I am a CELTA-accredited native-speaking English, Mathematics and Science educator with over 15 years experience. After tutoring throughout university both independantly and as an official teaching assistant, I moved to Russia to pursue my love of education in 2013, and have taught exclusively online since 2019 after returning home to complete my Masters degree in Evolutionary Biology and Genetics. 

Right! Now that the formalities out of the way, here is a bit more about my background:

I was born in South Africa and have travelled extensively, including countries such as America, Singapore, Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Amsterdam, Dubai, the U.K., France, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Indonesia, Vietnam and, of course, Russia. This exposure to different cultures left me with a sense of insatiable curiosity, a respect for novelty and an emphasis on tolerance, qualities which underpin my approach to teaching students from all across the world.

I was the valedictorian of my graduating class at school, and was accepted into both the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University. I had applied, and was accepted to, Mechatronic Engineering, Fine Art, and Evolutionary Biology, and chose to pursue science while also enrolling in the local Alliance Francais in my final year in order to experience what it is like to learn a foreign language for the first time.

After graduating from university, I completed a CELTA and tutored English and Mathematics in Moscow for a year before returning to South Africa and completing my Honours in Zoology, graduating cum laude. In order to integrate my passions for science and teaching, I then studied filmmaking and moved into the film industry to work in documentary. Using the skills developed during this period, I became the head Producer and Social Media Marketer for Fairview Wines, a high-profile South African vineyard. I never forgot my love of education, however, and subsequently returned to Russia to teach while also studying Psychology. I left shortly before the pandemic began to pursue a Masters degree in Evolutionary Biology and Genetics, while also shifting my focus to online education, a space that I have worked in ever since.

Integrating my experiences in education, academia, marketing and psychology, my approach to teaching is one that combines research-based academic rigour with a focus on personalisation and engagement. The process of simultaneously analysing a student’s current level of understanding and developing a unique roadmap to help them achieve their goals is immensely rewarding, and the moments when a student says, “Oh, I get it now!” are why I love what I do.

While not teaching, you can find me rock climbing, scuba diving, and travelling the world.

Publications

Myburgh, A.M., & Daniels, S.R. (2015). Exploring the impact of habitat size on phylogeographic patterning in the Overberg velvet worm Peripatopsis overbergiensis (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae). Journal of Heredity, 106(3), 296–305. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esv014

Myburgh, A.M., & Daniels, S.R. (2022). Between the Cape Fold Mountains and the deep blue sea: Comparative phylogeography of selected codistributed ectotherms reveals asynchronous cladogenesis. Evolutionary Applications, 15(1). doi: 10.1111/eva.13493

Grobler, P.C.J., Myburgh, A.M., Barnes, A., & Daniels, S.R. (2023). Integrative taxonomy provides evidence for a cryptic lineage in the velvet worm Peripatopsis birgeri species complex (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Systematics and Biodiversity, 21(1). doi: 10.1080/14772000.2023.2207574

Daniels, S.R., Peer, N., Myburgh, A.M., & Barnes, A. (2024). Let's get high: Cladogenesis in freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Potamonautidae: Potamonautes) supports the mountain gradient speciation hypothesis in the Cape Fold and Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa. Ecology and Evolution, 14(3). doi: 10.1002/ece3.10960

Myburgh, A.M., Barnes, A., Henriques, R., & Daniels, S.R. (2024). Congruent patterns of cryptic cladogenesis revealed using RADseq and Sanger sequencing in a velvet worm species complex (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae: Peripatopsis sedgwicki). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 198:108132. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108132