Caroline Botha

Background

About Caroline Botha

We emigrated from South Africa to Ireland in 1991 and set up a sheep-farming enterprise from scratch (eventually managing a flock of 550 ewes) in between having a family. Once the girls started school, I worked on a part-time basis for Anachem which allowed me to travel around the Midlands, selling a range of chemicals to a range of customers - learning on your feet.and getting to know the people and the country. We moved to Kilkenny in 2003, had Ashton and life has been positive for the most part despite a few hurdles. However, these were responsible for my returning to education! In fact, the background image above is one of the pattern-forming bacteria investigated for my fourth year project! I consider the growth medium to be excessive to its requirements so it develops crazy colonization patterns - maybe a bacterial colony can be exuberant! I was delighted to be back at college with all its challenges. The research project was exciting but difficult to finish - too many avenues to explore. My research project dealt with the bioactivity of a seaweed extract and the characterisation thereof - a combination of phycology, microbiology and chemistry! I enjoyed the teaching hours immensely - very rewarding to watch students develop their knowledge and competence.