Winning student presentations
Left to right: Rabia Mathekula, Tercia Strydom and Emma Lockerbie (Picture: A Webster)
The student presentations that followed were all of a high quality and were adjudicated by SAEON's representative, Mrs Beate Hölscher, and two GSN committee members, Nasiphi Ntshanga and Tercia Strydom.
"The standard of presentations at this year's Indibano was phenomenal. The students presented their research in a professional manner and with such pride in their work. It is so encouraging to see such bright scientists in the making!" commented Tercia Strydom.
Emma Lockerbie won first prize for the best presentation with her talk, "The use of ecological, fishing and environmental indicators for the decision support of fisheries in the southern Benguela". Rita Steyn won second prize in the Best Presentation category with her talk titled "Methods to investigate, and spatial patterns on, subtidal rocky reef benthic invertebrates".
The People's Choice Award (voted for by the delegates) went to the first student to present on the day, Rabia Mathekula, for her talk titled "Do functional trait differences between native and invasive plant species predict invasion potential in the sub-Antarctic islands?"
Innovative ways to conduct research and manage data
The second and third days of the Indibano were dedicated to a scientific computing workshop facilitated by the Software Carpentry Foundation. Software Carpentry is an international non-profit organisation made up of volunteers who teach researchers basic software skills.
The workshop covered Git, a version control software, and R, a statistical analysis software. The workshop was facilitated by Anelda van der Walt from Talarify and Bertie Seyffert, an astrophysics student from North West University.
In between learning two programming languages in a very short space of time, Indibano delegates took a short detour and observed the operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by Ndlovu Node technician, Rion Lerm.
"The use of UAVs for mine surveying and, to a lesser extent, ecological monitoring is a fast-growing industry in South Africa," Rion told delegates. "Some of SAEON's current applications for the recently acquired UAV housed at the Ndlovu Node are filamentous algal mapping, birds of prey nest surveys and land-cover classification.
"UAVs are cost-effective, as compared to manned aircrafts; however these systems are limited by battery life, which ultimately affects the spatial extent of projects. Nonetheless, technological advances are made in leaps with UAVs and the post-processing software used to produce the high-resolution aerial images. SAEON is proud and excited to be part of this growing industry."
Meeting young and upcoming researchers and well-established researchers
Among the keynote speakers was Mr Thabo Mohlala, a SAEON Ndlovu Node technician and stream assessment scoring system (SASS) specialist. Thabo's talk was an impressive account of SAEON's and SANParks' ecological monitoring projects in the Kruger National Park that have translated into real benefits for society.
The Indibano ended with a very interesting talk by Dr Helga van der Merwe, an NRF Research Career Award Fellow at SAEON's Arid Lands Node. Her talk was a fascinating description of the research she has conducted over the years and the exciting opportunities, over and above her research projects, which have arisen along the way. Her message to the students was: "Seize these opportunities, because they could be exactly what you need to take your science career to the next level."
