NRF CEO visits SAIAB
SAIAB recently had
the honour of hosting the NRF Managing Directors’ meeting. The meeting was
attended by the Managing Directors of other National Facilities. NRF CEO, Dr
Albert van Jaarsveld, addressed SAIAB staff on the performance of the NRF and
the call for reviewing the placement of National Facilities. Van Jaarsveld also touched on the NRF’s vision
2015, stating that we’re two 3rds of achieving the goals set out. “In terms of
the targets we’ve set, some we’re doing quite well and others need some reviews,
especially around issues of transformation within the NRF”, he said. At the
moment it seems unclear as to what the future of SAIAB is in terms of
placement, but Angus urged SAIAB staff to continue doing the good work which is
done and improve on areas of improvement. “What we need to remember is that a
rock-up in the system isn’t necessarily bad”. In closing, Van Jaarsveld said “this
is quite an exciting time for our science system so let’s see this as an
opportunity”.
SAIAB was recently visited by multilinguists Professor Esther Ramani and
colleague Michael Joseph from the University of Limpopo. Ramani is a recent
recipient of the Mail and Guardian Woman of the Year Award for ground breaking
work she has done in the field of African languages. She and Joseph are well
known for having worked on the introduction of the first multilingual degree at
the University of Limpopo. Although their visit wasn’t ‘professional’, they
were very interested in the communication of science in African languages.Joseph was particularly interested in the type of outreach the institute is involved in considering that we’re based in a largely isiXhosa speaking province. The pair met with Angus Paterson and were taken on a tour of the facilities by Sherwyn Mack. They were particularly fascinated by the artwork by Linga Diko at the entrance to the library.
Ramani said they thought the only thing they're going to see was the coelacanth, "we had no idea there is so much going on at SAIAB".
In 2003 Ramani and colleague Michael Joseph founded a BA in
contemporary English and multilingual studies at the University of Limpopo’s
School of Languages and Communication Studies. It is the first dual-medium BA
programme using an African language (in this case Northern Sotho) at any South
African university. Ramani suggested that we produce a publication in IsiXhosa
and distributing to the local grahamstown community.
National Science Week
National Science Week
is here and SAIAB has a range of activities planned for the week which will run
from Monday 30 July to Saturday 4 August under this year’s theme: The
Role of Science in Economic Development. Karen Binning has been
organising all the SAIAB activities which will all be taking place in Port
Elizabeth. Activities include presentations about the marine environment, what
are estuaries and why are estuaries important, discussion on climate change and
a presentation of current research taking place in Algoa Bay and the Swartkops
Estuary. We’ll also be having a SAMREC (SA Marine Rehabilitation and Education
Centre) open day Penguin care educational walk in the Cape Receif reserve.
Penny will be facilitating a workshop how prehistoric rock paintings survived the elements and what we can do to conserve these paintings for another thousand years. The workshop will also be looking at the symbolism behind colours used on traditional and modern homes. Albany Museum resident archaeologist, Celeste Booth, will also be teaching participants how to make their own paint. The workshop will be at the BUCO Workshop, 34 Bathurst Street on 4 August and entrance fee is R10. For more info contact Busi Phongolo at 046 603 1106 or busisiwe@scifest.org.za
National Science Week is an initiative of the Department of Science
and Technology (DST) and is a countrywide celebration of science involving
various stakeholders and/or role players conducting science-based activities.
National Science Week is run in all nine provinces simultaneously at multiple
sites per province. The National Launch will be on 28 July in the Gauteng
province. National Science Week promotes the greater awareness and appreciation
of the contribution that science and technology makes to the nation. In
addition to contributing to science, engineering and technology among various
sections of the population, the National Science Week is intended to expose the
public, educators and learners to science-based careers, particularly
disadvantaged sections of the population.
