Mail & Guardian: RISE-SABINA's Pelly Malebe Wins Women in Science Fellowship from South Africa's Department of Science and Technology

Every year during August, coinciding with the nationwide celebration of women and their achievements, the department of science and technology (DST) hosts the South African Women in Science Awards (WISA) to recognise and reward the achievements of women scientists and researchers in South Africa.

The WISA finalists and winners are profiled as role models for younger women scientists and researchers, the aim being to dispel the myth that science is for men. The DST hopes that the achievements of the award winners will encourage other women to persevere in overcoming gender discrimination to contribute to research and knowledge generation.

We are sure that the finalists and winners will continue to develop the next generation of researchers by mentoring younger scientists, particularly women...Masixolise Pelly Malebe [of RISE-SABINA] graduated from the University of Pretoria with a BSc in human genetics and an MSc in biotechnology. She is currently enrolled at the University of Pretoria as a PhD candidate in biotechnology in the department of biochemistry. She worked as a teaching assistant during her honours and master’s studies and is a member of the Golden Key international honours society. Malebe’s curiosity as a young child led to her interest in science. She later realised that the answers to many of her questions could be found in genetics textbooks.

Full article on award winners is here (Pelly is on pages 7 and 8).