Ben erik van wyk biography templates
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These include global reviews of Medicinal Plants, Food Plants, Herbs and Spices, Mind-altering and Poisonous Plants, Phytomedicines, Cut Flowers and Garden Succulents.
Connections
Married Christina Maria Schonken, September 27, 1980. He is an editorial member of the South African Journal of Botany (Elsevier), Subeditor-in-Chief of Diversity (MDPI) and Associate Editor of Economic Botany (Springer), and regularly reviews manuscripts, theses and grant applications.
He currently holds a National Research Chair in Indigenous Plant Use and is leading a project to record and conserve traditional knowledge about useful plants.
Academic career:
Lecturer, Department of Botany, Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) now known as University of Johannesburg (1985–1989); Senior lecturer (1989); Full Professor (1990–2012).
Polish and Korean translations in 2007
Food Plants of the World, Briza, 2005 Hardcover
Also in German: Handbuch der Nahrungspflanzen. His parents were the artists, Elise Bodley van Wyk and Abraham Jacobus (Appie) van Wyk. After matriculation in Calvinia, he studied forestry and nature conservation at Stellenbosch University (1976-1979) and completed a M.Sc.
Member Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa, since 1996.
Director Phyto Nova Proprietary, Ltd., Cape Town, 1998—2002. [in 2005, Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) became the University of Johannesburg (UJ).]
Department of Science and Innovation/National Research Foundation South African Research Chairs Initiative (DSI/NRF SARChI) Research Chair in Indigenous Plant Use, Tier 1 (2013–2018, renewed for 2018–2022).
National Research Foundation rating status:
National Research Foundation ratings: P (1991–1994); B2 (1995–2009); B1 (2010–2015; 2016–2021).
H-index and citations:
Scopus h-factor = 35 (4825 citations).
Google Scholar h-factor = 51 (14 232 citations).
Most cited works: Medicinal Plants of South Africa (1864); People’s Plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa (1279); Medicinal Plants of the World (979); Review of commercially important southern African medicinal plants [J Ethnopharmacol 2008, 119, 342–355] (304); Guide to the aloes of South Africa (256).
Awards:
Schlich Medal (1980 - best BSc Forestry student in South Africa); Junior Captain Scott Medal (1984 - best MSc thesis in biology in South Africa); FRD President's Award (1991); SAAB Silver Medal (2007); Havenga Prize for Biology (2009); University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence (2009); University of Johannesburg Faculty of Science Award for Top Researcher of the Year (2009, 2011, 2014, 2017); Elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2013); awarded the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Research Chair in Indigenous Plant Use (2013); SAAB Gold Medal (2015 - for life-time contributions to botany in South Africa; MT Steyn medal (2020 - highest national award in science of the South African Academy of Science and Arts).
Research-related international activities
Visiting Professor, Center for Development of Biotic Products, National Polytechnic Institute, Morelos, Mexico (2014–); Member of Editorial Boards: South African Journal of Botany (Elsevier) – invited guest editor for Special Editions in 2003, 2011, 2013 and 2019; Phytotaxa; Biodiversity; Hosting of international conferences, e.g., 4th International Apiales Conference (Pretoria, 2003), 6th International Legume Conference (University of Johannesburg, 2013); Joint annual meeting of The Society for Economic Botany and the Indigenous Plant Use Forum (Clanwilliam, 2015); Invited plenary speaker, eg, 63rd International Congress of the Society of Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) [Budapest, Hungary, 2015]; 10th General Assembly of the African Academy of Sciences (Kasane, Botswana, 2016]; 6th World Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants [Famagusta, Cyprus, 2019]; Board member of the pan-African “Herbal Monographs Project” and the Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards Ltd.
(2005–2007); Advisory Board member, Global Frankincense Alliance (2019–).
Research-related national activities:
Chairman of committees, eg, the National Research Foundation (NRF) Evaluation Assessment Committee for Plant Sciences (1997–1999); Chairman of Indigenous Plant Use Forum since 1996 (organized 23 annual IPUF conferences); Technology and Human Resource for Industry Programme (THRIP)-funded collaboration with SA Druggists (now Aspen Pharmacare) to develop new medicinal products and new crops (1993–1999); Founding director of Phyto Nova (Pty) Ltd (1999–2004), to developed new crops and new medicinal products; Member of Briza Publications, publisher of colourful botanical books; Founding director and elected chairman of the “Aloe Council of South Africa” NPC; Leader of the “African tonic project”, as part of a multi-million National Consortium coordinated by the South Africa Medical Research Council and funded by the Innovation Fund (2004–2006); Member of the Presidential Task Team to develop a policy framework for African Traditional Medicine in South Africa (2006–2008) and main author of the policy document (Government Gazette Vol, 517 No.
31271, 25 July 2008).
Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk
Prof Ben-Erik Van Wyk is the SARChI Chair in Indigenous Plant Use at the University of Johannesburg and is based in the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology. Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium 14.1991
Guide to the aloes of South Africa (with GF Smith), Briza Publications, 1996 (Revised edition 2004, reprinted 2005)
Medicinal Plants of South Africa (with Bosch van Oudtshoorn & Nigel Gericke), Briza Publications, 1997 (Last revised and expanded edition 2009).
Mesembs of the World: Illustrated guide to a remarkable succulent plant family (with GF Smith, P Chesselet, E van Jaarsveld, H Hartmann, S Hammer, P Burgoyne, C Klak & H Kurzweil), Briza, 1998
People's Plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa (with Nigel Gericke), Briza, 2000 (Reprinted 2002, 2005) Hardcover
Succulents of South Africa: a guide to regional diversity (with E van Jaarsveld & GF Smith), Tafelberg, 2000
(Also in Afrikaans: Vetplante van Suid- Afrika: 'n gids tot die streekverskeidenheid)
Photo Guide to Trees of Southern Africa / Fotogids Tot Bome Van Suider-Afrika (with Braam van Wyk & Piet van Wyk), Briza, 2000 (Revised edition 2008)
Poisonous Plants of South Africa (with Fanie R van Heerden & Ben van Oudtshoorn), Briza , 2002 (Reprinted 2005)
Medicinal Plants of the World (with Michael Wink), Briza, 2004 (reprinted 2004, 2005) Hardcover
Also in German: Handbuch der Arzneipflanzen (with C Wink & M Wink), Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2004 (reprinted 2004).
He was a recipient of the two highest national awards for botanists, from the South African Association of Botanists (the SAAB Gold Medal, in 2015) and from the South African Academy of Science (the M.T. Steyn Award for Natural Sciences and Technology Research and Excellence, in 2020). 1 400 per year)
Visiting Professor: Center for Biotic Products, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico (2014–)
Supervised 25 MSc and 16 PhD students
Google Scholar Profile
Research activities:
1.Taxonomy, systematics and chemosystematics of African plant families, mainly Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), Fabaceae (African genistoid legumes) and Asphodelaceae (Aloe and related genera).
2.Medicinal plants and ethnobotany, including Khoi-San and Cape Dutch ethnobotany, quality control, product and crop development.
Other activities:
Chairman of the Aloe Council of South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Chairman of the Indigenous Plant Use Forum
Member of the Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards (AAMPS)
Member of Briza Publications CC
Member of the Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine
Commercialisation of indigenous African plants
Member of Editorial Boards: South African Journal of Botany (Elsevier), Phytotaxa and Biodiversity
Book author
Ben-Erik Van Wyk
researcherscience educator
Ben-Erik Van Wyk, South African science educator, researcher.
50 editions and translations), 30 taxonomic revisions, and more than 100 new plant species and other taxa. He served on various NRF committees, contributed to research and development of natural products and government policy. Director, chairman Aloe Council South Africa, Johannesburg, since 2006.
Achievements
Ben-Erik Van Wyk has been listed as a noteworthy science educator, researcher by Marquis Who's Who.
Membership
Member presidential task team on African traditional medicine Department Health, Pretoria, 2006—2008.
He also received the Lifetime Award (all sciences) from the National Science and Technology Forum (the “Science Oscars of South Africa”) in 2024: “For his contribution as a botanist and an authority on traditional and commercial uses of plants, with numerous books and publications covering all or most of the socially relevant and commercialised plant species of the world”.
His research interests are in plant systematics, economic botany and ethnobotany. He has supervised 32 MSc and 25 PhD students to completion, many of whom received prestigious awards and 10 becoming professors themselves. He is best known for his series of international full-colour reference books on useful plants, co-produced by leading international publishers and translated into several languages.
Co-production: Briza Publications, Pretoria (ISBN 978-187-5093670) and Timber Press (USA). In 2013 he was awarded the NRF/SARChI National Research Chair in Indigenous Plant Use, to focus on ethnobotanical research and the documentation of plant-related indigenous knowledge. He has authored and co-authored more than 390 scientific papers, 23 books (including ca.