Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
30 December 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Rian Horn
UFS Qwaqwa Campus
Hundreds of international botanists will be attending the 46th SAAB Annual Conference on the Qwaqwa Campus.

The University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus is gearing up to host the 46th Annual Conference of the South African Association of Botanists from 7 to 10 January 2020. Talking about the choice of venue, Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, Dr Sandy-Lynn Steenhuisen, said the unique setting in the shadow of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains highlights the Qwaqwa Campus as a fantastic base for interdisciplinary montane studies. “This is the home of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), and it will also give the delegates an opportunity to explore a treasure trove of botanical diversity on a post-conference tour to the top of the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg,” she said.

International delegates

“The conference will be attended by approximately 250 delegates representing at least 10 countries.  We are very excited to host two international and two national plenaries, namely Prof Peter Linder (University of Zürich), Prof Felipe Amorim (São Paulo State University – UNESP), Prof Annah Moteetee (University of Johannesburg), and our Young Botanist award winner from SAAB 2019, Ryan Rattray from GeneLethu Laboratories.”

SAAB 2020 is open to all researchers, industry partners, and citizen scientists from any botanical field. “The theme will embrace Qwaqwa’s cultural heritage by using the Sesotho phrase ‘Dimela ke bophelo’, which translates to ‘Plants are life’. This theme emphasises the dependence of all earthly life on plants. Delegates are offered the opportunity to book residence accommodation adjacent to the conference venue, and our conference organisers, XL Millennium, are eager to help with registration and any travel arrangements,” she added.

Botanists to be awarded

The conference will also be honouring botanists for their lifetime contributions to the field of plant sciences with the awarding of gold and silver medals, and the best doctoral thesis from the previous year with a bronze medal. These will be awarded during the gala dinner at the end of the conference.

News Archive

Together we can make a greener planet
2012-03-02

 

Students are rewarded for their efforts with waste recycling and energy saving on campus.
Seen here is Molete Lerothodi of Kyalami Residence, winner of the recycling and energy saving competition, together with Boipelo Malope, Ms Green South Africa.
2 March 2012
Photo: Johan Roux


Sustainability, to live green, energy saving – call it what you like. This was the focus of the Clean Campus campaign that students on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State introduced last year. Apart from it being an opportunity to reward students for their hard work, experts on campus also got the chance to share interesting information with onlookers.

An interesting fact to chew on is that the UFS’s electricity account is to increase by an estimated R38 million rand - from R19 million in 2008 to R57 million in 2012. Another interesting morsel - the university generates 20 tons of waste a day.

Although the university will implement a waste management plan in the near future, experts agree: save water, save electricity and do not squander our precious energy resources.

Madelief Residence was crowned the winner of the Clean Campus campaign. The residence’s reward – a cheque of R1 500. Kestell was second and won a gas braaier.

The competition will be the project of the SRC: Student Development and Environmental Affairs in future.

In the recycling and energy saving competition, which attracted entries from 18 of the 23 residences, Kyalami was placed first, Roosmaryn second and Akasia third.
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept