Rashawe Modirwa Kgopong was born and raised in Limpopo province Seshego, the controversial township. On the whole, he is a Kasi guys who is a sport fanatic, especially athletics and soccer (Pirates fan big time). But he has always had an interest in nature and all its aspects. Academically, he received his degree in Botany and Zoology from the University of Vanda. Then he went on to obtain his Honours degree in the field of Mammalian ecology at the University of Limpopo. He was quite fascinated with the small mammal research working on rodents found in the Savannah biome.

 

Rashawe’s attention then shifted to Arthropods, which led him to overwintering on Marion Island voyage 96. Thanks to C.I.B (Center of Invasion Biology) and SANAP (South African National Programme), Rashawe found himself studying Collembola (Springtails) working under the supervision of Prof Steven L Chown and Dr Charlene Janion. Currently, Rashawe is an M.Sc. student under supervision of Prof Wossler in the University of Stellenbosch, working on the impact of invasive plant on springtail diversity on Marion Island. Now he is part of the WOSSup lab, which is by far the coolest group ever. Rashawe hopes one day to be a well-known biologist, working for wide arrange of companies and conserving plant and animals found in South Africa and the world at large.