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27 March 2018 Photo Thabo Kessah
Afromontane Research Unit welcomes new Director
Newly-appointed Afromontane Research Unit Director, Dr Vincent Clark.
The newly-appointed Director of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus, Dr Vincent Clark, is a true believer in risk-taking as a way of improving one’s life.

“Taking risks grows one’s confidence and experience, and at the right time the right door will open,” he asserts.

Dr Clark has his foundation in Geography and Botany; in 1998, he graduated with a BSc degree majoring in these two subjects, and he also has an Honours degree (1999) in Geography and Environmental Management; both degrees were obtained at the University of Johannesburg (the then Rand Afrikaans University).
 
“Then in 2010, I graduated with a PhD in Phytogeography at Rhodes University.  My PhD was followed up by several postdoctoral fellowships from Rhodes University and one at the University of Zürich between 2010 and 2016. I was privileged to become a lead academic in Professor Nigel Barker’s Great Escarpment Biodiversity Research Programme,” said Dr Clark, who is currently enjoying a good read of John Hunt’s The Ascent of Everest and Spiritual Leadership by Henry and Richard Blackaby.

He envisions the ARU as the continental leader in African mountain research, with an immediate focus on the sustainable development of the Maloti-Drakensberg.
 
“My immediate plans for the ARU team are to grow a strong network of between 60 odd researchers and postgraduates, and to connect them with the regional mountain-research community. Short-term plans include fostering stronger ARU links with the Swiss mountain-research community, encouraging the Japan collaboration, and an ARU-hosted Regional Mountain Conference.”

 “Longer-term plans are to develop the ARU into the leading African mountain-research group and for the ARU to become a leading South-based agent informing the global mountain-research arena,” he added.

Dr Clark has very strong words for the academia. “Academia must always guard against becoming a community of ‘yes men’ for external political or social agendas. As academics, we have a duty to discover and present the truth, regardless of how unpopular that might be. We are in serious danger of losing our academic mandate when we simply become a rubber stamp for untested politically-correct assumptions and agendas. If we ever needed bold academics to expose the plethora of ‘Emperors New Clothing’ currently on parade, it’s today.”

This family man and father of a one-year old son, loves the outdoor life. His hobbies include birding, hiking, swimming, surfing, and reading Louis L’Amour and Hammond Innes.

News Archive

UFS team helps a pupil to hear again
2014-01-24

 

“I was scared at first. I could not remember the sound of my own voice. Being Deaf -it was like living on another planet.”

These are the words of the 18-year-old Andile (Godfrey) Jantjies after he heard sounds and words for the first time in almost 12 months.

Andile, a former pupil at the Albert Moroka School in Thaba Nchu, was the recipient of a cochlear implantation under the Bloemfontein Cochlear Implant Programme (BCIP) run by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of the Free State.

Andile lost his hearing after contracting bacterial meningitis in June 2013. This resulted in bilateral profound deafness and despite his good academic record, his school refused to have him enrolled for 2014.

The cochlear implant was inserted in October 2013 and was switched on for the first time on Thursday 23 January 2014.

“I want to go back immediately,” Andile said excitedly after gradually becoming comfortable with hearing his own and other voices.

Dr Iain Butler from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology says cases like Andile’s are a medical emergencies due to the fact that meningitis causes the inner ear to become replaced by bone.

“This can occur after as little as four months after the infection and means that the insertion of a cochlear implant becomes impossible.

A cochlear implant system costs approximately R220 000.

It converts sounds/speech into electrical signals that directly stimulate the auditory nerve, bypassing the damaged inner ear. It is indicated for babies with congenital hearing loss, as well as acquired hearing loss in children or adults. It requires intensive rehabilitation in order to learn to hear again, and most recipients develop very good hearing. Andile now has the opportunity to hear again, continue his schooling and become an economically independent member of society, rather than being dependent on others.

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