Dr Helen James (Pr. Sci. Nat.)
Tel: 046 622 2312
Email: h.james@am.org.za; h.james@ru.ac.za
Education:
Ph.D.Freshwater Entomology - Systematics, phylogenetics and historical biogeography. Rhodes University, Makhanda, (Grahamstown). South Africa.
BSc (Hons.) Entomology - Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown).South Africa.
BSc Entomology and Plant Sciences - Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown).South Africa.
Professional Profile
Dr Helen James is the current head of the Department of Freshwater Invertebrates. She oversees the curation of the collection, which is expanding at a rate of over 10000 specimens annually and currently stands at over 2.5 million specimens. Her research focus is in on the systematics and biogeography of Ephemeroptera (mayflies), an ancient lineage of aquatic insects. In addition to research and collection management, she is involved in outreach and teaching programs. She teaches aquatic entomology and biodiversity at undergraduate level at Rhodes University and supervises post graduate student projectsup to PhD level. The department is actively involved in outreach to school groups too. Helen is also the Eastern Capeaccreditor who assesses the practitioners who participate in the river ecosystem health biomonitoring program (South African Scoring System, version 5 - SASS5). She is a founding member of AFRESH (African Freshwater Entomology workshops); Board Member of the Freshwater Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology; member of Africa Insect Atlasing project; a member of the Okavango Wilderness Project; Member of the Southern African Association of Aquatic Scientists (SASAqs), the Entomology Society of South Africa, The Freshwater Biological Association (Windemere, UK); member of coordinating committee of the Natural Science Collections Facility (NSCF).