Prof Klaus Kellner
Prof Dr Kellner has been working at the NWU since 1988, first as lecturer, senior lecturer and full professor. He now has a temporary appointment and is project manager in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management (UESM) at the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus) to carry out research projects.
The most important aims of Prof Dr Kellner’s career include the training and capacity development and the participation in research and development projects at national and international level. The latter includes the collaboration with other scientists, managers and land users in his field of expertise, as well as the teaching and supervision of under- and post-graduate students, the training and capitation of agricultural extension officers, land users and environmental managers.
Prof Dr Klaus Kellner was a C3 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa, in the field “Conservation and Management of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” till 2023. He was a lecturer and supervised and mentored many post-graduate studies. His fields of expertise include the control of bush (woody) encroachment, vegetation dynamics, land degradation and desertification, restoration/rehabilitation ecology, range condition assessment and the implementation of sustainable land management (SLM) practices in mainly the arid- and semi-arid rangelands.
He also studies the impacts of climate change, different land-use strategies, loss in biodiversity, vegetation regression and the impact of anthropogenic factors that influence long-term decision making. The effects of implementing restoration/rehabilitation strategies, especially after the impact of ecosystem disturbances and factors leading to land degradation (e.g. bush encroachment (increase in density of woody species) after being controlled/cleared, occurrence of alien and indigenous species invasions, anthropogenic and implementation of mismanagement practices) are researched and sustainable management strategies proposed.