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06 November 2023
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Story MBALI MABOEA
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Photo SUPPLIED
The Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Fostering academic growth, collaboration, and inspiration among students and researchers in the field of geography, the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Following a five-year hiatus, the three-day conference comprised student proposal presentations in different fields: human geography, environment geography, geoinformatics, and physical geography, divided into breakaway sessions over two days. Furthermore, day three of the annual conference included an excursion to the Basotho Cultural Village and Clarens.
The three-day annual student conference focused on different themes presented by two main speakers. The topic of the first keynote speaker, Dr Mahlomola Daemane, General Manager of the SANParks Arid Research Unit, focused on the contemporary conservation, transition, and relevance of science in policy and decision making.
The second keynote speaker was Dr Felicia Akinyemi, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow affiliated with the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Her work focuses on the intersection of geoinformatics, global change, and sustainability. Dr Akinyemi focused her talk on the integrative geospatial methods and metrics for sustainable land use. She introduced different techniques and metrics and gave students insight in early-career African research.
Speaking about the success of the conference, Nthebohiseng Sekhele, Geography Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus and chair of the organising committee, said, “The local organising committee was also very impressed with the quality of presentations from our postgraduate students in Geography, as well as the robust discussions that happened during the parallel sessions in the two days of the conference. We had a positive response of physical and online participation from many universities across South Africa. We are pleased that we have achieved our goal with this conference, which is to inspire the next generation of geographers.”
Council approves appointment of two deans
2008-06-14
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The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the extension of the contract of Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences for a further five years during its recent meeting. The appointment of Prof. Francois Tolmie as acting Dean of the Faculty of Theology was also approved.
Prof. Tolmie will be acting as Dean as from 1 July 2008 and will be appointed as dean on 1 January 2009 for a term of five years. He is appointed in the place of Prof. Hermie van Zyl who will be retiring at the end of June 2008.
The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has reached many highlights under Prof. Van Schalkwyk’s leadership. It has grown to an influential faculty, known for its world-class academic quality and research and the successful preparation of students for their careers in the sciences.
Before his appointment as dean, Prof. Van Schalkwyk was chairperson of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the UFS. He serves on the executive committee of the UFS’s Executive Management and is chairperson of the Deans Committee. Over and above his work at the UFS, he is involved in various provincial and national organisations.
He was among others appointed by the Minister of Agriculture in 2007 as member of the National Agricultural Marketing Council and in 2008 he was appointed vice-chairperson of the Land Bank Council. He is also a consultant to the World Bank and other South African organisations, a specialist in agricultural and related court cases and popular speaker at agricultural societies in South Africa and Namibia, to name a few.
Prof. Tolmie was a Senior Professor in the Department New Testament at the UFS. He is member of various national and international organisations and academic committees, among others editor of Acta Theologica, the faculty’s accredited journal.
During his term as Dean, Prof. Tolmie aims to establish meaningful liaison with international universities, increase the faculty’s average research output and increase the current number of academics from the faculty who are graded by the National Research Foundation (NRF).
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
13 June 2008
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| Prof. Francois Tolmie |
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| Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk |