It’s one of the world’s most respected honours for research, and an accolade that will inspire young minds in biodiversity and conservation in SA.
Pretoria, South Africa (04 September 2025) – The University of Pretoria’s newly appointed Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, Professor Ara Monadjem, has just won the Royal Society Africa Prize.
It’s an incredible achievement!
Professor Monadjem is a biodiversity and conservation specialist who, for over three decades, has researched the ecology and conservation of African mammals and birds and how they fit into the bigger picture of our ecosystems. His work has focused on field-based studies to better understand our rare and threatened species and their roles in nature.
He’s travelled across Africa doing this work.
“Over the past 30 years, I have worked in remote locations across the African continent, including the rainforests of tropical Africa and the savannas of Southern and East Africa, including Madagascar. I also maintain long-term ecological field sites in Eswatini,” says Professor Monadjem, as per UP.
Monadjem has collaborated with great minds from around the world, with ties in Europe and the United States. He’s also a Courtesy Faculty member at the University of Florida and serves on the board of Global South Bats, a network connecting and supporting bat researchers across the developing world.
On 27 August, he landed the prestigious Royal Society Africa Prize, one of the world’s most respected honours for research, for the incredible work he has done and continues to do.
The Royal Society, which has celebrated scientific excellence since 1660, awards the Africa Prize each year to a researcher based on the continent who is making meaningful contributions to science.
Last year, Tunisian Professor Ali Baklouti received the award for his work on non-commutative harmonic analysis and geometry on homogeneous spaces.
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“I feel extremely honoured to have received this prize, which in effect is global recognition for the work I have done (and hope to continue doing in the future) in Africa. I believe that this prize will open doors for me, allowing me to extend the work that I am doing on the ecology of small mammals and their interactions with humans,” Prof Monadjem says.
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