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05 November 2020 | Story Thabo Kessah
Prof Moffett’s latest offering collates hundreds of mountain research material into one accessible reference book.

Prof Rodney Moffett recently published a new book focusing on various scientific articles published between 1808 and 2019. The book, A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and Adjacent Lowlands, has 534 pages and covers material appearing in accredited journals, plus unpublished but traceable reports, documents, presentations, and dissertations.

“The scientific articles range from palaeobotany with 17 entries, to rock art with 502 entries, as well as 252 theses and dissertations,” said Prof Moffett.

He said it took 18 months to compile the book, typing the manuscript himself – mostly at night.

In the foreword, Dr Ralph Clark, Director: Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), says: “This bibliography is a labour of love, and will inspire a new generation to take up the baton for excellent research in this fantastic mountain system. We are proud to publish this under the ARU banner as a contribution to growing and consolidating mountain-passionate relationships in Southern Africa, and to encourage our journey towards developing a holistic understanding and sustainable use of these iconic mountain landscapes.” 

Other books

Prof Moffett is an honorary research fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State, and an associate of the Afromontane Research Unit on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. He was previously Professor of Botany on the Qwaqwa Campus when it was part of the University of the North, retiring in 2000. Since then, he has remained active, publishing scholarly works on ethnobotany and other natural history subjects.

His four recent books, also published by Sun Press, are: Sesotho Plant and Animal Names and Plants used by the Basotho (2010), A Biographical Dictionary of Contributors to the Natural History of the Free State and Lesotho (2014), Basotho Medicinal Plants – Meriana ya Dimela tsa Basotho (2016), and A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy (2018). A second revised edition of Meriana ya Dimela tsa Basotho – 

News Archive

Construction at Qwaqwa Campus creates jobs for local community
2010-05-28

At the construction site hand-over ceremony are, from the left: Dr
Elias Malete, Dr Dipane Hlalele, Prof. WF van Zyl and Mr Derek Canavan
(Freelance Construction)
Photo: Thabo Kessah


Local labour is set to benefit from at least 20 job opportunities that will be created during the building of new facilities valued at R13,5 million for the Faculty of Education on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).

This was announced by Mr Derek Canavan, an architect from Freelance Construction, during the sod-turning ceremony held on the construction site recently.

The soon to be built facilities will include a 100-seater lecture hall, two 50-seater classrooms, an office block, ablution facilities, two separate laboratories for biology and science, as well as an IT laboratory with 70 work stations. All these facilities will be user-friendly to the disabled students.

Addressing a contingent of brains behind the project that included Mr Nico Janse van Rensburg, Manager of Physical Planning at the UFS, Dr Elias Malete, the Qwaqwa Campus Principal, said that this addition to the existing infrastructure would enable the campus to meet its enrolment and output challenges.

“These new facilities will no doubt increase the university’s academic and research capacity and will certainly help us respond positively to Minister Blade Nzimande’s call to institutions of higher learning to improve on scientific research. We are therefore pleased with this multi-million rand investment from the National Department of Education and the UFS,” he concluded.

Also attending was Dr Dipane Hlalele, Programme Head in the faculty, who was also pleased with the new facilities. “These facilities will help us to answer to our community’s needs of pre-school and foundation-phase teacher training which will be added to our study programme in January 2011. We will be introducing a new B.Ed. degree in Pre-school and Foundation phases and these facilities will help in the production of quality teachers for the benefit of our community,” he said.

The new building is expected to be ready for usage in June 2011.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (acting)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za  
27 May 2010
 

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