Posted on by davidegaglio

A story from the past: “The Fallout of the Guano Fever”

By Davide Gaglio

Doing a PhD is not just an academic exercise — it can make you attuned to events, ideas, and knowledge that has real-world consequences for humans and the planet we inhabit.

It is well known that oceans play a vital role in the welfare of humans and are an important economic resource, which sustains a large portion of the global food industry, renewable energy, tourism and much more. And I often wonder why we are so indifferent to the future of the ocean which we use? Not far in time and in space from our southern African coastline, personal profits created human deprivation and exploitation of an ecosystem that has not recovered to this day. Did we forget about the tragedy that happened during the White Gold Rush in South Africa? For about one hundred years (1890-1990), the rush for guano caused slavery, death and significant disturbance at breeding sites of endemic South African seabirds for the profit of only a few. I spent a lot of time on offshore islands for my PhD, and using my photographic passion, I would like to tell you this story with a short film.

This film interprets the hypothetical journey of a guano scraper reliving the first moments; the discovery of a pristine island that soon would become a prison; the first encounter with the unsuspecting wildlife, harsh weather, struggle for survival; the horror.

I am glad to introduce you: The Fallout of the Guano Fever

guano fever

It’s a story from the past that brings us to the modern era where the same marine environment is still being over-exploited.

Maybe it’s not clear for all but over-fishing, and its associated environmental impacts, is our biggest global environmental challenge alongside those posed by climate change. Scientific research (which includes my ongoing PhD) highlights that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will most likely see dwindling supplies of seafood within the next few decades. Over-fishing in southern Africa is emptying the seas faster than nature can replenish it, threatening the food security of all of us.

And things are getting worse.over fishing

The main solution is that fishing needs to be sustainable in order to restore the regions highly degraded marine environment, without negatively impacting Africans’ food security.

In South Africa, the WWF is doing a great job with their SASSI program. The goal is to improve fishing practices that are destructive to our oceans. This includes issues like illegal fishing, over-fishing, by-catch (the catch of species not intentionally targeted by fishers but harmed in the fishing process) and habitat destruction. Their system includes an advice pamphlet for the consumer to make the right choice once in the supermarket. By using a “traffic light” system, the colour-coded SASSI list categorizes selected South African and imported seafood species according to their conservation status.

This is happening now and here…it’s your choice to avoid repeating mistakes from the past today!

Posted on by HumanNatureScience

Academic Perseverance: the time I quit my PhD

By Ruenda Loots

Although many people want to know how long it takes to finish a PhD, the more important question is “What does it take to finish a PhD?” Perhaps the most significant characteristic of successful post-graduate researchers is grit. Sticking to it when everything comes undone. And sometimes, picking up the pieces and starting again.

When the going got tough
When the going got tough

Two years into my PhD and the only word that accurately described my research to date was “abysmal”. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a microbiologist. I knew the project would be mostly microbiology but it sounded like an exciting challenge! The novelty wore off very quickly and what looked exciting 12 months before became an insurmountable mountain of work.

The theory eluded me. I could barely frame research questions because my fundamental knowledge was lacking. I would read the introduction of an article and feel so overwhelmed by everything I didn’t know that I obsessively downloaded every reference in the article, which in turn led me to download even more articles until I had folders in folders of unread articles that were labelled NB, Must read and Very Important.

The practical work intimidated me. Never before was I concerned about a sterile workbench. I was so paranoid I used to mark a 20cm ring around my gas flame with masking tape so that I wouldn’t accidentally move outside The Clean Zone (but since I had two left-hands it didn’t help much). I melted a couple of latex gloves onto my fingers that year.

Days became months with no progress, months became semesters and each passing calendar page made me realise: I can’t do this. I prepared to give up.

Leaving my (dis)comfort zone

Toronto skyline (Pixabay)
Toronto skyline (Pixabay)

Then, at the end of Year Two, one of my supervisor’s collaborators invited me to visit his laboratory at Ryerson University. I would work closely with a post-doc to learn advanced microscopic techniques which were vital for my research. I was just married and had no desire to leave my new happiness behind but I had no alternatives for my ongoing academic despair so I boarded a plane to Toronto, Canada, for the two-week visit.

Reflecting on the experience three years later reveals how valuable it really was. I established great relationships (scientific and social). The post-doc (now a close friend) taught me with great patience how to use a fancy microscope and more importantly how to do the very basics I had struggled with for so long. There are things that books and articles can’t teach you – an encouraging, open-minded mentor is the only way.

Zen and the art of biofilm analysis

Toronto Harbour (Pixabay)
Toronto Harbour (Pixabay)

Every evening I strolled through the unfamiliar city. One night I found “The World’s Biggest Book Store” and bought a book that changed my scientific career in the most unexpected ways. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance crossed my path at exactly the right moment. This book’s explanation of the philosophy of science, using a motorcycle as metaphor, stirred a passion in me that had been lost in the years of “I can’t do this.”

The solutions all are simple… after you have arrived at them. But they’re simple only when you know already what they are”

On my last night in Toronto I wrote a letter to myself titled: You almost quit your PhD. I wrote down all the things that scared me about the PhD. I wrote down all the things I couldn’t do. I wrote down all the fears of failure. I returned to Cape Town and handed the sealed envelope to my husband.

“Give this to me on the day I graduate, okay?”

I will read it at the end of this year.