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SAEON GSN Indibano a success!
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By Paula Pattrick, SAEON GSN Committee Member
Twenty-one delegates from nine different academic institutions across South Africa convened at the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa’s Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve to attend SAEON’s fourth GSN Indibano. The reserve is situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in a scenic valley created by the Umgeni River.
The Indibano served as both a conference and a workshop, providing an opportunity for postgraduate students of SAEON’s Graduate Student Network (GSN) to meet and engage with leading researchers in a wide diversity of scientific and social fields.
Understanding our changing world
This year’s theme, Understanding our changing world, gave rise to several fascinating discussions, during which the students had ample opportunity to gain insight into the long-term observation and monitoring of environmental change.
The Indibano was opened with a keynote address by Dr Beverley Damonse, Group Executive for Science Advancement at the National Research Foundation (NRF).
For her PhD dissertation, Dr Damonse evaluated the characteristics of top researchers in the country and it was these results that she shared with Indibano delegates. She said that scientists who excel in their fields have three things in common - they are driven by passion, curiosity and dedication.
Professor Tim O’Connor, SAEON’s Observation Science Specialist opened the second day with a vibrant presentation that gave delegates an overview of SAEON and its operations. Delegates were then given the opportunity to present their own research, with Sue van Rensburg, Coordinator of SAEON’s Grasslands-Forest-Wetlands Node adjudicating.
Ntuthuko Masikane from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, whose research was done in collaboration with the SAEON Elwandle Node, won the prize for the best presentation with his talk entitled "Nearshore soft-bottom macrozoobenthic community structure in a log-spiral, Algoa Bay, South Africa: A proposed long-term monitoring framework".
The "People’s Choice Award" -- for the best presentation voted for by the delegates - went to Christine Moore from the University of Cape Town. Christine's talk was entitled "Understanding Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Outbreaks in the Western Cape Ostrich Industry: Did Network Evolution and Dynamics Enhance Vulnerability?"
On the second evening Dr Louis Celliers, Principal Scientist and Research Group Leader at the CSIR, gave a thought-provoking presentation on career opportunities for young scientists.
The second day of the Indibano closed with a guided night walk and star gazing at the Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve.
Preserving our valuable wetlands
On day three Damian Walters, Coordinator of the Wise Use of Wetland Resources Programme (MONDI Wetlands), provided an overview of the current state of wetlands in South Africa. This was followed by an excursion to the Edendale Mall Wetland Rehabilitation site led by Craig Cowden, the Wetland Division Manager at GroundTruth. The excursion demonstrated how disturbed areas can be rehabilitated and how conservation efforts can be successful in a rapidly changing world.
Later that afternoon Drummond Densham, Chairperson of BirdLife’s KZN Midlands division led a sunset excursion in the Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve. The excursion created a sense of 'team spirit', with much discussion and debate on topical issues.
Resource use in protected areas
That evening Eric Mlaba, a conservation officer from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife gave a presentation on resource use in the Maputaland Marine Protected Area situated in the iSimagaliso Wetland Park in the northern sector of KwaZulu-Natal. This was followed by a screening of the powerful documentary film "The End of the Line", which reveals the impact of overfishing on our oceans. An avid discussion followed this screening.
On behalf of all the Indibano participants, the members of the GSN would like to extend their thanks to SAEON, and in particular to Johan Pauw, Beate Hölscher, Eva Mudau, Dr Amani Saidi and Sue van Rensburg for supporting the GSN and the Indibano, and for assisting with the logistics. Without the support of SAEON, the sole sponsor of the event, Indibano 2012 would not have been the success it was.
