Meet the Team

Dr Justine Ewart-Smith is a freshwater ecologist with 24 years of experience in the assessment and evaluation of aquatic ecosystems.  Her experience ranges from specialist input into biomonitoring, environmental assessments and situation assessments, to EFlows studies in southern Africa and further afield. Justine completed a PhD in periphyton communities on the effects of flow and nutrient changes in riverine ecosystems.

Kate graduated with an MSc in freshwater ecology from the University of Cape Town in 1998, and is a registered professional ecologist with the South African Council for Natural Science Professions (SACNASP). Her specialist skills lie in the areas of wetland and river ecology, freshwater macroinvertebrate identification and analysis, biomonitoring, wetland mapping and classification, conservation planning for the aquatic environment, and urban river and wetland management and rehabilitation. 

Philip Frenzel is a freshwater ecologist with 6 years of experience in the field of freshwater ecology. His experience ranges across numerous fields and includes specialist input into biomonitoring, impact assessments, rehabilitation planning, management and maintenance plans, ecological and water quality monitoring, water use authorisations and research.

Justin is ecologist with over 10 years of research experience in South Africa. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town and has spent three years as a post-doctoral research fellow, investigating climate-coupling and groundwater dependence in terrestrial and semi-aquatic ecosystems.

Janette joined Freshwater Consulting as an office administrator in 2018.  She has almost two decades of professional experience in various roles including data capture, website maintenance, office administration, bookkeeping, accounting software and software development, and she also owned her own small business for 5 years.

 Stuart loves being in soggy landscapes, trying to understand why they exist and how they function.  He obtained a Master’s degree in Conservation Ecology at Stellenbosch University. His thesis studied the recovery of indigenous fish populations following the removal of alien fish from the Rondegat River in the Cederberg.

Jonathan joined Freshwater Consulting in 2023 through the two-year DSI-HSRC Internship Programme. At Freshwater Consulting, he has spent much of his time collecting and collating fieldwork data for multivariate analysis and maps.