Johnnie van den Berg

Prof Johnnie van den Berg is an entomologist doing research on agro-ecosystem biodiversity and integrated pest management (IPM). His research focus is on applied ecological research with regard to Arthropoda in agro-ecosystems which includes the study of the effects of GM crops on non-target organisms and the environment. He also heads a group which, through the study of pest-plant interactions, studies resistance evolution of pests to genetically modified Bt crops.  His biosafety research on genetically modified cotton and maize in South Africa is funded by local and international institutions.

Prof. Van den Berg heads the Plant Protection research stream at NWU and is also Head: subject group Zoology.  He is supervisor of many MSc and PhD students from South Africa, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo, Malawi and Kenya. He has published more than a 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and several chapters in books.