Manana Dlangalala
Miss Manana Dlangalala is a PhD student in Plant Sciences at the University of Pretoria. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Honours degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Stellenbosch. Masters degree (cum laude) in Biotechnology at the University of Pretoria.
She is passionate about research that requires an integrated approach to food safety involving water quality, food microbiology, and public health. Her PhD research focuses on using the One health framework to assess the prevalence, characteristics and associations of foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in selected small-scale and commercial production environments involved in vegetable-pig production.
She has a strong technical background which is essential for the new era of food safety which requires both food and environmental microbiology to improve food safety. She believes that with her passion for science research and the communication of the research (bridging the gap between science and the general public) she will be able to use the skills and expertise to engage the general public around the topics of science, to encourage young individuals to pursue a career in science and to build public trust in science.