Gold Medal winner 2009: S Chown  

    Friday, 04 September 2009

The President and Council

Zoological Society of Southern Africa

March 2009

As the Council will see from his CV, Steven Chown has already had a most remarkable career and made a significant impact in zoology both locally and globally. After the completion of his Ph.D. in 1989 at the University of Pretoria, he was immediately employed as a lecturer there in Zoology & Entomology. Here he rose rapidly through the academic ranks to the position of full professor in 1997. In 2001 he was attracted to Stellenbosch University as a Professor of Zoology, and three years later was awarded the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, a centre that soon developed an outstanding local and international reputation. This centre truly lives up to its name, a reputation that is largely a result of Professor Chown’s intellectual and administrative vision and leadership.

Steven Chown is a most remarkable biologist who not only explores detailed problems, but also has the ability to see the bigger picture. Furthermore, through his research he has shown the importance of integrating disciplines to further our understanding of biological processes. His research breadth is reflected in his publications. He has already published over 230 peer reviewed papers, in a staggering diversity of top international peer reviewed journals. He has, however, not neglected, at times, to support local journals. In addition he has contributed chapters to 21 scientific books as well as published two books. Professor Chown’s work is highly cited, and he has one of the highest H-factors (about 31) of any South African zoologist. It is therefore not surprising that he has been invited to present plenary and key note lectures (on a diversity of topics) at numerous international and local meetings and workshops. Despite his busy daily schedule, Steven Chown has still found time to be active at local meetings, where he has given his advice to numerous up and coming researchers. He has been a regular attendee at ZSSA meetings. Finally, he has often appeared in the media and in this way has been able to bring science to the attention of the general public. Most recently he has co-founded the Iimbovane Outreach Project under the auspices of the CIB (in conjunction with the Western Cape Education Department, the Darwin Initiative and researchers at the University of Sheffield). This is an outreach programme in schools in the Western Cape.

The excellence of his research has been recognized by both the University of Pretoria (Young Researcher of the Year, 1992; Outstanding Achiever, 2000-2001; Commemorative Research Medal, 2008) and University of Stellenbosch (Rector’s Award for Outstanding Research, 2003). He was also awarded the South African Antarctic Gold Medal in 1997 and the British Association Medal of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1999. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa in 2006. In 2004 he was awarded an A2-rating by the NRF, and more recently he has attained an  A1. He is therefore regarded as a World Leader by his international academic peers.

Over the years Professor Chown has made significant contribution to the training of a many zoologists having supervised 26 Masters and 17 PhD students (and there are many others on their way) as well as serving as mentor for numerous postdoctoral researchers. However, he has not neglected the development at an undergraduate level, and has taught numerous students in his ecology and physiology courses at both Pretoria and Stellenbosch.

Finally as his CV attests, Steven Chown is very active in scientific societies, serving as editor of two journals, and on the editorial board of 6 others. He is regularly asked to review papers for the top international publications. He is also active on a number of national and international committees.

Through his research and publications Steven Chown has undoubtedly raised the profile of South African zoology at a global level and he has established research links with many of the world’s zoological leaders. We believe that for his significant contributions to all spheres of zoological endeavour he richly deserves the Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of southern Africa. He is amongst the zoological elite.