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11 February 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Ané van der Merwe
Dr Ismari van der Merwe was instrumental in establishing the new Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development.

Dr Ismari van der Merwe believes that by forging strong relationships, women can affect virtually every aspect of their students' lives, teaching them vital life lessons that will help them succeed beyond term papers and standardised tests. 

She states that it is not always easy to change a student's life, so it takes a great teacher to do so. “You, as a teacher, have a very significant, lifelong impact on all your students. This impact involves not only the teaching of particular academic skills, but as importantly, the fostering of student self-esteem.”

“Reinforcing self-esteem in the classroom is associated with increased motivation and learning,” she says.

Dr Van der Merwe is Lecturer and Programme Director in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development at the University of the Free State (UFS).

On 11 February – International Day of Women and Girls in Science – the UFS is celebrating her not only for the impact she has on her students, but also for being instrumental in establishing the new Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, putting the UFS on the international forefront.

A sustainable food system

“We want our students to be part of a sustainable food system that provides healthy food that meets food needs, while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come, with minimal negative impact to the environment,” she says. 

“The right to food is a fundamental human right.”

Dr Van der Merwe believes that a healthy personal food system and how it is managed is now more critical than ever before. 

Her current work involves managing the five main food-related values of taste, health, cost, time, and social relationships, as well as other less prominent values of symbolism, ethics, variety, safety, waste, and quality within these personal food systems. She feels the prominence of these values varies among us as well as across our eating situations. “More research on this will be fascinating,” says Dr Van der Merwe. 

A male-dominated field

On the role of women in science, Dr Van der Merwe says it is often considered a male-dominated field. “According to United Nations data, less than 30% of scientific researchers worldwide are women,” she states.

Telling her story about becoming a scientist, she says that science chose her. “Many scientists have reported that their interest and curiosity in science or the natural world started in early childhood.”

We want our students to be part of a sustainable food system that provides healthy food that meets food needs, while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come, with minimal negative impact to the environment. – Dr Ismari van der Merwe

 

“I started as a teacher and ended up working for the Agricultural Research Council, where I was responsible for a research programme on dry beans and started a small-scale research factory.”

“Later when we moved to Bloemfontein, I joined the UFS. Here I am privileged to be able to do research and teach. Science chose me as part of my life journey, and I never looked back.”

News Archive

Odeion School of Music presents Melodies From Paris on 6 May 2016
2016-05-03

Description: Melodies From Paris  Tags: Melodies From Paris

On 6 May 2016, the French soprano Laetitia Grimaldi and pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz offer a programme of Romantic French songs, presented in the style of a Parisian salon concert from the belle époque, at the Bloemfontein Campus. From the heights of Marcel Proust to the decadence of the Moulin Rouge, the belle époque (circa 1871-1914) was a time when culture flourished more than ever in Paris. The salons of Paris became places where poets, painters, and composers would meet to share their art.

Items on the performance list include: Henri Duparc:  L'Invitation au voyage; Soupir, Chanson triste,  Franz Liszt:  Jeux d'eaux à la villa d'Este,  Gabriel Fauré:  Le secret; Clair de lune; Romance sans paroles, Op. 17 No. 3, Jean-Philippe Rameau:  Rigaudon, from Dardanus (trans. Godowsky), Reynaldo Hahn:  À Chloris; Quand je fut pris au pavillon, Charles Gounod:  Le premier jour de mai; Venise; Viens! Les gazons sont verts,  Georges Bizet:  Chansons-mélodies: Extase, Joseph Cantaloube:  Baïlèro, from Chants d'Auvergne, Charles-Valentin Alkan:  Recueil de chants, Op. 38 No. 1, Léo Delibes: Chant de l'almée; Les filles de Cadix.

Details of event:

Date: 6 May 2016
Time: 19:30
Venue: Odeion, Bloemfontein Campus
 
Tickets are available from Computicket at R130 (adults), R90 (pensioners, students and learners), R70 (UFS staff), and R50 (group bookings of 10+). For more information, contact Ninette Pretorius on +27(0)51 401 2504.

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