For nearly three decades, the BOT SOC Free State Branch has been closely connected with the University of the Free State. It started when well-known botanist, Prof Van Zinderen-Bakker, served as a branch committee member. While retired at the time, he had a long history with the university, serving as professor of the botany department.

By the mid-1990’s our branch started awarding annual prizes to botany students at the university. At first prizes were awarded to undergraduate students in their second and third year respectively, as well as the best student in the botany honours course. And we have continued this practice ever since.

For most of this time, our prize winners received BOT SOC memberships – firstly covered by the BOT SOC SA and later by our branch.

The university’s botany department chooses the winners – and prizes are awarded during the annual academic prize-giving ceremony. Student recipients then join a little function at a restaurant in the Free State national botanical garden after the prize giving to meet our committee and chat about BOT SOC’s role and how students can get involved in our activities. The garden manager is an ex officio member of our committee, and joins these get-togethers, allowing students to learn about the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

Why offer the students a BOT SOC membership as the prize?

As a branch committee, we believed this prize would put BOT SOC on the agenda at the university’s botany department and so raise interest in our organisation with both academic staff and the student body.

But 25 years later – can we say we benefited from this initiative?

The answer is not as straightforward as it might seem. We never saw much student participation at a branch level. Botany is a very wide field in the academic world. Few students are genuinely interested in the taxonomic side of plant sciences – the very foundation on which our understanding and appreciation of indigenous flora depends.

Instead, most students choose the applied side of plant science – where most job opportunities are found – in fields like agriculture, crop production, plant breeding, genetics and plant pathology. In fact, the university has acknowledged this challenge and decided that, starting in 2025, the BOT SOC prizes will be awarded for excellence in the more strictly botanical areas of the curriculum.

Despite this, we believe we have successfully planted valuable seeds of conservation and appreciation for our indigenous vegetation. Standing in the dry Highveld grassland, we see that even in this harsh biome, seeds find a way to germinate and flourish – often exceeding our expectations.

Two former students – both prize winners – are now professional botanists. They shared their stories with us.

Dr Jan-Hendrik Keet

Jan-Hendrik, a recipient of the best honours student prize, served on our branch committee from 2013 to 2015. He finished his MSc in botany at the Free State University and then moved to Stellenbosch University where he completed his PhD. Afterwards, he completed postdoctoral studies, first at the Centre for Invasion Biology with Dave Richardson, and then at the Department of Mathematical Sciences under Cang Hui.

He then established his own company, EcoFloristix Specialist Botanical Surveys of which he is the director. Here he fulfils many roles, from research to specialist studies for environmental impact assessments and invasive plant species management.Jan-Hendrik was an active branch committee member. He already had a phenomenal knowledge of our indigenous flora. Added to that, he is a keen photographer and as such had built up a photographic record of plants growing and flowering in the Free State.

Jan-Hendrik keenly shared his knowledge. He was also a keen grower of indigenous plants from seeds he personally collected all over the country. He even donated his nursery to the branch when he moved to Stellenbosch, allowing us to sell them at our annual plant sale with SANBI. Today I even have several of his plants growing in my own garden! He keeps lively contact with our branch and helps us on our WhatsApp platform, identifying plants from the pictures members and other participants place on the group.

In his own words

Jan-Hendrik writes: “The membership I received from BOT SOC in Bloemfontein definitely had a big impact. I often presented at our meetings on a diversity of topics, including invasive alien species, a photographic celebration of Free State flowers, and even a Know-Your series, which included grasses, bulbs, succulents and trees of the Bloemfontein area. I love sharing my botanical and environmental knowledge and believe that it is one way to inspire others.. I still apply this as much as I can in my work.”

What did he enjoy about being a BOT SOC member? He says, “Plant blindness is becoming an ever-increasing reality. This was not so at BOT SOC. The fervour for plants and the environment was always high, no matter how big or small, bright or dull a flower. This is what I enjoyed the most: to be able to botanise with likeminded people.”

Emma Ferreira-Swanepoel

Emma received the prize for the best honours student in botany in 2020. She served on our branch committee from 2021 to May 2025. However, having a baby made the demands of the job just a bit too much to manage alongside committee work. But she remains an active member of the branch.

Emma writes: “Before becoming the recipient of this award, I was unaware of the Botanical Society and its impact on conservation. Yet, I had unknowingly attended a plant sale hosted by the branch the year before. While on the committee, I championed the Bloemfontein Great Southern Bioblitz and City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist. We have opted to include all of the Free State in these events going forward, and I am still volunteering to champion these despite leaving the committee.

“Towards the end of my academic career, I joined an environmental firm as their junior botanist. Today, I am their primary ecologist. Here I have contributed my findings to roughly 40 development projects. We work hand-in-hand with conservation authorities to aid sustainable development.”

Emma not only drives the two blitzes, but is also a lively participant on our WhatsApp group, assisting in plant identification together with Jan-Hendrik.