Author: Philip W. Rundel

Brian van Wilgen is an Emeritus professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and he has 45 years of experience as an applied ecologist in southern Africa and beyond. His research has focussed on two fields – fire ecology, and invasion ecology. He has conducted work in southern and eastern Africa, and collaborated with others in Australia, Europe, North and South America, and on island ecosystems. He has served on numerous editorial boards, the most recent including the journals Conservation Biology, Fire Ecology, International Journal of Wildland Fire, and South African Journal of Science. He has received numerous awards, most recently the South African Academy of Science Gold Medal for excellence in the application of outstanding scientific thinking in the service of society. He is author of over 200 publications, including four books and 170 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He was the lead editor of a recent comprehensive book entitled Biological Invasions in South Africa, published by Springer in 2020.