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06 November 2023 | Story MBALI MABOEA | Photo SUPPLIED
SSAG 2023
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.”

News Archive

Chancellor’s Medal awarded to Tokkie Pretorius for outstanding service to the community
2014-12-12

Tokkie (JL) Pretorius – a qualified attorney who obtained his BProc, LLB and LLM at the University of the Free State (UFS) – was the recipient of the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal on 11 December 2014 during our Summer Graduation Ceremony. This latest honour builds on a path of achievements, being a previous recipient of both a Dean’s Medal as well as the Juta Prize for the best law student at the UFS.

The Chancellor’s Medal is awarded to an individual for outstanding service or achievement at local, national or international level, or for service to the community or the UFS. The academic component of a candidate’s contribution or achievement may be taken into account, but will not be decisive.

Pretorius was General Manager: Legal Services at the Free State Development Corporation (FDC) from 1996 – 2009 and Company Secretary from 2004 – 2009. Since 2009, he has been the CEO of the Anglo-Boer Museum in Bloemfontein.

“It is a great honour for me to receive the Chancellor’s Medal,” said Pretorius – who was nominated for the Bloemfonteiner of the Year competition in 2011.

“The medal is awarded to me at a very relevant time for the museum as well. The museum is at a time where nation-building, diversity and transformation are priority. Therefore, the Chancellor’s Medal award is an indication of the close co-operation between the museum and the UFS, both of whom are focused on the promotion of nation building, diversity and transformation,” Pretorius said.

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