Position
Associate Professor – Nature Conservation
Contact Information
Location
Nelson Mandela University (George Campus) Madiba Rd, Glenwood AH, George, 6529
Doctor of Philosophy (Biology, University of Kwazulu-Natal, ‘Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on African large herbivore assemblages and implications for their conservation’; 2009 – 2014
Master of Technology (Nature Conservation), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University The feeding ecology of buffalo (Syncerus caffer) on Doornkloof Nature Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa 2002-2006
Baccalaureus of Technology (Nature Conservation), Technikon Port Elizabeth Plant studies IV; Research methodology; Fresh water management IV; Conservation management I; Principles of management I; Resource management IV; 1998-1999
National Diploma (Nature Conservation), Technikon South Africa Plant studies I, II and III; Animal studies I, II and III; Conservation Ecology I, II and III; Resource Management I, II and III; Conservation Communication I and II; 1993-1996
From 2010-2018 I assisted in setting up and hosting a study abroad program called People and Parks South Africa (http://aeseda.psu.edu/programs/parks-and-people-south-africa/ ) for Pennsylvania State University and the University of Cape Town. The students spend 10 weeks in South Africa (January-March) on an annual basis. I was one of the South African field lecturers for the program and presented practical biodiversity surveys (where we physically conducted biodiversity inventory surveys on various protected areas) and since 2013 an introductory course to conservation in South Africa. This course (2 weeks) introduced students to South African ecological and biodiversity features as well as various protected area management models while traveling from Cape Town to their base (Wild Coast, Eastern Cape).
Since 2015. I have taught Animal Studies I/Game Health I & Animal Studies III/Game Science III to undergraduates (Diploma in Nature Conservation and Diploma in Game Ranch Management), Conservation Management and Plant Studies IV (BTech Nature Conservation), Game Science IV/Animal Studies IV (Advanced Diploma in Game Ranch Management & Advanced Diploma Nature Conservation) at Nelson Mandela University. In 2022 I was a Visiting lecturer at the Department Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Umea. Course work Masters degree, International Wildlife Management Module. Sweden-South Africa Erasmus ICM exchange program on wildlife ecology and management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
I have also been involved in Curriculum Development & Review at Nelson Mandela University since 2019, developing the new Advanced Diploma: Nature Conservation and BSc Honours: Natural Resource Management and am the team leader of the course development teams. In 2020 I was the chairman of the external review committee for UNISA’s Postgraduate Diploma: Nature Conservation and was an external reviewer for a new Diploma in Applied Natural Resource Management for the Southern African Wildlife College.
BALL, I.A., MARNEWECK, D.G., ELLIOT, N.B., GOPALASWAMY, A.M., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2023) Considerations on effort, precision and accuracy for long term monitoring of African lions (Panthera leo), when using Bayesian spatial explicit capture-recapture models, in fenced protected areas. Ecology & Evolution 13, e10291.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10291
SMITH, K., VENTER, J. A., PEEL, M., KEITH, M., & SOMERS, M. J. (2023). Temporal partitioning and the potential for avoidance behaviour within South African carnivore communities. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10380
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10380
BALL, I.A., MARNEWECK, D.G., ELLIOT, N.B., GOPALASWAMY, A.M., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2023) Considerations on effort, precision and accuracy for long term monitoring of African lions (Panthera leo), when using Bayesian spatial explicit capture-recapture models, in fenced protected areas. Ecology & Evolution 13, e10291.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10291
BERNARD, A., MOOLMAN, L., DE MORNEY, M.A., GUERBOIS, C., VENTER, J.A., FRITZ, H. (2023) Height related detection biases in camera trap surveys: Insights for combining data from various sources. Koedoe. 65(1), a1734.
https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v65i1.1734
STRYDOM, Z., WALLER, L.J., BROWN, M., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2022) The influence of nest location and the effect of predator removal on Cape Gannet egg predation by Kelp Gulls. Ostrich 93(2): 120-128.
https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2022.2110535
PARDO, L.E., SWANEPOEL, L., CURVEIRA-SANTOS, G., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2022) Habitat structure, not the anthropogenic context or large predators, shapes occupancy of a generalist mesopredator across protected areas in South Africa. Mammal Research 67: 265–278.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-022-00636-4
STRYDOM, Z., WALLER, L.J., BROWN, M., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2022) Factors that influence Cape fur seal predation on Cape gannets at Lambert’s Bay, South Africa. PeerJ 10:e13416
http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13416
JANSEN VAN VUUREN, A., FRITZ, H. & VENTER, J.A. (2022) Five small antelope species diets indicate different levels of anthrodependence in the Overberg Renosterveld, South Africa. African Journal of Ecology (Online)
https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.13030
BROOKE, C.F., MAREAN, C.W., WREN, C.D., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2022). Using functional groups to predict the spatial distribution of large herbivores on the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, South Africa during the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Quaternary Science, 1-13.
http://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3430
HONIBALL, T., SOMERS, M.J., FRITZ, H., VENTER, J.A. (2021) Feeding ecology of the large carnivore guild in Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa. African Journal of Wildlife Research 51: 153-165.
https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-wild2-v51-n1-a16
BROOKE, C.F., MAREAN, C.W., WREN, C.D., FRITZ, H. & VENTER, J.A. (2021). Retrodicting large herbivore biomass for the last glacial maximum on the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (South Africa) using modern ecological knowledge of African herbivore assemblages and rainfall. Quaternary Research. :1-15
https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2021.23
BURT, C., FRITZ, H., KEITH, M., GUERBOIS, C. & VENTER, J.A. (2021). Assessing different methods for measuring mammal diversity in two southern African arid ecosystems. Mammal Research 66: 313-326.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13364-021-00562-x
PARDO, L.E., BOMBACI, S., HUEBNER, S.E., SOMERS, M.J., FRITZ, H., DOWNS, C., GUTHMANN, A., HETEM, R.S., KEITH, M., LE ROUX, A., MGQATSA, N., PACKER, C., PALMER, M.S., PARKER, D.M., PEEL, M., SLOTOW, R., STRAUSS, W.M., SWANEPOEL, L., TAMBLING, C., TSIE, N., VERMEULEN, M., WILLI, M., JACHOWSKI, D., VENTER, J.A. (2021) Snapshot Safari: A large-scale collaborative to monitor Africa’s remarkable biodiversity. South African Journal of Science 117(1/2), Art. #8134.
https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/8134
YOUNG, C., FRITZ, H., SMITHWICK, E. & VENTER, J.A. (2020) Patch-scale selection patterns of grazing herbivores in the central basalt plains of Kruger National Park. African Journal of Range and Forage Science 37(3): 199-213.
https://doi.org/10.2989/10220119.2020.1733084
BROOKE, C.F., FORTIN, D., KRAAIJ, T., FRITZ, H., KALULE-SABITI, M.J., VENTER, J.A. (2020) Poaching impedes the selection of optimal post-fire forage in three large grazing herbivores. Biological Conservation 241(108393).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108393
VENTER, J.A., BROOKE, C.F., MAREAN, C.W., FRITZ, H., & HELM, C.W. (2020) Large mammals of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain showed resilience to extreme climate change but vulnerability to modern human impacts. Quaternary Science Reviews 235.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106050
YOUNG, C., FRITZ, H., SMITHWICK, E. & VENTER, J.A. (2020) The landscape-scale drivers of herbivore assemblage distribution on the central basalt plains of Kruger National Park. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 36(1):13-28.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-tropical-ecology/article/landscapescale-drivers-of-herbivore-assemblage-distribution-on-the-central-basalt-plains-of-kruger-national-park/54C8E4AB88E733F191700FD61FE6D011
