Reginald Christiaan

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Reginald Christiaan

 

Contact details:

Email: Reginald.Christiaan@gmail.com
Mobile: +27 79 3525099


Where am I from

South Africa


Languages

Afrikaans 1st
English 2nd


I live in

Soebatsfontein & Springbok, Northern Cape Province, South Africa


Current and previous works

Oct-Sept 2012: Namaqua National Park (Groenrivier, Coastal Section) Tourism Assistant

2011-2012: Internship with Conservation South Africa
(Springbok / South Africa)

2011: Internship at Ditsong National Museums of Natural History
(Pretoria / South Africa)

2002-2010: BIOTA Southern Africa as a para-ecologist
(Soebatsfontein / South Africa)


Type of work I do

Conservation South Africa:

  • Scorpion workshops (for more information see scorpion workshops website)
  • Weather stations installations
  • Downloading of data from weather stations
  • Capturing climate data
  • Co-ordinate participatory research activities in the Namakwa District with 15 EcoRangers on at least 1 communal farm, 4 private farms, and 1 national park
  • Collect, capture and analyse EcoRanger data from 15 EcoRangers
  • Communicate outcomes of data analysis to all research participants; all relevant CSA staff members; 2 meetings with local stakeholders; in 3 Veepos articles; and 1 article in a local newspaper.


BIOTA Southern Africa:

  • Assistant of BIOTA biologist researchers (since January 2002 till October 2004) and BIOTA Para-ecologist (October 2004 – April 2010):
  • Documentation of biodiversity data
  • Monitoring of plant phenology (monthly)
  • Downloading of data from automatic weather stations
  • Environmental awareness projects with school children


Ditsong National Museums of Natural History:

  • Curation and rebottling of Buthidae scorpions of the Lower Invertebrate collection
  • Sorting of spiders


My skills and expertise

Computer skills: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Power Point, Internet Explorer, email

Entering phenological plant data into MS Excel database

G.P.S (Global Positioning System)

Installment and maintenance of automatic weather stations

Monitoring and collection of plants and insects

Use of digital photo and video cameras

Taking of plant pictures for scientific purposes

Identification of plants and plant names

Ecology of succulents on quartz fields

Facilitation of workshops

Conflict management


Special interests

Habitat requirements of scorpions

Collecting and identifying scorpions

Habitat requirements of different plant species

Botany and photography


Ambitions and dreams

During my work in BIOTA as para-ecologist my interest in nature and natural science has been strongly fostered. My particular interest lies in the collecting and identification of scorpions. I have closely cooperated with Dr Lorenzo Prendini from the New York Museum of Natural History who kindly identified the specimens for us and incorporated them into his scientific collection, and in the near future I want to specialize in the identification of Southern African scorpions. The experience gained during the internship with ARC/Ditsong has further increased my need to want to learn more about these creatures. I hope to continue to build my relationships with the researchers at these institutes. I feel the next step will be to be employed at one of these institutes in order to learn more and possible expand my knowledge into research.


Publications

Christiaan, R (2005): Spinnekop Navorsing Begin. Namakwa Nasionale Park Nuusbrief 4 (2), p 17. PDF

Christiaan, R (2008): Nuwe navorsing onderweg in Matzikama. Ons Kontrei (4 April 2008), p. 2. PDF

Christiaan, R (2012): Skerpioene van die mediese belang in Suid Afrika. Die VeePos, Maart 2012, p 5. PDF

Interview with Reginald Christiaan in Kuier, 12 September 2012, p. 51. PDF

Christiaan R, Kotze D (2007): Para-ekoloe in jou omgewing.  Die Namakwalander, p 3. PDF

Schmiedel U, Christiaan RA (2005): An assessment of spider diversity in Soebatsfontein (Northern Cape Province) - A contribution to the understanding of the distribution and ecology of spiders in South Africa. Newsletter of the African Arachnological society 18: 8-9. PDF

Schmiedel U, Mtuleni VS, Christiaan RA, Isaacks RS, Kotze D, Lot MJ, Mukuya RS, Pieters W, Swartbooi J, Swartbooi S (2010): The BIOTA para-ecologist programme towards capacity development and knowledge exchange. In: Schmiedel U, Jürgens, N. (ed) Biodiversity in southern Africa. Volume 2: Patterns and processes at regional scale. Klaus Hess Publishers, Göttingen & Windhoek, pp 319–325. PDF (1.313 KB)


Contact for references

Dr. Ute Schmiedel (para-ecologist programme coordinator and supervisor since 2003)
Biocentre Klein Flottbek & Botanical Garden
University of Hamburg
Ohnhorststrasse 18
D-22609 Hamburg
Tel. +49 - (0)40 - 42816-548
Fax +49 - (0)40 - 42816-539
Email: Ute.Schmiedel@uni-hamburg.de


Ronald Newman (Conservation South Africa, Manager, Namaqualand Green Economic Demonstration)
Conservation South Africa
Springbok
Tel: +27 27 718 1577
Email: r.newman@conservation.org


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soil sampling

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See also Reginald Christiaan's scorpion workshops


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