Diana Margaret Avery

Dr Diana Margaret Avery received her PhD from Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Margaret has been a museum scientist throughout her career, initially in Nairobi (Kenya) but mostly in Cape Town (South Africa), where she is currently an Emeritus Associate at Iziko Museums of South Africa. Her research interests concern small mammals from archeological sites and their application to understanding the environment in which humans lived during the past. As a corollary, she also examines prey remains left by modern Barn Owls for information concerning micromammal distributions. Aside from her research Margaret has contributed in various ways to science support and liaison.

She has had a long association with the South African Society for Quaternary Research (SASQUA) and the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), and was privileged to be President of the former from 1993–1995 and of the latter from 2011–2015. In 2019, Dr Avery was elected an Honorary Fellow of the International Union for Quaternary Research in recognition of her service to that organization, including support for African Quaternary scientists.

Dr Avery is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and a Member of the Archaeological Society of South Africa, both of which she served as Vice President and Editor of their respective scientific journals. Dr Margaret Avery is a prolific author, with more than one hundred highly cited publications to her credit.
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