Dr Ethel E Phiri, Lecturer, Stellenbosch University.
Dr Phiri’s current research is based at the Department of Agronomy (Faculty of AgriSciences), where she focuses on orphaned (neglected and underutilised) crops. She also has vested interests in promoting Africa as a research forward continent.
Dr Phiri has 12 published manuscripts (some in high impact factor journals) - see her GoogleScholar profile: https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=nPJhEDMAAAAJ&hl=en, and has had several prestigious awards and recognitions listed below:
- Awarded the South African Association for the Advancement of Science bronze medal for the best MSc study for 2008.
- Lifetime member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, which recognizes the top 15% of students at various universities around the world.
- Selected as the Mail & Guardian's (newspaper) "200 young South Africans you must take to lunch" for 2010 (http://mg.co.za/article/2010-06-11-200-young-south-africans-science-education).
- Dr Phiri is dedicated to education and aspires to inspire the youth about the importance of being passionate about what one does (http://mg.co.za/article/2012-02-15-a-passion-for-research).
- In 2013 she was invited to be a guest at the Franschhoek Literary Festival to inspire secondary school learners about choosing science as a career (http://www.flf.co.za/index.php/programme).
- In 2014 she was nominee and finalist in the Young South African of the Year a sub-category of the prestigious South African of the Year Awards (http://themediaonline.co.za/2014/08/ann7-announces-south-african-of-the-year-nominees/
She is also an NRF funded researcher.