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03 May 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath
Frikkie Meintjes
University of the Free State alumni have an impact on a diverse range of fields, locally and internationally. They are sought after in private and public companies, leading and working in some of the top companies and organisations. One such individual is Frikkie Meintjes, Head of Global HR at Greenpeace International. 

Reconnecting alumni with the UFS and their university experience, François van Schalkwyk and Keenan Carelse, UFS alumni leading the university’s United Kingdom Alumni Chapter, have put their voices together to produce and direct a podcast series, Voices from the Free State. The podcasts are authentic conversations – providing an opportunity for the university to understand and learn about the experiences of its alumni and to celebrate the diversity and touchpoints that unite them. As part of the series, featured alumni such as Frikkie Meintjes share and reflect on their experiences at the UFS, how it has shaped their lives, and relate why their ongoing association with the UFS is still relevant and important.

Listen to Frikkie Meintjes talk about his UFS experience and connection here: 

About Frikkie Meintjes

Frikkie Meintjes is a senior management professional with extensive experience in strategic and operational leadership and people management, gained over twenty years in complex international organisations. His senior management experience includes being a member of the senior management team of Greenpeace Africa and being appointed Acting Executive Director in 2015/2016 for a period of 11 months during a leadership transition phase.
He is an experienced leader who effectively leads multicultural teams to achieve organisational goals. Frikkie’s notable achievements include harnessing a new team across four offices on the African continent, implementing a new job evaluation and grading system (Hay Group) through collaborative team efforts and a related salary structure for four offices across Africa, establishing a staff representative forum (similar to the Dutch Ondernemingsraad), and ensuring unqualified external audited annual financial statements (after a period of successive failed audits).

Leading teams from around the world

Frikkie is currently the Head of Global HR and manages a team of six HR professionals. His key deliverables include implementing the Global People Strategy and handling HR people or systems-oriented critical incidents at any of the 27 regional and national offices. The position also strengthens the global HR community and uses data to improve the overall organisational effectiveness of HR across the global organisation. In addition, he is responsible for ensuring the alignment of HR strategies and its implementation across the global organisation and provides support and expertise to senior leadership and HR professionals.

Frikkie has also worked as an international development manager in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where his role ensured the continual growth and development of particular Greenpeace-affiliated national and regional organisations though the provision of strategic support and advice to the organisation’s leadership and by optimising synergies between organisations across the Greenpeace federation in the process of upholding the integrity of the Greenpeace global organisation and movement. The development of the executive director included regular coaching and mentoring. He represented the International Executive Director during local board meetings. Organisations assigned to him included Japan, East Asia (with offices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea), and Southeast Asia (with presences in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia).

Prior to that, he served as the Operations Manager: Office of the Executive Director at Greenpeace International. He was an observer, mentor, and coach on the Future Leadership Programme held in May 2017 in Vienna, Austria, and provided advice to fifteen emerging talents. He was also a member of the Performance, Accountability and Learning (PAL) Steering Committee, advising the global organisation on monitoring and evaluation strategies, policies, and best practices.

Frikkie Meintjies has also worked for World Vision as a support services director, and for Phumani Paper in Johannesburg as an executive director.

The UFS – where it started

He completed his studies at the University of the Free State in the field of Commerce (1990-1996). During his studies, he had been involved in various activities and societies, which included being recognised as Best Residence Committee Member for Cultural Affairs; recognised as the Best Student Association, recognised for the best community engagement programme of a student association; member of the Residence Committee: Cultural Affairs and Liaison, and Chairperson of the Association of Management Sciences. 

News Archive

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment
2015-05-29

 

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.  

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

 

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

  • Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
  • Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
  • Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
  • A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

 

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website. 

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

 

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