"M. L. (Michelle) Cocks is a Senior researcher in the Anthropology Department, Rhodes University. Her key research interest areas include, natural resource use and the contribution of natural resources to rural livelihoods with a particularly emphasis on the medicinal plant trade. The aim of her PhD research was to contribute towards a better understanding of the concept of bio-cultural diversity under non-traditional conditions. The study assesses the cultural and utilitarian value of wild plants amongst different categories of non-traditional community households in both peri-urban and urban contexts of South Africa, and evaluates factors which contribute to the persistence use of biodiversity for cultural purposes. Together with her colleague, Tony Dold, in 2009 they initiated their Inkcubeko nendalo - Bio-cultural Diversity Education Program which aims to raise awareness around the close link between cultural diversity and biodiversity amongst school learners as the future preservation of both our cultural heritage (inkcubeko) and bio-diversity (indalo) relies on young people recognizing the importance and value of nature in its broadest sense. In 2009 Dr Cocks was nominated for Women in Science Award and was a joint winner in the category Achiever Award for a Woman Researcher in the Area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Local Innovation. In 2012 she co-authored “Voices from the forest” which is a tribute to Eastern Cape plants and animals, Xhosa culture and the environment."

Her current research interests lay in bio-cultural diversity, cultural heritage and communities’ sense of attachment to the natural environment and sense of place in southern Africa.