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30 December 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Gavin Dollman
Gavin Dollman is involved in virtual prospecting for fossils using a drone.

Gavin Dollman is one of the young researchers selected for the international research programme funded through the US-SA Higher Education Network. This prestigious programme is aimed at giving PhD candidates and their supervisors the opportunity to regularly travel to the USA and spend time at participating US universities where their co-promoters will be based.

“The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) has allowed me to bring my idea of collaborative science to fruition. It’s an exciting opportunity,” Dollman said.

Dollman added that his PhD studies would focus on the machine and deep learning for prospecting for palaeontology. He is studying with the Appalachian State University. Other participating universities are Montana and Colorado State.

He has also had the privilege to work alongside a team of Geologists and Paleontologists from the universities of Birmingham, Zurich and Oxford in a project under the auspices of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Evolution Studies Institute (ESI) on a site in rural Eastern Cape.

“My role within this massive project is to perform a detailed survey of the sites and the surrounding area for later analysis. I used a drone known as the DJI Phantom 3 Pro with which I took hundreds of pictures that were later put together to create a detailed map,” he said.

“The maps allowed for virtual prospecting by the team and will in the long term serve as the basis for a predictive fossil model for the area.”

Dollman is a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Informatics on the Qwaqwa Campus.

News Archive

Update on situation on the Bloemfontein Campus
2016-02-22

State of our campuses #5

Striking outsourced contract workers have been demonstrating outside the Main Gate of the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS since this morning. A contingent of the Public Order Policing is on campus to ensure stability.

A few classes have been disrupted by students and some have entered the UFS Sasol Library. Matters are under control and academic and administrative services continue as normal. Students are advised to consult with the dean of their faculty for information regarding classes.

The Main Gate to the campus is closed; staff and students are advised to use other gates to enter or exit the campus. If you feel unsafe in any way, please call +27(0)51 401 2634 for assistance. Further updates will follow.

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