Molecular Ecology & Evolution Program

The Leslie Hill Laboratory located at the Kirstenbosch Research Centre in Cape Town is a shared facility for The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The labs' namesake, the late Leslie Hill, made a generous donation in the year 2000, making the establishment of this facility possible. The laboratory is the main facility for SANBI's Molecular Ecology and Evolution Program (MEEP). The laboratory also houses a national DNA bank for plants, and a tissue bank for South African reptiles in connection with the Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment .

MEEP Research

The Molecular Ecology and Evolution Program (MEEP) is concept based, where individual researchers work on various taxa with the goal of understanding the processes that have led to the evolution of biodiversity in Southern Africa. In addition, there is a strong taxonomic component where phylogenies generated by MEEP research are used in collaborative projects with researchers from other institutions to describe and catalogue South Africa 's fauna and flora.
The animal groups currently being investigated by MEEP staff and students are reptiles, amphibians, and wasps. Plant groups under investigation are Ficus, Cliva, and Leucodendron.

Staff

Molecular Ecology & Evolution Program for Animals
Dr Krystal Tolley (Animal Research Leader)
Dr John Measey
Dr Mike McLeish
Keshni Gopal
Lucas Chauke

Molecular Ecology & Evolution Program for Plants
Ferozah Conrad (Plant Research Leader)
Keshni Gopal (DNA Bank Manager)
Dr Mike McLeish
Dr Felix Forest

MEEP Students
Anne Braae
Kevin Hopkins
Darren Houniet
Jenny Underhill

Current Laboratory Projects

DNA Bank
Leopard Toads
SARCA (South African Reptile Conservation Assessment)
WaspWeb
FigWeb