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02 August 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Alistair Naidoo, second-year master’s student in Conservation Genetics and full-time technician in the Department of Genetics; Prof Paul Grobler, Head of the Department of Genetics; Prof Gordon Luikart; and Hannah Janse van Vuuren, third-year master’s student in Conservation Genetics.

It is an important and exciting time to be doing research in conservation genetics. This is according to Prof Gordon Luikart, Professor of Conservation Ecology and Genetics at the Flathead Lake Bio Station at the University of Montana in the United States. 

Prof Luikart, whose primary research focus is the application of genetics to the conservation of natural and managed populations, recently delivered a lecture, The Expanding Role of Genetics/omics in Wildlife Research and Conservation, on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Department of Genetics, was attended by a group of students and lecturers in conservation and a number of related fields. 

He is one of the leading scientists in the field of conservation genetics, including integration of genomics in conservation projects. He is also co-author of the textbook Conservation and the Genomics of populations – the current prescribed textbook for GENE3744.

Species threatened with extinction

In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that approximately 10-20% of all vertebrate and plant species are threatened with extinction over the next few decades. In 1984, American biologist Edward O Wilson also said that it will take millions of years to correct the ongoing loss of genetics and species diversity caused by the destruction of natural habitats. “This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.”

Prof Luikart is of the opinion that genetics has enormous potential to help manage wildlife and prevent extirpation. “My research works to realise this potential and help wildlife managers conserve populations and ecosystems,” he says. 

Conservation managers and biologists have understood the risks of inbreeding for more than 100 years. In his lecture, one of the aspects of genetic conservation he focused on, was the negative effects of inbreeding and how this can be reversed using genetic rescue. 

With the genetic rescue study, they found that the gene flow into recently isolated populations can increase individual fitness and population growth. He proposed that conservation managers should consider genetic principles and rescue as practical and important tools. 

Prof Luikart also provided a list of information that can be retrieved from molecular genetic data to help conservation managers. This includes intel on census and effective population size, gene flow and dispersal, local adaptation and selection, forensics, genetic identification and law enforcement, and disease ecology and transmission. 

Non-invasive genetic monitoring

In terms of detecting gene flow, he focused on a study about non-invasive genetic monitoring that was conducted in the Yellowstone Park. Prof Luikart and a group of students collected the shed hair and faeces of the grizzly bear, obtained from trees and hair traps, which were used as a source of DNA. 

They established, for instance, that inbreeding depression is more common and stronger than previously thought in natural populations. Genetic monitoring, using non-invasive methods as described, has been found to be an effective tool that conservation managers should consider for detecting inbreeding and loss of genome-wide variation.

His research on the bighorn sheep, the alpine ibex, and the black bear informed most of the findings he discussed during his lecture.

News Archive

Spring graduation and diploma ceremonies
2010-09-17

The University of the Free State (UFS) has conferred 566 grade, 41 doctoral degrees and 274 diplomas at the spring graduation and diploma ceremonies. 

The two honorary doctoral degrees were conferred on Prof. Kalie Strydom and Dr Monty Jones. The event took place in die Callie Human Centre on the Main Campus. 

The UFS Management and personnel congratulates all our graduates on this achievement!

New UFS Chancellor confers his first degrees

The new Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), Dr Khotso Mokhele, conferred the first degrees since he has taken up the position as Chancellor. The UFS awarded 266 degrees and 20 doctorates to students from the Faculties of the Humanities, Health Sciences, Education, Law and Theology during its Spring graduation ceremony on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today. Pictured at the ceremony, from the left, are: Dr Mokhele and Prof. Jonathan Jansen (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

 
UFS awards doctoral degree to 93-year-old graduate

This week Dr Anna de Jager received her doctoral degree in Religious Studies: Biblical and Religious Studies, during the Spring graduation ceremony of the University of the Free State (UFS) that took place in the Callie Human Centre on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein. Dr De Jager was the star of the day because she was the oldest person (93) who received her qualification during this graduation ceremony. The theme of her thesis is: Die belewing van geloofsekerheid by die Gereformeerde Afrikaanssprekende adolessente leerder.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

 
UFS honours an acclaimed educational researcher

The University of the Free State (UFS) conferred an Honorary Doctorate to Prof. Andries Hermanus (Kalie) Strydom during the Spring graduation ceremony held at the Callie Human Centre on the Main Campus today. Prof. Strydom is an alumnus and former academic of the UFS. His academic career can best be described as a lifetime of dedication to accountable research aimed at the advancement of higher education in South Africa. He is an acclaimed researcher in the field of higher education – nationally and internationally. His work over the last 30 years has not only been about supporting transformation in the education sector and specifically higher education, but also about capacity building of staff and supporting equity expectations without compromising quality.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

 
UFS confers another honorary doctorate

The University of the Free State (UFS) conferred another Honorary Doctorate today, this time on Dr Monty Jones (pictured), a Sierra Leonean who spent the last 32 years of his career in Africa working in international agricultural research for development institutions. Dr Jones is the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and co-winner of the prestigious 2004 World Food Prize. The UFS also awarded 300 degrees and 21 doctorates to students from the Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Natural and Agricultural Sciences; and 274 diplomas were conferred on students from all the faculties during the Spring graduation and diploma ceremonies on the Main Campus.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

 
UFS reaches another milestone in Sign Language

The University of the Free State (UFS) has become the first university in South Africa to award a Ph.D. in South African Sign Language. This honour was bestowed upon Dr Philemon Akach (pictured), Head of the Department of South African Sign Language at the UFS, during the Spring graduation and diploma ceremonies on the Main Campus. The UFS is also the first university in the country to have a fully-fledged and dedicated Department of South African Sign Language and it was the first university on the continent to offer Sign Language as an academic course in 1999.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

 
Proud day for UFS parent as daughter obtains first degree

On Thursday, 16 September 2010, Ms Rebecca Mohatlane from the University of the Free State (UFS) Student Academic Services had a day every mother dreams about when her daughter obtained her first degree. Puleng Mohatlane obtained a Baccalaureus Administrationis degree from the UFS’s Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences during this year’s September graduation ceremony. Puleng is currently continuing her studies at the UFS, working towards obtaining an honours degree.
Photo: Christiaan van der Merwe

 
Second generation student at Chemistry obtains doctorate degree

The Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS) bore witness to a special event on Thursday, 16 September 2010 when another Conradie of the department received her doctoral degree. Marianne Conradie, daughter of Prof. Jeanet Conradie of the department, obtained her doctoral degree during the UFS’s 2010 Spring graduation ceremony. Adding to the already tight family connections, Prof. Conradie also acted as the promoter for Marianne’s thesis titled Rhodium and Iron complexes and transition states: A computational spectroscopic and electrochemical study.
Photo: Susan Conradie

 
Eastern Cape MEC obtains diploma at UFS

A member of the Eastern Cape’s Executive Committee (MEC), Mr Sicelo Gqobana, was one of the 800 graduates obtaining degrees or diplomas during the September 2010 graduation ceremonies at the University of the Free State (UFS). Currently serving as the Eastern Cape MEC for Local Government and Traditional affairs in the province, where he has been involved in politics since the 1990s. Mr Gqobana is also a former Chief Whip in the Provincial Legislature. Mr Gqobana, originally a teacher, obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Governance and Political Transformation from the UFS on Thursday, 16 September 2010.
Photo: Christiaan van der Merwe.

 

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