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. Jonathan has identified the family of many aquatic insects from Malawi and Liberia and visited a wide variety of rivers and wetlands in the Western Cape. Most of his fieldwork in his first year involved assisting in the ecological monitoring component of the City of Cape Town’s Steenbras Wellfield project. Especially interested in fieldwork technology, Jonathan is increasingly involved in making summary maps with aerial imagery and in-field data. 

Jonathan has worked in a broad range of tasks and environments. His experiences before interning with Freshwater Consulting range from supervising a regenerative grazing plan in Northern Mozambique to conducting meerkat research in the Kalahari, as well as researching, maintaining and giving tours at the Stellenbosch University Botanical Gardens. Jonathan has now been actively expanding his expertise and field of view by participating in projects within Freshwater Consulting and attending webinars, such as those hosted by the South African Wetland Society. 

Formal education
BSc, Honours Equivalent (Conservation Ecology, Stellenbosch University) 

Specialisations
Freshwater macro-invertebrate identification, map-making, digital solutions 

Email: jonno@freshwaterconsulting.co.za  

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-saindon-b19b1a192