Chad Keates Archives
I have lived in Eagle Canyon Since its inception all the one back in 2005. A lot has changed since then and while many species have been forced out by the continuous development, due to habitat loss, many species have remained and can still be found to this day. Although the large expanses of open veld are all but absent from the estate, there still are a few spots where wildlife thrives,… Read More
Today I received my samples back from their holiday in Amsterdam, and I am happy to announce that all but one sample worked. The samples from today coupled with the samples I received last month amount to 75 successfully sequenced samples to date. These samples, which comprise four genes, make up a large proportion of my sample set and thus represent a massive step forward in the completion of my thesis. But… Read More
I am roughly six months into my Master’s and this is my second post on the subject. Although I am not overly proud of my Msc coverage on the website, I am rather ‘chuffed’ with my research progress to date. My genetic samples are ‘amplifying’ and better yet, they are translating into clean, usable sequences, that I can move forward with. To put the previous sentence bluntly, my genetics are working and… Read More
Following our trip to the Transkei , Werner Conradie, Luke kemp and I departed for the biennial Herpetological Association of Africa (HAA) conference in Hluhluwe, Kwazulu Natal. We spent the night of the 22nd of January in my cousins beach house in Umhlanga and the next day we departed for Hluhluwe after a quick stop at Ushaka International Airport, to pick up Professor Bill Branch (World-renowned African herpetologist) and Ninda Baptiste (Angolan herpetologist)…. Read More
Text adapted from trip report completed by Luke Kemp and I last month . Purpose of trip Recently Luke kemp and I joined a data collecting trip in the Transkei forested region as part of an ongoing study, spearheaded by Stellenbosch University. There were many teams studying many facets of forest ecology but we, Werner Conradie (Head Herpetologist at Bayworld Museum) and Theo Busschau (MSc student at Stellenbosch University) were tasked with collecting herpetological… Read More
Recently Luke Kemp and I ventured to the Northern Cape in search of some of South Africa’s most insane herps. Although we did not find everything we set out to find, we found a lot and had a great time doing it. The trip was filled with some memorable moments and some even more remarkable finds. Thanks Luke for making it such an adventure, and easily the best herping trip I have have done in… Read More
Chad Keates 