Value of Natural Science Collections Webinar Series | The Fight against Pests and Diseases

The Natural Science Collection Facility (NSCF) is proud to bring you this second edition of a series of digital showcases and webinars depicting the irreplaceable value of South African natural science collections to science and society. The showcase linked to this webinar can be found here.

Accurate identification of biological specimens, which is one of the services offered by natural science collections, feed into decision-making related to pest and disease control in agriculture, this includes which pest management strategy to implement or pesticide to use. This impacts on farmers at all scales, subsistence to large scale commercial, as well as the Department of Agriculture in the case of national risks.

Natural science collections also contribute to protecting human health through research into zoonotic diseases carried by pests that can spill over to humans, and contributing to management plans to reduce the pest populations.

You can look forward to the following talks:

Iziko Entomology Collection
Simon van Noort
Iziko Museums of South Africa

ARC National Collection of Insects
Robin Lyle
Agricultural Research Council

DNSM Mammalogy Department
Leigh Richards
Durban Natural Science Museum