Dr Hannes Erasmus

Dr Hannes Erasmus has always been intrigued by how contaminants affect aquatic ecosystems and the biota living in these systems. Since South Africa has several mining activities and mineral extraction processes, the aquatic ecosystems normally in the vicinity of these activities are under threat. During his career, he focused on the effects of gold mining activities on freshwater systems, the exposure and effects of platinum mining on aquatic ecosystems, and on assessing the exposure and effects of mercury on aquatic ecosystems across South Africa. Since South Africa is considered as one of the top ten emitters of mercury in the world, he continued with a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the North-West University, South Africa on how mercury is entering aquatic ecosystems and how this pollutant affects biota on different trophic levels. This research was funded as a Scarce Skills Postdoctoral Fellowship from the NRF for 2022—2023. Over the last eight years, he has published 15 peerreviewed articles in high-impact journals including Science of the Total Environment and Parasitology Research. He also supervised 10 Honours and two Master’s students and is currently supervising another four Master’s students. Dr Erasmus also received a special appointment as an Associate Professor at the University of Hokkaido (Japan) for four months in 2024.