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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.”
UFS honours its top sport achievers
2010-10-21
KovsieSport at the University of the Free State (UFS) will honour its top sport achievers at a glamorous ceremony at the Centenary Complex on the UFS campus on Thursday, 21 October 2010.
The Kovsie Sport Stars 2010 awards are divided into two categories, one for the top men’s sportsman at the university and one for the top women’s counterpart.
The nominees for this year are:
Women’s category:
- Lesley-Ann George – Vice-Captain of the South African Hockey team that took part in the recent Commonwealth Games in India.
- Tanya Basson – The current African Judo champion in the under 52 kg division and Member of the South African Judo teams that took part in the Kata and Kurash World Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games.
- Nelmaré Loubser – Represented South Africa at the Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships and a member of the South African Prestige Biathle team.
Male category:
- Thuso Mpuang – Represented South Africa at the Africa Athletics Championship and the World Continental Games as part of the SA relay team.
- Boy Soke – Represented South Africa at the Southern African Half-marathon Championships and a member of the South African Half-marathon team competing at the World Championships.
- Bruno Schwalbach – Gold-medal winner for South Africa at the Southern African Karate Championships in the senior Kata division.
- Windy Jonas – Represented South Africa at the Africa Athletics Championships.
- Wiaan Viljoen – Represented South Africa in Badminton at the Thomas and Uber Cup, the All African Championships where he won a silver and a bronze medal, as well as the World Badminton Championships, reaching the 32nd round.
- Boom Prinsloo – A member of the South African Sevens rugby team that competed in the Commonwealth Games.
- Johan Cronjé – Currently ranked 38th in the world 1500 m rankings and represented South Africa at the Africa Athletics Championships.
- Philip van der Walt – Member of the Vodacom Cheetahs rugby team as well as of the South African Sevens team that competed at the Commonwealth Games.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (acting)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
21 October 2010