Biography:Nokwanda Makunga

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Short description: Professor of Biotechnology


Nokwanda Makunga
Alma materUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal
Scientific career
InstitutionsStellenbosch University
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Nokwanda Pearl (Nox) Makunga is a Professor of Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University.

Early life and education

Makunga grew up in Alice in the Eastern Cape, and attended a private boarding school in Grahamstown.[1] Her father, Oswald, was a botanist who specialised in the Iridaceae.[1] He grew up in rural poverty and won a scholarship to study at University of Fort Hare.[2] She attended university in Pietermaritzburg.[1] She completed her PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2004, working on the molecular biology of plants.[3]

Research and career

In 2005 Makunga was offered a position at Stellenbosch University. Her work looks to identify the molecular and genetic regulation of the secondary metabolism in medicinal plants.[4][5] She often travels to rural areas to talk to traditional healers.[6] She has a contributed to two books: Protocols for Somatic Embryogenesis in Woody plants and Floriculture, Ornamental and Plant Biotechnology: Advances and Topical Issues.[7][8] In 2010 she delivered a TED talk on the Potential of a Medicinal Wonderland.[9] She has acted as honorary secretary, Vice President and President of the South African Association of Botanists Council.[10]

She won the 2011 National Science and Technology Forum Distinguished Young Black Researcher award.[11] She also won the TW Kambule Award.[12] In 2017 she was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.[13] She worked with Jerry Cohen on medicinal plants from the Eastern Cape.[13][14] She studied the Stevia plant.[15] She holds a patent for vegetative plant propagation.[16]

Makunga is a passionate science communicator.[1][3] Together with Tanisha Williams and Beronda Montgomery, she leads the annual Black Botanists Week.[17]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nordling, Linda (2018-02-08). "How decolonization could reshape South African science" (in EN). Nature 554 (7691): 159–162. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01696-w. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 29420501. Bibcode: 2018Natur.554..159N. 
  2. ↑ Makunga, Nokwanda P. (2015). "Obituary Professor Oswald Hercules Daluxolo Makunga (1932–2013)". South African Journal of Botany 98: 161. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2015.03.001. https://sabotanyblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/makunga.pdf. Retrieved 6 July 2020. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "SAASTA getSETgo, May 2015: Meet live wire scientist and innovative science communicator - Prof. Nox Makunga". https://www.saasta.ac.za/getsetgo/issues/201505/10.php. 
  4. ↑ Makunga, Nokwanda P. (2011-09-14). "African medicinal flora in the limelight" (in en). South African Journal of Science 107 (9/10). doi:10.4102/sajs.v107i9/10.890. ISSN 1996-7489. https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/890. 
  5. ↑ "Prof. Nox Makunga" (in en). https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/science/botany-zoology/staff/academic-staff/nox-makunga. 
  6. ↑ "Indigenous traditions get science backing" (in en-US). WHYY. https://whyy.org/segments/indigenous-traditions-get-science-backing/. 
  7. ↑ Gupta, S. Mohan Jain and Pramod K., ed (2005). Protocol for somatic embryogenesis in woody plants. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 9781402029851. OCLC 262677669. 
  8. ↑ Floriculture, ornamental and plant biotechnology : advances and topical issues. Silva, Jaime A. Teixeira da.. Isleworth: Global Science Books. 2006. ISBN 490331300X. OCLC 75713050. 
  9. ↑ TEDx Talks (2010-11-20), TEDxStellenbosch - Nox Makunga - The Potential of a Medicinal Wonderland, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etpqj1w9mOw, retrieved 2018-07-21 
  10. ↑ "CBD Team" (in en). http://www.cbd.org.za/team/. 
  11. ↑ "NSTF-BHP Billiton Awards". 2011-05-27. http://www.nstf.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/10-Press-Release-Announcement_Final-DevV4.pdf. 
  12. ↑ Supplement, Advertorial. "Rewarding outstanding research" (in en). The M&G Online. https://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-27-rewarding-outstanding-research. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Nokwanda Pearl Makunga | Fulbright Scholar Program" (in en). https://www.cies.org/grantee/nokwanda-pearl-makunga. 
  14. ↑ Freund, Dana M.; Sammons, Katherine A.; Makunga, Nokwanda P.; Cohen, Jerry D.; Hegeman, Adrian D. (2018-06-21). "Leaf Spray Mass Spectrometry: A Rapid Ambient Ionization Technique to Directly Assess Metabolites from Plant Tissues". Journal of Visualized Experiments (136). doi:10.3791/57949. ISSN 1940-087X. PMID 29985332. 
  15. ↑ "Sweet Surprise - Good Housekeeping" (in en-US). Good Housekeeping. 2013-10-30. https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.za/health/sweet-surprize/. 
  16. ↑ Sustainable and industrial production of guaianolides based on organ tissue culture, 2017-02-02, https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2017144065A1/fi, retrieved 2018-07-21 
  17. ↑ "#BLACKBOTANISTSWEEK". https://blackbotanistsweek.weebly.com/. 



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