Ms Ishta Maharaj’s summa cum laude BSc Honours in Geological Sciences was the culmination of an academic journey that included a novel research project and a conference presentation on her work, which are now propelling her into further study and a career that fulfills her love of Earth’s complex materials.
Maharaj was born and raised in Durban and enrolled for her undergraduate and honours studies at UKZN to stay close to home and follow in her parents’ footsteps.
Maharaj appreciated the diversity of campus life that enabled her to meet and befriend a variety of students and create lifelong bonds, particularly among those she shared challenging geology modules with. She enjoyed studying in the Discipline and has fond memories of field trips in particular.
A fascination with the mining industry initially led Maharaj to geology, where she discovered the boundlessness of minerals in everyday life. Visits to mining sites during her honours year exposed her to the possibilities on offer as a geologist in the mining industry. She particularly enjoyed the Ore Deposits module, in which she learned about the processes and conditions necessary for economic grades of ore to form and concentrate.
Maharaj’s honours dissertation was titled: “Strain Analysis of Ocelli and Pillows in Komatiites of the Buffalo River Greenstone Belt, KwaZulu-Natal”, and was a structural geology-based project in which she concluded that ocelli – rounded, light-coloured structures within rock – can be used as a kinematic indicator, a structure providing information about the direction and sense of movement on a fault or shear zone, something not previously reported.
Maharaj was thrilled to contribute to novel science, and her supervisor, Dr Lauren Hoyer, presented this work at the 2025 Igneous and Metamorphic Studies Group Conference on her behalf. She is also preparing this dissertation for publication.
Her honours year was not taken up solely by this project; Maharaj also worked as a practical demonstrator, assisting first – and second-year students with their practicals, and supporting third-year students in the field on a nine-day trip collecting data for her dissertation.
Balancing her study and spending time with her friends and family was challenging, but significant support from her loved ones motivated Maharaj and lightened the experience. She and a group of friends began an interactive changelog to highlight weekly objectives to keep each other on track in their university and personal lives, providing support, camaraderie and improved productivity.
Maharaj has enrolled for her Master’s in Geological Sciences, using her research to identify structural basins favourable for trapping high-quality diamonds offshore in southern Namibia using Machine Learning techniques. This project is funded by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation and the National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence for Integrated Mineral and Energy Resource Analysis using data collected by the Trans Hex Group.
Maharaj thanked Hoyer for spurring her on to complete her honours project with the best results possible, for field assistance, and for creating an environment where she was comfortable asking for help.
She also thanked her supportive parents for helping her accomplish her goals and her friends, Mr Shrivaran Rangasamy and Mr Tyrese Chetty, for their support throughout her studies.
Words: Christine Cuénod
Photograph: Sethu Dlamini