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ARU researcher Ntebohiseng Sekhele guest edits journal on montane rangelands

06 April 2021 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah

Ntebohiseng Sekhele_web read more — Ntebohiseng Sekhele is the Associate Guest Editor of the recent Special Issue of the African Journal of Range & Forage Science.

The Director of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), Dr Ralph Clark, and researcher, Ntebohiseng Sekhele, recently became part of a guest editorial team for the African Journal of Range & Forage Science. The Special Issue titled, ‘Montane rangelands in a changing world’, was published on 3 March 2021.

“I feel privileged to have been part of the team that assembled this special issue. The experience was daunting at first, as I had never been part of an editorial team before. However, with the support of the guest editors and the journal’s administrator, I was able to overcome the imposter-syndrome feeling and allowed myself to learn and enjoy the ride. My ‘aha’ moments were the critical comments from the reviewers on each paper. It was amazing to witness how this feedback would enhance the quality of an article,” said Ntebohiseng Sekhele, Geography lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Journal focus

This issue focused on the applied management of montane rangelands for production in Southern Africa and the broader world. Submissions could include original research, reviews, and meta-analyses. This has culminated in contributions that centred on the impact of policy on pastoral practices by montane communities, fire management regimes, cumulative effects of poor governance on rangeland degradation, and sustainable grazing systems – including in ecological infrastructure such as montane wetlands and communal rangeland.

“The process took almost a year, as the first call for abstracts was made in December 2019 and final revisions of accepted papers were concluded in November 2020. There were 32 submissions with only 12 articles and one book review of Prof Rodney Moffett’s book, A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and Adjacent Lowlands. Of the 12 contributions, nine focus on the Maloti-Drakensberg, with papers on Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free State,” she revealed.

Submitted papers

“All papers advocate for the sustainable management of sensitive montane systems, which ties well with my own research that makes a contribution to the limited scholarship of natural resource-related conflicts between montane communities and their adjacent protected areas, as well as climate change impacts on natural resources,” said Sekhele, a PhD candidate through the ARU’s US-SA University Staff Development Programme (USDP). The special issue allowed for a closer link between the US and SA USDP through the involvement of Dr Kryan Kunkel – Ntebohiseng’s US co-supervisor – as one of the guest editors.

News Archive

Major infrastructure development planned for three campuses

2014-01-06

DHET Sound Studio, African Languages and Humanities projects.

More students will be accommodated on our campuses, with two new residences being built on the Qwaqwa and Bloemfontein Campuses respectively. The residences are part of a grant received by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

The new residences will accommodate 250 students each and the planned completion date is end of 2014.

Other major projects planned for the three campuses are a Student Life Centre on the Qwaqwa Campus, new lecture halls for the South Campus and a new sound studio on the Bloemfontein Campus. The sound studio will be erected where the old squash courts used to be.

The Department of Physical Planning stated the aim is to create a facility that can house a recording studio that will function as a multi-purpose centre where students can get practical experience in sound and visual recording. Albie Louw, Chief Officer: Property Management in the Department of Physical Planning, says the studio will have a screening room, a multi-camera recording studio, editing room, video- and audio-control room and lecture-recording studios.

The projects have different completion dates, but all fall within the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 financial years.

On the Qwaqwa Campus, the existing amphitheatre in front of the library will get a roof, so that it can be used more effectively and be more accessible. It will create a new active open space that can be utilised by students for informal study, a social space and for formal functions or promotions.

Other facilities to be upgraded include the electrical infrastructure on the Qwaqwa Campus. Disability access on the campus will also be improved.

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