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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.

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New champions crowned at first-year athletics

2017-02-03

Description:UFS first-year athletics Tags: UFS first-year athletics longdesc=

It was a day filled with excitement on and off the
track when the residences at the University of
the Free State competed against each other
during the first-year athletics event.
Photo: Charl Devenish

The University of the Free State’s first-year athletics is an institution. It is a day marked by colour, spirit, and hoarse voices, but in 2017 produced something different than the last couple of years.

For the first time in four years, new athletics champions were crowned in both the men’s and women’s sections when Veritas and Sonnedou walked away with the trophies at Pellies Park on the Bloemfontein Campus on 25 January 2017.

Wag-’n-Bietjie, Vishuis relinquish titles

Sonnedou, who came second in 2016, broke Wag-’n-Bietjie’s stronghold of the past six years by winning the women’s athletics trophy. Furthermore, Sonnedou won this trophy more than a decade ago – in 2004. Veritas, who won the men’s athletics trophy for the first time since 2011, also put a stop to Vishuis’s dominance. House Abraham Fischer has worn the athletics crown for the past three years.

This year, Vishuis (70 points) took second place after Veritas (76), with Armentum (61) third. Sonnedou (99 points) easily triumphed in the women’s division, while Akasia (36) and Wag-?-Bietjie (34) respectively took second and third place.

Veritas captures overall Spirit trophy

However, the event is about much more than the action on and around the athletics track. First-years also get the opportunity to show pride in their residences by shouting at the top of their lungs.

Veritas, better-known in recent years for its excellent sêr groups, asserted itself even more by being named as the overall winner of the Spirit trophy. This residence was also the winner of the men’s section. Harmony won the Spirit trophy for women’s residences, while Conlaurês was the co-ed residence with the greatest spirit.

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