science

Rachel Wynberg

Rachel Wynberg is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rachel Wynberg rather than just read about it. In short: Rachel P. Wynberg is a South African biodiversity researcher and natural scientist who is a professor at the department of Environmental and Geography Sciences at the University of Cape Town.

Key takeaways

Rachel Wynberg belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rachel Wynberg to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rachel Wynberg from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Rachel P. Wynberg is a South African biodiversity researcher and natural scientist who is a professor at the department of Environmental and Geography Sciences at the University of Cape Town.

Life and work

Education At the University of Cape Town, Wynberg earned a BSc in zoology, MSc in marine biology and a MPhil in environmental science. She went on to obtain a PhD in environmental science at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.

Research She advises governments, civil organisations and international agencies and is actively involved with policy debates and initiatives throughout southern Africa. Her work concerns the taking and using of biological entities from indigenous people without proper acknowledgement or compensation. Specifically, "Biopiracy is the misappropriation of traditional knowledge and biodiversity through the patent system... It's been prevalent for centuries in Southern Africa".

One instance that she has cited concerned the San people.An African example of biopiracy is the case of the Hoodia succulent plant, which grows in the Kalahari Desert. For generations the San people have used it as an appetite and thirst suppressant. But in 1996 the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) isolated the hunger-suppressing chemical component in Hoodia and patented it. The CSIR licensed the UK-based Phytopharm for further development. None of the projected royalties were earmarked for the San. In fact, a Phytopharm spokesperson said that the CSIR had led him to believe that the San people were "extinct". In a victory against biopiracy, the CSIR eventually signed an agreement to recognise and reward the San as holders of traditional knowledge. Wynberg chaired part of the First International Meeting Against Biopiracy, held at the French National Assembly in Paris and attended by representatives from 15 countries including indigenous groups, attorneys, academic researchers and entrepreneurs. The goal of the meeting was to explore the complexities of biopiracy and the threat it poses to cultural and biological diversity. The meeting was hosted by a group of French non-governmental organisations, under the leadership of the former first lady of France, Danielle Mitterrand.

Distinctions Wynberg was elected a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2018.

Selected publications Wynberg, R. (2002). "A decade of biodiversity conservation and use in South Africa: tracking progress from the Rio Earth Summit to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development". South African Journal of Science. 98 (5): 233–243. Wynberg, R. (2004). "Rhetoric, realism and benefit‐sharing: Use of traditional knowledge of Hoodia species in the development of an appetite suppressant". The Journal of World Intellectual Property. 7 (6): 851–876. Wynberg, R.; Schroeder, D.; Chennells, R. (2009). Indigenous peoples, consent and benefit sharing: Lessons from the San-Hoodia case. Berlin: Springer. pp. 69–86. Wynberg, R.; Hauck, M. (2014). "People, power, and the coast: a conceptual framework for understanding and implementing benefit sharing". Ecology and Society. 19 (1).. Laird, S.; Wynberg, R.; Rourke, M.; Humphries, F.; Muller, M. R.; Lawson, C. (2020). "Rethink the expansion of access and benefit sharing". Science. 367 (6483): 1200–1202.

References

External links Publications at ResearchGate

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rachel Wynberg

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rachel Wynberg claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rachel Wynberg before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rachel Wynberg ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rachel Wynberg

In research: Rachel Wynberg appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rachel Wynberg in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rachel Wynberg is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biodiversity of South Africa, Living people, Members of the Academy of Science of South Africa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rachel Wynberg outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rachel Wynberg in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rachel Wynberg means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rachel Wynberg out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rachel Wynberg in simple terms?

Rachel P. Wynberg is a South African biodiversity researcher and natural scientist who is a professor at the department of Environmental and Geography Sciences at the University of Cape Town.

Why does Rachel Wynberg matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rachel Wynberg?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rachel Wynberg.