Hayley Cawthra

I am a South African marine geologist employed as a Specialist Scientist at the Council for Geoscience where I coordinate our national seafloor mapping programme, and a research associate in the Nelson Mandela University African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience. My academic interests include the study of past (Pleistocene) sea levels, hydroacoustic mapping of continental shelves, reconstructing now-submerged and extinct landscapes, and applications of palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment to better understand human use of ancient coasts. I also work on ocean policy, coastal vulnerability and geohazards in a South African context.

My first degrees in geological science (B.Sc., B.Sc. Honours, M.Sc.) were studied the University of KwaZulu-Natal and I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town. I conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Bremen Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM) in Germany and have worked at the Council for Geoscience since 2007, throughout my academic and professional career.