Soul Shava

Soul was born in the mining and wildlife resort town of Hwange (then Wankie), Zimbabwe, on 14 October 1967. He completed primary education at Maphisa School in Bulawayo and secondary education up to Ordinary Level at Ihlathi School. He went on to complete an Advanced Level secondary education at Manama High School in Gwanda in 1986, graduating top of his Biology class. On completing his high school education, Soul went on to study at the University of Zimbabwe where he obtained a BSc Honours degree in Biological Sciences in 1990. He majored in Botany and Ecology. Soul started work at the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe in 1994 after four years as a Biology and Science teacher at two high schools in Mashonaland Central Province. In his new career, he started off as a Research Officer responsible for environmental education and the curation of the grass section. Involvement in environmental education eventually culminated in Soul going on the WWF Prince Bernhard Scholarship to Rhodes University, South Africa, where he obtained a Master of Education degree in Environmental Education in 2000. Soul has a keen interest in indigenous knowledge systems. He has published several articles and booklets on traditional conservation, the use of wild plants for food and medicine in local communities, and on myths and story telling. Currently Soul is a Principal Research Officer at the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe. He is also the curator of the Botanic Garden and heads the Environmental Education section of the institute.