Curriculum vitae
Personal details
|
Title(s), first name(s), surname:
|
Dr Irma Cornelia Knevel
|
|
Gender:
|
Female
|
|
Date and place of birth:
|
06-09-1968
, Ermelo, The Netherlands
|
|
Nationality:
|
Dutch
|
Master's thesis
|
August 1990 to August 1996
|
University
of
Groningen
,
Groningen
, The
Netherlands
|
|
First project:
|
Genetic variability of ground beetle populations from fragmented habitats.
From March 1994-March 1995 with the Department of Population Genetics, University of Groningen (NL) in co-operation with the University of Wageningen (NL).
|
|
Second project:
|
Soil nutrient input effects on seed longevity of fen-meadow species.
From March 1995-February 1996 with the Laboratory of Plant Ecology (
University
of
Groningen
, NL) and the Institute for Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER,
Okehampton
,
UK
). This research was part of the EC programme on extensive management of grassland and the impact on conservation of biological resources and farm output (EGRO).
|
Doctorate thesis
|
March 1998 to April 2002
|
University
,
Grahamstown
,
South Africa
|
|
Title of thesis
|
The life history of selected coastal foredune species of
South Africa
.
Under supervision ofProf. Dr. Roy A. Lubke. The work was part of the EC programme INVASS on invasive grass species in southern
Africa
.
|
Work experience
October 2002- November 2005:
Research grant
Combined postdoc position with the Community and Conservation Ecology group of the
University
of
Groningen
(NL - researcher) and the Landscape Ecology group of the
University
of
Oldenburg
(DE - Administrative co-ordinator) within the European database project LEDA. The focus of the project is to build a Traitbase oflife history traits of Northwest European plant species.
June 2002- August 2002:
Vegetation recordings for Department of Plant Science, Oxford University (UK) and the Netherlands Ecological Institute, Heteren (NL).
March 2001-May 2002:
Gold medal research grant BP Conservation programme
Co-ordinator of the project REFYN: Restoration of Grassy fynbos in
South Africa
.
March 1998-February 2002:
Research grant
PhD student at
Rhodes
University
, Grahamstown (
South Africa
). This research was part of the European Commission INCO-DC programme on invasive grass species (INVASS). The research focussed on the life history of coastal foredune plants in
South Africa
.
September 1997-January 1998:
Research grant
Centre for Environmental Research in
Halle-Leipzig
,
Germany
- Four-month project with Dr Stefan Klotz on the role of different seed attributes in predicting seed longevity.
Grant applications awarded
REFYN project
(March 2001-May 2002) – Project funded by BP Conservation programme
golden award for 2001, rewarded for research on conservation of areas of international importance. The BP Conservation programme supports and encourage conservation projects that address global conservation priorities at a local level. The research of the project focussed on the restoration of grassy Fynbos (REFYN) in the
Eastern Cape
,
South Africa
. Grassy fynbos is the most neglected fynbos type of the
Cape
Floral
Kingdom
where endemic species are under threat of alien invasion, overgrazing, poor fire management, development and erosion. The project was carried out with a team of graduate and undergraduate students.
Organisation of conferences
Science Festival
(March 2000, 2001, 2002)
Every year Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa) hosts the national Science Festival (SciFest) for (future) students in to show them career options in science in general. Every year an interactive displays were developed to inform the (future) students, together with field excursions, about important conservation and environmental issues.
SAAB Conference
Involvement in the organisation and registration of the South African Association ofBotanist Conference when it was hosted in Grahamstown in January 2002.
Paper reviewing
Reviewed papers for the journals Functional Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Applied Vegetation Science, Basic and Applied Ecology, Plant and Soil, South African Journal of Botany.
