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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

More than 500 to graduate this summer
2015-11-30

A total of 544 graduates will walk across the stage to collect their hard-earned qualifications at this year’s Summer Graduation on the Bloemfontein Campus.

A total of 106 Master’s Degrees and 39 Doctorates will be conferred by all seven faculties of the University of the Free State (UFS). About 231 pre-graduates are expected from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The School of Open Learning will proudly award 122 Diplomas and 46 Certificates.

Prof Busisiwe Rosemary Bhengu, Chairperson of the South African Nursing Council, will be the guest speaker for the day.

About the guest speaker

Prof Bhengu holds a PhD in Nursing, and is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). From 2008, Bhengu has headed the UKZN School of Nursing.  She has supervised and co-supervised several PhD and Master’s students.

In addition to teaching Critical Care Nursing at both local and international levels, Bhengu was responsible for the development of the Nurse Specialist syllabus at the university. Her contributions to the field reach as far as the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Seychelles, where she pioneered course development and implementation for critical care nursing in the curriculum for Nurse Anaesthetics in Rwanda.

Other leadership positions held by Prof Bhengu include directing the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre in the UKZN School of Nursing between 2008 and 2011; representing the Afro-Region at the Executive Committee of the Global Network; chairing the Professional Conduct Committee; and the Laws, Practice and Standards Committee. She has published many papers internationally.

A musical prelude

The Sonnedou residence Kleinser group will deliver a few musical items for the graduates, friends, and family.

Details of event

Date:
Thursday 10 December 2015
Time:  08:00am and 14:30pm
Place: Callie Human Centre, Bloemfontein Campus

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