Yinhla Shihlomule

PhD Student

As a researcher I am mainly interested in answering biological problems using genetic methods. Both my BSc and BSc Honours were completed at the University of Venda where my honours project focused on the sequence analysis of the interleukin-4 receptor gene in HIV patients in Limpopo province, South Africa. After graduating in 2014, I joined the MIMMP as a sealer/killer whaler for the M71 over-wintering team (2014 – 2015) and I was hooked. Since then, I have been a member of three more teams (M74, 2017 – 2018; M77 and M78 September 2020 – May 2022) as a sealer. In between those expeditions I completed my MSc degree at the University of Pretoria within MIMMP examining population genetics of fur seals at Marion and Gough Islands. I am working on my PhD within the MIMMP using genetic tools to investigate the paternity and alternative mating strategies of southern elephant seals from Marion Island.