Prof Brian William van Wilgen is an applied Ecologist, with a basic training in forestry, and post-graduate qualifications based on research on fire ecology and management, and in the ecology and management of alien invasive species. His major interests include the effects of fire on terrestrial ecosystems, particularly African savannas, Cape fynbos shrublands, montane grasslands, the responses of plants and animals to fire, fire behaviour modelling and prediction, fire danger rating, and fire climate studies. In the field of invasion ecology, he has specialised in alien plant invasions and their management. He has worked in several African countries, including South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Seychelles, and Mauritius. He has experience in the management of several large and interdisciplinary projects. He has published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and in edited scientific books. Prof van Wilgen also published on a book on the ecology of fires and edited three others, most recently (2020) the book Biological Invasions in South Africa. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
View profile for Brian William van Wilgen in: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), (2017). Legends of South African Science. [Online] Available at: DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/assaf.2016/0012
