Dr Leana Esterhuizen is an athlete, academic and CUT alumna.

Dr Leana Esterhuizen, is a woman who wears many hats: she’s an academic, an athlete and a leader in several corporate bodies.  After working in the industry for 4 years, she returned to the CUT and became a lecturer in the same department she graduated from.

Dr Esterhuizen started as a lecturer's assistant in 2005 and became a lecturer in 2009.  As her lecturing career blossomed, she enrolled for DTech in Environmental Health and graduated in 2015. In her doctoral study, she assessed the quality of ground water on 75 Farms in the Mangaung area and has since built a long working relationship with the Free State Department of Water and Sanitation, where she was a mentor for the Free State Aqua Enduro team for several years. Aqua Enduro is a Department of Water and Sanitation initiative to address the skill shortage in the scientific and engineering disciplines within the water sector at grass roots level.

As a young lecturer, she was part of the CUT’s Strategic Transformation of Educational Programme and Structures (STEPS) program initiated in 2011.  She was also an NRF grant holder for several years. She has been working with the UFS on two Water Research Commission Projects since 2021 and is currently involved as a panel member and judge for the Free State Water Prize competition hosted by the Department of Water Affairs.

Dr Esterhuizen was invited as a guest lecturer to present at the summer school (CEM, UFS, 2019). She is actively involved with external stakeholders and has served as a member of the Free State Integrated Regional Water Monitoring Committee since 2019 and the Modder Riet River Catchment Management Forum since 2020. In 2021, she was appointed as an NRF Peer Review Advisory Panel member: Natural and Life Sciences and Geo & Marine Sciences. In September 2022, she represented CUT as part of the public participation process in the development of the National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS3 Stakeholder Consultation). “Since joining the department in 2009, I have been responsible for different roles within the faculty including the running of Environmental Health programs,” she added.

Since her promotion to Senior Lecturer position, she has been more involved with assisting students with challenges. “My focus is to connect the student to the appropriate person who will be able to assist them. My many years of teaching and working at CUT has enabled me to get to know the miracle workers around campus,” she said.

Dr. Esterhuizen has been involved in the assessment of postgraduate students from UFS, TUT, UJ, UV, CPUT, MMUT, DUT, and UP. She has reviewed several journal articles in the past four years and has also managed to publish a few of her own together with her postgraduate students since 2018.

Asked about her personal career highlight, Dr Leana said that graduating her postgraduate students and celebrating their achievements is the reason she still appreciates her career choice despite all the challenges that comes with it. “Two of my first master's students are working in Lesotho, one for the World Health Organisation and the other for the National government.  I am immensely proud of them and their success in the industry.”

Dr Esterhuizen is a sports fanatic and enjoys sporting activities. Some of her recent highlights include her inclusion in the South African Laser Run team for 2022 and 2023. She was a member of the Free State Cross country team for 2022. In 2023, she ticked off two bucket list events by successfully completing the full Ironman race (5 March, Nelson Mandela Bay) as well as the Comrades Marathon (11 June, Pietermaritzburg). She has already entered the Two Oceans Ultra marathon in April 2024, which will be her 3^rd Two Oceans Ultra Marathon.

Facts about Dr Leana Esterhuizen

* She is involved in the management of Modern Pentathlon.

* She has been the Vice-Chairman of the Free State Modern Pentathlon Association since 2022 and      currently serving on the Executive Committee of the South African Modern Pentathlon Association.

* In November 2023, she will be one of the team managers for the South African Biathle and Triathle team that will compete at the World Championships in Bali.

“It’s exciting to witness how the CUT has empowered women over the last decade.  Yes, I still think we can do more, but the change is happening. It is also heartwarming to see that the majority of HoD’s and senior managers in our faculty are women.  But most of all, as a woman I can speak up without fear or favour and have the assurance and freedom to collaborate with any male or female colleague. The channels are open, we see each other as equals and more noticeably, the number of female students in my classes have increased, which is also reassuring for me that as a university, we are already addressing equality in the workforce.”

Uploaded: 28 September 2023