And the 'Science Oscar' goes to... EWT's Wendy Collinson

Known as the ‘Science Oscars’, this year was presented by minister of science and technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, who is the event’s patron.

Collinson scooped the prestigious award for her work in establishing and running the EWT’s Wildlife and Roads Project, which aims to reduce the negative impacts of transport infrastructure on wildlife, and ultimately improve driver safety through a reduction in wildlife-vehicle-collisions (WVCs). Collinson is overseeing numerous research projects that examine the impacts of roads in South Africa, in order to develop solutions to reduce roadkill.

Collaborative project

Most of her projects involve collaborations with stakeholders in the transport sector, as well as academia, regarding the design of future developments. This body of knowledge is informing the development and planning decisions around future road design, which will lessen the impact of roads on South African fauna and flora.

“It is an honour to be nominated, it is an outstanding achievement to reach the finals, and an exceptional milestone and celebration of excellence to win one of these awards,” said Collinson.

The EWT was also recognised as a finalist in the NSTF-GreenMatter Award category, for its outstanding contribution to the Groen Sebenza Initiative, an innovative project aimed at developing skills and bridging the gap between education and job opportunities in the biodiversity sector which was initiated by the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2013.