Werner Conradie

I was born on the 2nd of July 1982 in George in the Southern Cape of South Africa, but lived in a small Karoo town - Willowmore. I'm the middle of three brothers. I attended school at Willowmore until the age 13, after which I finished my primary education at Wesbank Primary School in Oudtshoorn. Our family then moved to Uniondale, where I matriculated at Uniondale High School (2000).

I continued my tertiary education at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (PU for CHE), now called the North-West University (NWU). I completed my  B.Sc. with Zoology and Biochemistry as my majors in 2004, after which I completed my Masters in Environmental Science (M.Env.Sc), with my thesis titled "Seasonal variation in anuran activities in the Vredefort Dome Conservation Area" early 2006.

After a year of being a general lab and field work assistant for the African Amphibian Conservation Research Group (AACRG) I became a Physical Science teacher at PJ Oliver High School in Grahamstown. I also enrolled for a postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) at Rhodes University which I completed in 2008.I took up the post of Assistant Herpetologist at the Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld) at the end of 2007, and took over Curator of Herpetology from Bill Branch after his retirement in May 2011. In 2024 I was awarded my PhD from the Nelson Mandela University, with my thesis titled: Herpetofaunal diversity and affiliations of the Okavango River Basin, with specific focus on the Angolan headwaters.

My research interests mainly focus on the taxonomy of amphibians and reptiles of southern Africa. My research focuses on three main geographical areas: Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, northern Mozambique, and Angola.