SASSI Networking Partners

Penny recently attended the annual South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) Networking Partners’meeting in Rondebosch, Cape Town on 4-5 July. Networking Partnerships were originally introduced to promote WWF-SASSI and communicate WWF-SASSI key messages to audiences beyond WWF-SASSI’s reach. Networking Partners (such as uShaka Marine World, Two Oceans aquarium, SAIAB and SANBI) endeavour to assist with WWF-SASSI training, publicity and distribution of WWF-SASSI materials. These partnerships are integral to the success of WWF-SASSI and will continue to be essential for the furthering of WWF-SASSI objectives.

SAIAB’s major contribution has been to the development of the SASSI poster, ID flip-cards and Pocket Guides, all of which use illustrations done by Elaine Heemstra for the book Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa. These illustrations have become a hallmark feature of SASSI promotional material.

This year Tina Moss from DIFS, Rogan Field (MSc student) and Zyangani Chirambo (MSc student) joined me representing DIFS as a new partner in the SASSI Network. According to Penny, SASSI hopes to promote SASSI and advocacy for its principles through greater student participation. The idea is to build a SASSI student team that can promote SASSI on field trips along the coast, or when their supervisors or SAIAB's research staff are involved in public interface events such as fishing clinics, tag and release competitions etc.

"Between SAIAB and DIFS we have a strong post-graduate student network developing and using the student network to more actively promote SASSI – first among the students themselves, and later further afield through identifying student champions for the SASSI cause - we want to use SASSI and the Sustainable Fisheries Programme as a focal point to develop this network. Taking this approach could also enable us to integrate SASSI training into some of our student programmes like the ACEP Phuhlisa Programme", said Penny.

DIFS has also proposed to be involved with SASSI during National Marine Week which takes place from 8-12 October 2012. The activities will be focussed on increasing awareness amongst Rhodes university students.

Learning to write is like learning to swim

The Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) recently held a two-day writing development course at SAIAB for ACEP’s Phuhlisa Programme honours students at SAIAB. A number of students and interns from SAIAB also attended the course which was presented by Prof. Chrissie Boughey, Dean of Teaching & Learning at Rhodes University. 
The course aims to help post-grad students in writing their theses. Students were taught the differences between good and bad writers. Good writers start by writing informally, for themselves, move on to drafting, and redrafting then end by editing their work.  Bad writers start by writing for the supervisor early on, draft and edit all together. Students were also taught how to make a claim/statement and use evidence to support that claim. Prof. Boughey taught students that learning to write is like learning to swim: you only get better at it through constant practice.

Students started by identifying their problem areas in writing their thesis/projects. These challenges were dealt with and answered at the end of the course. “Eye-opener, awesome, useful, helpful” were some of the words students used to describe the course.