Ms Setshaba Taukobong is a Senior Scientist in the Genomics Platform and Environment & Health Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council. Having worked at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Wastewater Surveillance group, she has experience in tracking emerging lineages and variants of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. She also has experience in plant and animal genomics, transcriptomics and Epigenetics. Setshaba is currently pursuing her PhD and her research focuses on viral-host interactions and how they contribute the biochemical cycle in the Southern and Atlantic ocean.