Zikhona obtained her BSc in Environmental and Water Sciences in 2021 from the University of the Western Cape. She decided to continue her studies at the same institution to broaden her knowledge even further by enrolling for her Postgraduate diploma in Integrated Water Resource Management, which she completed at the end of 2021.
Shortly after completing her Post Graduate Diploma, she enrolled in a Water GEP Graduate Program as a Graduate Trainee, hosted by Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency in 2022 for 6 months. She was placed at Island Nature Reserve, where she was mentored by the Reserve Manager, Mr Hosia Maibelo. She was mostly working on a 5-year invasive alien plants control plan for Groendal and Island Nature Reserve, data capturing, mapping and doing monthly and quarterly report writing with the manager. At the end of this program, Zikhona felt like she needed to learn more about the Island Nature Reserve, she applied again for the Groen-Sebenza internship program which ran for two years from 2023-2024. She got hosted again by Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, placed at the same reserve. Zikhona got more exposure to the other departments of the reserve, where she was involved in patrols with the Field Rangers, alien plant monitoring and eradication, environmental education, and administrative duties.
Zikhona recently joined the Freshwater Research Centre through the HSRC Internship Program as an intern in June 2025, which is her first exposure to the water science field. Since starting the internship, she has already been exposed to FBIS (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System). She finds it exciting that there is this information system where you can access freshwater data for the whole of South Africa. Zikhona is still enjoying her time at FRC and hopes to gain more and more knowledge as time goes on.
