Dr Craig Peter of the Department of Botany was one of two joint winners of the South African Association of Botanists’ Bronze Medal, awarded annually for the best PhD thesis in the broad field of "Botany".
This achievement was in recognition of his study on the ecological and evolutionary aspects of the pollination biology of Eulophia, a large and important genus of African orchids.
Dr Peter's supervisor, Professor Steve Johnson of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, in announcing the award, pointed out the long history of pollination biology in the Grahamstown area, dating back to the pioneering work of Mrs Elizabeth Barber (neé Bowker) in the 19th Century who corresponded with Charles Darwin.
He also pointed out a more direct link between Dr Peter’s research and that of Darwin. A chapter in the thesis confirmed one of Darwin’s original hypotheses about unusual and sometimes very rapid movement of the pollen masses of some orchid flowers. It is only the second paper on this topic since Darwin’s original observations nearly 150 years ago.
Professor Johnson referred to the excellence of Dr Peter as a naturalist and how it seems we have our own "Darwin" in our midst.