Mr Ashley S. Johnson
Director: Biodiversity & Ecosystems Research
Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism
Branch: Marine & Coastal Management
Cape Town

My tertiary education started at the University of Cape Town where I specialised, at a post-graduate level, in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences as well as Ocean Physics up to a level of Master of Science. I joined the Department as a junior scientist in oceanography around 1995, studying ocean and atmospheric interactions.

Due to collaboration between SA and France on marine research, I received funding from the French Foreign Ministry to do a PhD (Doctoral Thesis) at the Université de Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), although I spent most of time at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale in Brest, France. My time in France was used to study advanced Geophysical Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Modelling, both extremely scarce skills in SA.

I returned to the Department after almost two years to take up my position as mid-career scientist specialising in the application of geophysical fluid dynamics and how it affects the ocean environment and fisheries. At the diplomatic level, I head SA’s delegation to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

In 2006 I was appointed Director of a research department that looks at things ranging from physics, chemistry, biology through to whales, dolphins and marine aquaculture.

My passion is to create awareness of how important the oceans are beyond the common understanding as well as building knowledge and capacitating young South Africans to become world leaders in research.