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About Us

The Departments of Botany and Zoology of the University of the Witwatersrand were founded in 1917 as part of the South African School of Mines and Technology. At that time their main function was to provide instruction for thirty eight students of medicine and dentistry. Today, we are known as the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences (APES). In our 100 year history we have taught tens of thousands of students, many who have gone on to become leaders in climate change, conservation, journalism, tourism, and education and medicine; in addition, more than 12,500 first year medical students have been taught by our staff - including Sydney Brenner, the 2002 Nobel prize winner in Physiology or Medicine. 

Teaching in the School

The Biology of a Changing World: Conserving African Biodiversity

Our studies focus at the level of living things and their interaction with the environment. Areas of specialisation include savannas, grasslands and aquatic biology, focusing on biodiversity, sustainable resources and range limitation, ecology and the behaviour of a diverse range of animals, biocontrol, conservation, restoration, ecophysiology, systematics & taxonomy, and evolutionary biology.

Yellow Mongoose copyright Ashadee Kay Miller
Yellow Mongoose
Marine life at night copyright Sipho Matjebe
Marine Life at night
Wild hibiscus flower copyright Hiral Naik
Wild hibiscus flower
Brown backed tree frog copyright Shivan Parusnath
Brown backed tree frog
Blue swallowtail butterfly copyright Wesley Hattingh
Blue Swallowtail butterfly
African Grass Owl chicks copyright Tyrone Brent
African Grass Owl chicks
Gecko copyright Shivan Parusnath
Ghecko
Spotted Hyena cub copyright Lindy Wolhuter
Spotted Hyena cub
Spiral aloe copyright Bevan Keith Dell
Spiral Aloe
longhorn-beetle copyright Wade Stanton Jones
Longhorn beetle
Plant art copyright Dyani Jeram
Plant art
Pied Kingfisher copyright Shana Sequeira
Pied Kingfisher
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