School of Life Sciences

Dr Caswell Munyai

Senior Lecturer

Dr Caswell Munyai is a Senior Lecturer teaching and conducting research on invertebrate biology and an NRF-rated scientist with almost a decade experience in teaching and research in the discipline.

He has published various peer-review research articles both in national and international journals and has presented over 90 papers in both local and international conferences.

Dr Munyai has successfully supervised (to completion) eleven Honours, fifteen MSc and two PhD students between 2016 and 2021. His lab conducts research in various invertebrate biology topics including community ecology, the impacts of alien invasive plants and their biological control. Most of his students are now documenting biodiversity response to land-use change and related effects across South Africa.

Dr Munyai has contributed to studies documenting diversity patterns along elevational gradients across the world and more recently he has had a keen interest in Entomophagy in Africa.

Research interests

  • Ant systematics and taxonomy
  • Determinants of ant diversity across environmental gradients and various land-uses
  • The role of competition in shaping communities
  • The roles of spatial and environmental factors in shaping communities across gradients
  • Entomophagy
  • Biological control

Research profiles