Personal Details

Dr Wendy Stone

Languages: English, Afrikaans

Birth Date: 05-07-1986

Professional Experience: 15+ Years

Please feel free to reach out to me:

Phone: +27 (63) 348 5727

Email: wstone@sun.ac.za

Address: 107 Prinspark, 28 Dr Malan Road, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa

Fields of Interest

Waste Remediation

Soil and Water Quality

Conservation

Systems Complexity & Science Communication

Ecology in Agricultural & Urban Development

Governance & Management

CUrrent roles

Co-Director of a Non-Profit Company, Return on Ecology

Water Use Licencing Consultant to Agrifusion (Pty) Ltd.

Extraordinary Lecturer, Department of Soil Sciences, Stellenbosch University

Central Concept: Health

I am drawn to a career that explores the slow and consistent work of health, currently focusing on 

• Communal health

• Relational health

• Soil, Water and Environmental health 

I am interested in the concepts of commitment and place, and the longevity of science and teaching. One of the first book chapters I co-authored during my PhD with Prof Gideon Wolfaardt was on microbial metabolism in deep geological environments [1]. It began a journey with rhythms and time. I am increasingly convinced of the extraordinary amount of time and the small, incremental relational shifts that are necessary to truly steward our society well, and generate research that more accurately reflects the rhythms of nature and urban development. I am also increasingly interested in leveraging data more effectively, through collaboration and inspiration, rather than performance and deliverables. 

Thus, I work with a focus on relationships: 

1. between faculties — I  have worked deep within the fields of engineering, soil science, sustainability, agriculture, physiology, policy and law (see Projects and References, as well as over 35 collaborative publications), from the foundation of water and soil quality, waste management and microbiology.

2. between organisations, including governance, business and academia — I have worked closely with municipal, national and city governance (Agricultural Research Council, Water Research Council, City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch Municipality), as well as in a consultancy (project manager for C4Ecosolutions), and in multiple academic organisations, both local and international (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada). It has been my priority to maintain these relationships, irrespective of my next career move.

3. between demographics —  I am interested in the perspectives brought to research from outside academia, between age groups, demographic and cultural groups, and between those who have access to resources and those who don't.

4. between funders and those executing the work — I am interested in creating long-term footprints with funded projects, and doing so in partnership with those offering funding. Many of my previous experiences were limited by the jarring effect of short-term projects.

5. from the perspective of business development — I was privileged to meet a team of people willing to build a long-term platform together, in the form of a Non-Profit Company, from which to build these long-term relationships. See Return on Ecology for more details. I am a co-Director. 

6. from the perspective of fractional work — I am currently consulting to multiple organisations, all in support of the Return on Ecology ethos, including as project manager for the Water Use Licensing branch of Agrifusion.

SKills Snapshot

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

Project Management (Academic and Corporate Consultancy)

Science Communication

Collaborative Governance

Mobilising Finance

Project Development

Financial Planning

Teaching (Undergraduate, Postgraduate)

Business Development

Agricultural Water Use Licencing (eWULAAS)

TECHNICAL

Molecular Biology and Microscopy

PCR (qPCR, RT-PCR, nested PCR)

DNA Sequencing (Submission and Interpreting)

Whole-Sample Microbial Diversity: BIOLOG, ARISA, PLFA, FISH

Soil and Water Quality

Standards (SANS241, WRC Guidelines for Soil Quality and Waste Remediation)

Standard Culturing Techniques (MPN, Selective and Differential Culturing)

Standardised Commercial Applications (Colilert Testing via DST)

Chemistry

Water: pH, EC, COD, N, P, K, Hardness, and Other Standard Parameters

Soil: N, P, K, pH, EC, and Other Standard Parameters

Carbon Sequestration Measurements

Pharmaceuticals and Persistent Organic Pollutants: LCMS, GCMS, Microplastics

Ecotoxicity assays: Vibrio fischerii, Algae, Daphnia, Seed Germination, and Collaborative Cancer Assays with Physiological Experts