SAEON in the media

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SAEON scientists won an award from the United Nations for a prototype near-real time monitoring tool that reports on the state and changes in vegetation based on satellite observations. SAEON’s team was led by Dr Jasper Slingsby of the Fynbos Node and included Dr Glenn Moncrieff of Ixio Analytics and a SAEON research sssociate, and collaborator Professor Adam Wilson from the State University of New York at Buffalo. This achievement resulted in further media coverage in national media, including: South African ecologists win UN data science award: Position IT, 1 January 2018 Fynbos tool app scoops UN prize: Saturday Star, 25 November 2017

An article titled New species discovered in South Africa's stromatolites, published in several print and online media, mentions that the stromatolites were first identified several years ago by Professor Renzo Perissinotto, the incumbent SARChI Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems at the Nelson Mandela University and Dr Thomas Bornman, the SAEON Elwandle Coastal Node Manager.

The Nahoon Estuary Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape has been selected as one of the priority study sites for a national sea-level rise monitoring programme by scientists at the Nelson Mandela University and SAEON. An article titled Mangroves monitored for sea rise, describing the work being conducted, was published in Nahooner News of February 2018.

Are icebergs a realistic option for augmenting Cape Town's water supply?, an article first published in the December 2017 edition of SAEON eNews, was republished in the March/April 2018 edition of The Water Wheel.

The memorandum of agreement signed by SAEON and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) - to implement the integrated environmental management for the SKA project in South Africa - secured further coverage in the media:

• SARAO sluit ooreenkoms om grond te bewaar ('SARAO concludes agreement to preserve land'): Messenger (Northern Cape), 12 January 2018.
• SARAO sluit ooreenkoms om grond te bewaar ('SARAO concludes agreement to preserve land'): Noordwester en Oewernuus, 12 January 2018.

Dr Jasper Slingsby of SAEON’s Fynbos Node was interviewed about the current drought in the Western Cape on Cape Talk of 16 January 2018. An article written by Jasper, Rush to drill for water threatens our future water supply, was published in GroundUp on 28 February. The article highlights NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) violations and the potential impacts of TMGA (Table Mountain Group Aquifers) abstraction if implemented irresponsibly; and pushes for the need for responsible catchment management, including alien clearing.

Direct mentions of Fynbos Node scientists in the media include:

• Here is the status of Cape Town's water supply projects
• Awaiting Day Zero: Cape Town Faces an Uncertain Water Future

Indirect mentions in the media include:

• Special Report: Steenbras aquifer drilling too risky, ecologists warn
• Ecologists up in arms over Cape Town's plans to ease water crisis by drilling into aquifer

An article on the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas, published on PreventionWeb, mentions that SAEON has a support team in place to assist with data deposit and publication.

Landbouweekblad of 22-29 December 2017 published an article based on an interview with SAEON research associates Sue Milton and Richard Dean on the drought in the Karoo: Die Karoo raak stil ('The Karoo grows silent'). It has rained in patches since then, but SAEON’s Tierberg site itself is consistently bone-dry, the worst since the 1920s, according to Sue.

Environmental team praised, an article published in New Age on 26 February, highlights the work of the environmental monitors deployed in rhino poaching hotspots to assist with environmental monitoring. Some of the host institutions where the environmental monitors are assisting with research, awareness and training within local communities include the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary School; the Southern African Wildlife College; the Wits Rural Facility and SAEON. The environmental monitors, also known as Maeba (Doves), were lauded for their sterling work by the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Both Engineering News and Mining Weekly of 21 February 2018 published an article titled JG Afrika supports KZN Wetlands Forum in devising a solution for endangered wetlands on the World Wetlands Day event in Northern KwaZulu-Natal hosted by the Isibusiso Esihle Science Discovery Centre and supported by SAEON. 

Sue Janse van Rensburg, Coordinator of SAEON's Grasslands-Forests-Wetlands Node, is quoted in two articles. The first, titled Threatened KZN wetlands offered a lifeline, was published in the March/April 2018 edition of The Water Wheel. The second, Engineers back drive to save endangered KZN wetlands, appeared in KZN Industrial and Business News of 1 February 2018.

An article, Warm onderwerp ('Hot topic'), by SAEON intern Stefan Goets, was published in Prince Albert Friend of 5 March. The article explains why areas like the Karoo experience such high temperatures during summer.