First for doctoral student

Milestone: Mao Angua Amis won third prize for his presentation at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology in Port Elizabeth.

PhD student Mao Angua Amis set a new milestone by becoming the first student from Africa to win an award from the international Society for Conservation Biology (SCB).

Amis picked up third prize in the category for best student presentation at the society's 21st Annual Meeting, held in Port Elizabeth from 1-5 July. The meeting, which attracted about 1 600 delegates, was the society's first in Africa.

In his presentation, Amis, of the Freshwater Research Unit in the Department of Zoology, argued that freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems must be integrated in identifying priority areas for conserving biodiversity. This could be achieved by ensuring that areas where freshwater and terrestrial priorities overlap are selected preferentially.

"Freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems are being regarded as if they are mutually exclusive," explains Amis, "but these systems are intricately connected, and their linkages are critical for sustaining biodiversity in both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems."

Amis pocketed a cash prize, books and journal subscriptions for his presentation.