Lauren James

Lauren James is a young South African botanist, passionate about the natural world and understanding how the interactions between organisms and their environment have produced the biodiversity we have today.

Lauren started her university studies at Rhodes University where she obtained her BSc in botany and entomology, and Honours in botany. Here her botanical research focussed on pollination biology, leading to her studying bird-pollination, specifically, how different plant species are adapted to be pollinated by different types of birds.

After completing her Honours degree, Lauren was selected for an internship at the Compton Herbarium at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. This grew her interest in taxonomy and systematics and led to her persuading her Masters degree at the University of Cape Town, where she is studying the systematics and evolutionary ecology of daisies in the genus Osteospermum L. (Asteraceae).

Though particularly inspired by the rich floral diversity of South Africa, Lauren has great interest in all aspects of the natural world and is keen to learn more about birds.