Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
07 September 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath | Photo istock
water webinar_read more

The Middle East and Africa are facing the highest impact on water and food security, with the potential to aggravate the existing conflict in both regions. Soaring temperatures are expected to exceed global norms, and an arid future and environmental catastrophe is looming.  Israel and South Africa are both arid countries challenged by water scarcity in the face of growing demand. Both countries are in some way water insecure and most of the water in both countries is transboundary.  There is a compelling need for leadership to provide strategic thinking on how to mitigate the impact of climate change on scarce water resources. 

Join our webinar, where a panel of international speakers will discuss the myriad challenges brought on by water scarcity and consider strategic initiatives to leverage expertise in order to improve resilience to water vulnerability.

Welcome:

Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State

Panellists:

Dr Theo de Jager, The Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI)

Prof Kevin Winter, University of Cape Town

Mr Oded Diste, CEO Tal-Ya Agriculture Solutions

Monther Hind, Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group, Palestine


Moderator:

Dr Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies

Closing remarks:  Prof Hussein Solomon, AHD, Department of Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State

Date: 10 September 2020
Time: 17:00 (SAT) 

Registration: To register for the webinar, please go to https://forms.gle/PknmhZLsvjPh91N28

The webinar can be accessed at https://zoom.us/j/94893202166

 


News Archive

Monkey research attracts international attention
2016-07-11

Description: Monkey research attracts international attention  Tags: Monkey research attracts international attention

Prof Trudy Turner from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Prof Paul Grobler
from the Department of Genetics at the
University of the Free State, together with one
of the students researching monkey genes.
Photo: Siobhan Canavan

For this year’s Summer School programme, Prof Paul Grobler, from the University of the Free State Department of Genetics focuses on research about the conflict between monkeys and humans in areas where monkeys are regarded as problem animals.

Global expert part of research

This year, Prof Grobler is hosting a group of students and lecturers from the United States of America (USA). The group includes Prof Trudy Turner from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), a global expert on vervet monkeys. She has been working with the Department of Genetics at the UFS for the past fifteen years, and has also been appointed as an Affiliated Professor in the department.

“The Summer School programme is an opportunity for the American Primatology students to gain practical experience in Africa,” says Prof Grobler.

International interest in Summer School

This year’s Summer School programme involves four lecturers and nine students. The lecturers are from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Boston University, and Central Washington University.

“We use the genetic information to determine
how monkeys historically infiltrated the
different areas in South Africa.”

This year’s focus is on the genetic structure of the monkeys in South Africa, and research that is being done on the differences and similarities in monkeys from different areas. “We use the genetic information to determine how monkeys historically infiltrated the different areas in South Africa,” says Prof Grobler.

Local nature reserve acting as host

The group will perform field work, including observing monkeys in the Soetdoring Nature Reserve, as well as laboratory work in the department, where they will be assisted by two laboratory technicians.

Two years ago, Prof Grobler and his department tested this idea on a smaller scale, and now they hope to make this a regular event. 

 

 

 

 

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