Dr Adriaan van der Walt
Lecturer in the Department of Geography
T: +27 51 4019653
C: +27 84 562 3565
E: VanDerWaltA@ufs.ac.za
Research:
I am a Lecturer in Physical Geography and Geographic Information Systems in the Department of Geography, and I am presenting the following courses: An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Professional Practice and Ethics for GIS Professionals, Disaster Management, Research Methodology, and Biogeography.
Other areas of interest include biometeorology, climatology, and environmental sciences.
In 2020, I obtained by PhD in Geography from the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. I completed my BSc in Geography, my BSc Honours in Geography, and my MSc in Geography at the University of the Free State.
I also enjoy contributing to the bodies in my field of interest. I am chairing the steering committee of the ACCESS Global Climate Emerging Research Network (GCERN) and I am a member of the International Society of Biometeorology, the Society of South African Geographers Young Professionals group, and an executive council member (treasurer) of the Society of South African Geographers, to name but a few.
I co-authored a number of articles, both in academic and public literature. This year alone, I submitted the following articles: Extreme Temperature Events (ETEs) in South Africa: a review (published in South African Geographical Journal); Exploring extreme warm temperature trends in South Africa: 1960-2016 (published in Theoretical and Applied Climatology); and Trend analysis of cold extremes in South Africa: 1960-2016 (published in International Journal of Climatology).
Furthermore, I also presented papers at several conferences. At the 2020 Alliance for Collaboration on Climate and Earth System Science research conference’s Habitat Planet workshop, I was one of three winners for the best PhD research project presentation with my paper, ‘Statistical classification of South African seasonal divisions on the basis of daily temperature data’. I delivered the paper with JM Fitchett.