Nikki Phair (PhD)

Meet Nikki, your friendly Grad Coach.

Nikki brings a wealth of experience as a former research supervisor, lecturer and course facilitator to the Grad Coach team, helping students move their research projects forward, as efficiently as possible. 

Having led a multitude of research projects, many of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals, Nikki knows what makes markers happy. 

Nikki Phair (PhD)

Quick facts

  • Methodologies: Quantitative and qualitative
  • Collection methods: Experimental designs, surveys, interviews
  • Analysis methods: Descriptive and inferential statistics, regressions, various qualitative methods (including thematic and content analysis)
  • Research interests: Biological sciences (botany, zoology) and marine sciences
  • Supported software: SPSS, R, Statistica, QGIS, Word, Excel

Experience

Nikki’s background combines both the academic and professional worlds. Within academia, she has co-supervised students undertaking postgraduate-level research projects. Nikki has also tutored, lectured and facilitated various university-level courses, and managed an eDNA laboratory whilst undertaking her postdoctoral research.

In the professional world, Nikki has worked as a researcher at The Biodiversity Consultancy, a UK-based environmental consultancy, focusing on industry impacts on biodiversity across sectors. She has also worked as an editor for Cactus Communications, a leading science communication and technology company.

Qualifications

Nikki started her academic journey by undertaking a BSc (Biodiversity and Ecology) at Stellenbosch University. She then went on to complete her MSc (cum laude) in Zoology. From there, Nikki undertook her PhD in Botany, also at Stellenbosch University.