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Ford Wildlife Foundation Vehicles ENABLE ECOLOGICAL RESEARCHCHRISTINE CU%u00c9NODThe Ford Wildlife Foundation (FWF), supported by UKZN Foundation, has continued its vital support of research in the School of Life Sciences (SLS) at UKZN by providing two new loan research vehicles to enable researchers and postgraduate students to expand the body of knowledge on important fish, avian, mammal and herp species in South Africa. With the arrival of two new Ford Ranger vehicles %u2013 joining the older Ford models previously acquired through the National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape %u2013 Professor Colleen Downs and her students received hands-on training on operating the new vehicles and optimising their use in the field. This was hosted by Mr Wade Pope of Pope%u2019s Motors in Richmond, with Mr James Wood also sharing valuable insights on vehicle handling and driving through rugged terrain.Downs expressed gratitude to the FWF and Ford dealerships for the two new loan research vehicles and their continued support of her team%u2019s research. %u2018Much of our research is done in The School of Life Sciences staff and students are pictured with the new Ford vehicles to support conservation efforts across KZN. the field rather than the lab and would not be possible without your support,%u2019 said Downs.Since 2017, the Ford Wildlife Foundation has provided multiple vehicles to UKZN, reinforcing its commitment to environmental conservation in South Africa. These contributions have allowed researchers to collect critical biological data, expand their conservation efforts and educate future scientists.Notable projects supported by the FWF through the loan of these vehicles include studies on river health led by Dr Matthew Burnett, Principal Scientist at the Institute of Natural Resources and an Honorary Researcher with UKZN%u2019s SLS, in collaboration with Downs. His research focuses on river connectivity and restoration, inland fisheries, river monitoring, fish telemetry and the presence of antibiotic-resistant microbes using Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.Burnett%u2019s work highlights the importance of freshwater ecosystems in sustaining livelihoods, particularly for rural communities. His research assesses the impact of nonnative species, ecotoxicology, and fish conservation, while also promoting educational initiatives on water resource UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL FOUNDATION 7