My scientific career begon at the National Museum in Bloemfontein, initially as museum scientist and later as Head of the Herpetology Department. During this period I completed my Ph.D., studying the nature and extent of host-specificity among flatworm parasites (Polystomatidae: Platyhelminthes). In 1995 I accepted a position as senior lecturer at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. During the six years that I was associated with the Free State University, I focused my research on amphibian parasites and bullfrog reproductive behaviour. During this period I started collaborating with leading parasitologists in the UK, France, and Malaysia and I developed my expertise in this field. In the field of parasitology, I was the only person based in Africa working on polystomatid parasites and frequently receive polystome parasite material to identify, not only from African countries, but also from abroad. I studied the various parasites of the Clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). In the field of herpetology my main focus was on the breeding biology of the African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus). Our publications on the bullfrog caught the eye of international film companies and on four occasions I assisted in the filming of bullfrog breeding and frog adaptations for life in the Kalahari Desert. The global phenomenon of declining amphibian populations is a high profile topic and an important concern for the biodiversity of amphibians. My research group studies this phenomeon throughout southern Africa. The move to the North-West University in 2001 allowed me to develop a conceptual framework for my research group titled “Conservation and Well-being of Amphibian Populations” (see appendix). Within the broad theme we focus our research on: - Amphibian conservation - Frogs in the urban environment and monitoring of amphibian populations - Chytridiomycosis as an emerging infectious disease - Amphibian parasites Over the past decade I worked towards creating a solid, internationally recognised, research group focusing on amphibians. As part of this effort I published extensively on the topic and to date wrote nine books, two book chapter, 114 peer reviewed scientific papers and 48 other papers. The 520 page Frogs of Southern Africa: A Complete Guise (www.frogbook.co.za) that I co-authored with Vincent Carruthers is widely recognized as an authoritative work on southern African amphibians. This book is not only a field guide but contains a vast amount of scientific knowledge as a result of years of field observations and endless hours spent behind the microscope. In 2011 I published an authoritive scientific book on turtle polystomes of the world and I am currently working on another parasite book. In 2017 we published the first field guide in a native African language namely "A Bilingual Field Guide to the Frogs of Zululand". As for presentations and lectures I have presented three keynotes at international symposia in Italy, Brazil an Czech Republic respectively and four keynotes at local scientific symposia. I authored and co-authored 91 presentations at international symposia and 184 at local symposia. On several occasions I presented invited guest lectures abroad including lectures in Gainesville, Florida; Guelph, Canada; Lubbock, Texas; Bristol, UK; Perpignan, France; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Mellbourne, Australia, Antananarivo, Madagascar, Brazil, French Guiana and others. In 2008 I organized the 6th International Symposium on Monogenea and for the period 2008-2013 I was the international president for this organization. In 2001 I was appointed as Associate Professor in Zoology at the North-West University. In 2006 I became full professor and for the period 2010-2012 I served as Chair of Zoology. Within my research group I currently have two post-doctoral fellowships, three Ph.D., six M.Sc. and three honours students, as well as two assistants. We also have two retired amphibian experts Prof Alan Channing and Dr Les Minter as well as the parasitologist Prof Olivier Verneau appointed as extraordinary professors within the Unit of Environmental Sciences and Management of the North-West University. These appointments of three world class authorities add critical mass to my group. I frequently act as external examiner for masters and doctoral studies and am frequently reviewing papers for local as well as high profile international journals including Emerging Infectious Diseases, Journal of Helminthology, Journal of Herpetology, African Journal of Herpetology African Zoology, Zootaxa, Systematic Parasitology and others.