
Cath Flanagan
Honours student
I completed my undergraduate at Rhodes University in 2020 and used the following two years to explore the job market. I worked in a range of businesses from plant tissue to biological control, and beekeeping in South Africa, Germany, and Zimbabwe. I am now an Honour’s student in the CL•I•M•E lab at Stellenbosch University. My project aims to monitor the colour phenotype of the invasive ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis in the field and assess its variation between sexes and across seasons. The data from this project will enhance our understanding of developmental plasticity of melanisation in insects and the factors that mediate it.
In my free time, I will normally be in the mountains or on the beach, which is half the reason I think I am so passionate about nature. My motto for life is to give back more than I take, and I think being in academics and doing research can help achieve this.