production on the Agulhas Bank on the Southern coast of Africa. I am now doing my Ph.D. studies as part of a research project within SOLSTICE.

I am interested in remote sensing and am using satellite data (Chlorophyll, SST, PAR, etc.) to try and understand the dynamics of phytoplankton in shelf seas ecosystems. My research forms the base of the biological data in the SOLSTICE project, with phytoplankton forming the base of the food web and determines what happens in the other trophic levels. I benefited from SOLSTICE in terms of collaborating with different scientists, travelling outside of my country, and getting experience on different data analysis methods.