Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
11 March 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Supplied
Dr Ralph Clarke
Dr Ralph Clark, Director of the Afromontane Research Unit.

The African Mountain Research Foundation (AMRF), in association with the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) of the University of the Free State (UFS), and the Global Mountain Safeguard Research Programme (GLOMOS), is hosting the first-ever Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2022). The theme of the conference is Southern African Mountains – their value and vulnerabilities.

The conference will bring relevant people together into one space for networking and information sharing, leading to more robust regional and international collaborations and comparative mountain studies with an increase in research activities, student capacity, researcher capacity and academic outputs that feed into policy and action. 

The conference will take place from 14 to 17 March 2022 in the majestic Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa and Lesotho. 

According to the SAMC2022 website, this is a truly Southern African regional mountain conference, targeting the African region south of the Congo rainforest (DRC) and Lake Rukwa (Tanzania), but including Madagascar, the Comoros and the Mascarenes (i.e., Angola, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo [southern mountains], Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, La Réunion, South Africa, southern Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).

Dr Ralph Clark, ARU Director, said the conference would be a high-level international event with UNESCO patronage and very valuable sponsors.

“The programme will have six parallel tracks (one being dedicated to postgraduate students), with about 200 papers being delivered. In addition, we have some very high-profile special sessions, such as an MRI special session on long-term monitoring activities and associated data availability for climate change-related applications across Africa’s mountains, as well as a UNESCO special session on regional collaboration. We also have Prof Julian Bayliss, described as the man who discovered an unseen world, as the guest speaker at the closing event.”

The conference will bring together relevant people in one space for networking and information sharing, leading to more robust regional and international collaborations and comparative mountain studies, with an increase in research activities, student capacity, researcher capacity, and academic outputs that feed into policy and action.

The GLOMOS team, one of the long-term partners of the ARU, spent the week of 8 to 11 March 2022 on the Qwaqwa Campus to strengthen collaboration and pave the way for new research opportunities in Phuthaditjhaba and the Maloti-Drakensberg.
GLOMOS represents an interface between the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Eurac Research. Postdoctoral fellow, Dr Stefano Terzi, said: “It’s very interesting for us to look at the Maloti-Drakensberg area because of its diversity. We are in the process of really exciting collaborations.”
Their projects include an understanding of the root causes of land degradation and improving decision-making processes for current water management within the context of water scarcity in the Maloti-Drakensberg.
• For more information on the speakers and the programme, click here 


News Archive

Bloemfontein Campus SRC announced
2017-09-01

Description: Asive speak  Tags: Bloemfontein Campus SRC, Student Representative Council, Asive Dlanjwa 

Asive Dlanjwa, Student Representative Council President for the
2017/2018 term addressing the crowed at the Steve Biko Building
on the Bloemfontein Campus. 
Photo: Johan Roux


The 2017/2018 Student Representative Council (SRC) for the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State was announced yesterday, 31 August 2017. 

The election process on both the Bloemfontein Campus and the Qwaqwa Campus was overseen by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa.  “My greatest responsibility is to ensure that we improve access and that we deal with all forms of exclusion,” said Asive Dlanjwa, President-elect for the 2017/2018 SRC term. 
 
Bloemfontein Campus elective portfolios:

President:   Asive Dlanjwa
Vice-President:  Letlhogonolo Boikanyo
Secretary:  Siphokhazi Tyida
Treasurer:  Ntombi Nhlapo
Arts & Culture:  Lwanda Jack
Sport:  Yanelisa Nyalambisa
Transformation:  Kamohelo Maphike 
Student Accessibility and Support:  Sibongile Mpama
Media and Marketing:  Kgotatso Nonyane 
First-generation students:  Lorraine Chauke 
Legal and Constitutional Affairs:  Athenkosi Koti
Student Development and Environment: Lefa Makara

Bloemfontein Campus ex officio portfolios:

International Affairs:  A Kwenda
Dialogue and Associations: Y Xatasi
Student Media: T Fray
Postgraduate Council: M Makhetha
On-campus Residences: S Dwaba
Day Residences: B McPherson
Civil and Social Responsibility:  E du Toit 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept