Dr Bongekile Zwane is a lecturer and a researcher at the University of Johannesburg. She specialises on studying wood charcoal remains from archaeological sites with the goal of reconstructing past vegetation, climate and evidence of plant use. She completed her BSc, MSc and PhD in Archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she conducted archaeobotanical research projects. These projects are the basis of her knowledge of how plants, humans, climate and time interact and are part of the reason for her passion in environmental archaeology. She has conducted research on African Middle and Later Stone Age sites, namely: Klasies River, Sibudu and Border caves and Kaingo Rock Shelter. She is currently conducting research on archaeological wood charcoal from Knysna Eastern Heads cave 1, which is situated in the Knysna Lagoon mouth, South Africa, amongst many other projects.