Jenny Underhill

Contact details
underhill@sanbi.org

Leslie Hill Molecular Systematics Laboratory
Kirstenbosch Research Centre
South African National Biodiversity Institute
P/Bag X7
Claremont 7735
South Africa

Tel +27-(0)21-799-8726

Background

Jenny completed her BSc (Hons) degree in 2004 at the University of Cape Town. Prior to starting her MSc, she took a gap year in 2005, and gained experience on various research projects. She spent five weeks at sea on a Norwegian research ship, seven weeks on a tiny Scottish island observing colonial seabird breeding behaviour and two months working at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology, in Andechs, Bavaria, before traveling for some months in Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

Jenny returned to Cape Town at the end of 2005 to start her MSc with supervisors Dr Krystal Tolley (SANBI), Dr Simon van Noort (South Africa Museum) and Prof Terry Hedderson (UCT). She is registered in the Department of Botany at the University of Cape Town but is based at the Leslie Hill Molecular Systematics Laboratory at SANBI and is funded through a South African Biosystematics Initiative (SABI) MSc scholarship.

Her project is focused on understanding the molecular systematics and coevolution of pollinating fig wasps and non-pollinating sycoecine fig wasps and their host fig trees. This plant-insect interaction is one of the most specialised obligate pollination mutualisms known and it is a fascinating model for studying coevolution and cospeciation.

Recently, Jenny has been awarded a travel grant from the UCT Postgraduate Funding Office that will enable her to spend three months in Montpellier, France where she will complete a section of the molecular laboratory work for her MSc project under the guidance of Dr Jean-Yves Rasplus, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Montferrier-sur-lez. This research visit will take place from October 2006.