Alexandra Howard

Alexandra Howard’s passion for biology was nurtured from a young age by family members, mentors and friends. She fondly remembers gifts of cameras and binoculars from family members who encouraged her curiosity by buying her science-based books and magazines. 

After completing a BSc in Zoology, she went on to complete an Honours and Masters at the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, where she discovered her passion for bats. After completing an NRF internship and working with a number of NGOs, Alexandra was offered a scholarship for - and commenced work on - a PhD at the University of the Free State under the supervision of Prof Peter Taylor. It is here where she is researching the diversity and potential ecosystem services provided by insectivorous bats on the apple farms of central South Africa.

By examining the diversity of insect-eating bats - what they eat as well as their acoustic activity - Alexandra aims to investigate the use of bats as a potential alternative method to the heavy use of insecticides.

There is an increasing pressure from countries and regions such as the European Union to which fruit is exported to reduce the use of pesticide chemicals, which has had an effect on the export market economy.  Not only will this research further sustainable farming management practices, but will also provide an excellent baseline knowledge for bat conservation strategies in the region.

Alexandra feels that there is a need to better connect ecological research and agriculture, and hopes that her research will assist farmers across the region to apply more sustainable and cost-effective agricultural solutions, celebrating the importance of bats as a critical component in our biodiversity, raising public awareness and providing to counteract the persecution and misplaced public fears emphasized by COVID-19. This research could also be pivotal in developing a human-bat conflict resolution model for bat house citizen science programmes.

Alexandra was the recipient of the 2022 African Research Fellowship from the American Society of Mammologists as well as the 2023 Student Research Scholarship from Bat Conservation International.  She has also qualified for the NRF-DAAD Scholarship in 2023. Her project has been well received by the fruit producers and she has twice been invited to present it to the Highveld Apple Symposium.

Not one to let increasing bureaucracy and red tape surrounding permits hinder her research, Alexandra is actively engaging with stakeholders to improve the challenging circumstances she and many other researchers frequently encounter.

 

A valiant crusader against sexism in the sciences, Alexandra is passionate about achieving representation for female scientists across all levels of academia. She encourages young female scientists to follow their passion, to be curious, explore, try, fail, question, even accidently drop lab equipment — but to persevere in the face of challenges and to find their niche in the broad discipline known as science.  Her advice is to remember that, “For every person who says no, there are other people who will enthusiastically say ‘Yes’, help you and support your dream!”

Alexandra has been blessed with incredible mentors and friends who have helped her immensely along her journey and believes that having the sense of a supportive zoology community has got her through the numerous times that personal and professional obstacles threatened to derail her scientific career.

Building on her successes, hard work and experience, Alexandra hopes to find ways to bridge the gap between science and society.  “I want to enable better collaborations between academics, citizens, conservation NGOs, government sectors and students, as we all need to work together to address this biodiversity crisis we’re facing.”