Speaker Profiles

Speaker Profiles

Adrian ShraderAdrian Shrader

Dr Adrian Shrader is a Senior lecturer of Wildlife Conservation and Management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal whose main research interest is the foraging ecology of large mammals. He has conducted research at the University of the Witwatersrand, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and at the University of Pretoria, and has been affiliated with the University of Illinois, Duke University, and Ben Gurion University. He has a particular interest in presenting complex scientific findings – be they in the written, poster, or oral forms – in a clear and understandable way.


AmeliaAmelia Genis

Amelia Genis is a journalist at Landbouweekblad with a special interest in sustainable agriculture and how organisms and processes work in nature, especially in the arid regions of South Africa. She studied Agricultural Economics and Agronomy at Stellenbosch University before joining the department of agriculture as an agricultural economist. She went back to University to do an honours degree in Journalism and began to practice the craft. While working on community newspapers, she completed a Masters degree in Science Journalism on journalists' need for numerical literacy and was quite rattled by the many examples of illiteracy she found in newspapers. She also holds an MPhil in Land and Agrarian Studies and has investigated change in the commercial farming sector for the PhD thesis she hopes to complete before Christmas.


Clement CupidoClement Cupido

Clement Cupido is a rangeland ecologist for the Agricultural Research Council. He works primarily in the Succulent Karoo biome in the Namaqualand Uplands and has a keen interest in the ecosystem services herding has to offer. He is based at the University of the Western Cape’s Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Department where he supervises and co-supervises several post grad students who are working within the arid zone along the west coast region. He has a keen interest in outdoor and studio photography.


Jacques Raubenheimer

RaubenheimerJacques Raubenheimer has completed two masters degrees (Research Psychology, Practical Theology) and one PhD (Research Psychology). He is currently a lecturer in Biostatistics at the University of the Free State and a research consultant and computer trainer. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Microsoft Office 2010 Specialist Master Instructor. He has extensive experience in training students hands-on to write their theses and dissertations using Microsoft Word in a customised training course which he developed. This work has resulted two books: Doing Your Dissertation with Microsoft® Word: A comprehensive guide to using Microsoft® Word for academic writing (Updated for Word 2007 & 2010) (ISBN: 9780868868141). Mendeley: Crowd-sourced reference and citation management in the information era (ISBN: 9780620594424). He now maintains the website http://insight.trueinsight.za.com, where he occasionally blogs, and which contains a set of tools he has developed for students doing their theses and dissertations—the Word uTIlities (a set of Excel uTIlities and a book on Excel are rumoured to be in the works).

 

James BennettJames Bennett

Dr James Bennett holds a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Ecosystems from the University of Warwick. He undertook his doctoral studies at Coventry University, researching small scale cattle production systems in communal areas of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Since completing his PhD, he has lectured in Environmental Science at Coventry University and continued to undertake research in Eastern Cape on the management of communally held rangelands and arable land allocations as common property systems. He has published a number of papers in this field and also reviews regularly for a variety of different journals. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of African Journal of Range and Forage Science and European representative for the continuing committee of the International Rangelands Congress.


Jan RoodtJan Roodt

Jan Roodt is the current chairman of the Interfaculty Animal Ethics Committee of the University of the Free State. He has been a scientist in the department of Haematology and Cell Biology at this university for 32 years. He specializes in the role of blood platelets in thrombosis and has 25 years experience in using and developing primate models of various thrombotic diseases. Recently they have developed models for arterial thrombosis and Thombotic Thrombocytopaenic Purpura (TTP) and have tested various experimental drugs successfully in these models. They are currently developing a stroke model, and initial results look very promising.


Jano MyburghJano

Jano Myburgh is a Bloemfontein based commercial and editorial photographer servicing Media houses in Cape Town and Johannesburg as well as businesses in the Free State area. He received his Bachelors Degree in Photography from the Central University of Technology, Free State in 2007 for his thesis "The Free State Forensic Science Department: An Investigation into Photographic Competence". Apart from the mainstream commercial aspects of his business, Jano also produces Fine Art work for exhibition purposes and limited edition print sales. Additionally Jano lectures part-time at the Central University of Technology, Free State where he offers practical and theoretical subjects. He has been a contributing photographer on heritage projects, most notably the South African Heritage Resources Agency's national inventory audit and the National Heritage Council's Driekops Eiland project.

John TaylorJohn Taylor

Dr John A Taylor has worked in Australia’s rangelands for over 35 years, in roles ranging from a research scientist to Chief of a Division in CSIRO, and most recently as the Director of Rangelands Australia and Professor of Rangeland Management at The University of Queensland. In this role he has won national and international awards for educational programs that enhance learning and for outstanding achievement in academia. John is now semi-retired, and currently a Director of the Primary Industries Education Foundation and Southern Gulf Catchments Ltd; Chair of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Industry Skills Advisory Group; President of the Australian Rangeland Society and the Australian
representative on the Global Rangelands Initiative.

Justin du ToitJustin du Toit

Justin du Toit is a Production Scientist at the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute. He has taught in the fields of agriculture and grassland science at the University of Fort Hare, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute. His current research interests are climate/grazing effects on vegetation change in the eastern Karoo, and how this affects production agriculture.

 

LizeLize Joubert

 

Lize Joubert obtained the degrees BSc in 2004, BScHons in 2005, MSc in 2007, all cum laude, at the University of the Free State. In 2013 she obtained a PhD in Botany at the University of the Free State. She started her career in the Department of Plant Sciences, UFS, in 2004 as Geo Potts Herbarium assistant, was appointed as professional officer in 2007 and then as lecturer and curator of the Geo Potts Herbarium in 2009. In 2007 she undertook a research visit to several herbaria in Europe and Kew Herbarium in England. Lize has also undertaken fieldwork for plant collection throughout South Africa and Namibia and collaborates with several local and international research associates in the field of plant systematics and pollination biology.



Luthando DzibaLuthando

Dr Luthando Dziba is a Principal Scientist and Competency Area Manager: Ecosystem Services at the CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment Unit. He is responsible for research on impacts of climate change and land cover change on ecosystem services as well as mainstreaming of ecosystem services into planning and policy. He also manages three research groups that undertake cutting edge research on various aspects of ecosystem services science. Luthando has been a member of several South African delegations to the United Nations Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as science advisor and chaired a working group on Administrative and Institutional Arrangements of the IPBES secretariat at the first IPBES plenary in Bonn in January 2013.



Pieter duPieter Duvenage

Professor Pieter Duvenage (born 1963) has studied philosophy in South Africa (Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth) and Germany (Göttingen and Frankfurt-am-Maine). He received his doctorate in 1994 from the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University). After his first position as senior lecturer (1995) he has lectured philosophy from 1997 as an associate professor, full professor and visiting professor at various South African universities (Limpopo, UJ, NMMU) and two Australian universities with campuses in South Africa (Bond and Monash). On 1 October 2011 he became full professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein (South Africa). He is the author and co-author of four books and almost 40 accredited articles in journals and books. He specialises in political and social philosophy within the traditions of Critical Theory, Phenomenology/Hermeneutics and South African Intellectual History. He is accredited as a researcher by the NRF (National Research Foundation) since 2003, a member of the Akademie (Suid-Afrikaaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns) since 2004, and a past president of the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa (2005-2008).  

 

Robert SchallRobert Schall

Prof Robert Schall is the Head of the Statistical Consultation Unit in the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, UFS. He graduated in Mathematics from the University of Karlsruhe (Germany), and has a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Cape Town.  From 1997—2008 Robert Schall worked in the private sector as Director of Biostatistics at Quintiles, being a co-founder of that company in Bloemfontein. Robert Schall has many years’ experience in statistical consultation, and is the author and co-author of about 130 scientific publications, many of which arising out of consultation projects.


Terry EversonTerry Everson

Dr Terry Everson is a senior lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with which she has had a long involvement. She has been involved in community land rehabilitation projects in the Upper Thukela catchments for the past 12 years. In 2006 she won the research category of the Women in Water awards for her outstanding contribution in advancing the cause of women in Water, Sanitation and Forestry Sectors.



Terry OlckersOlckers

Dr Terry Olckers is a senior lecturer in Entomology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He acquired his PhD from Rhodes University before being employed by the Plant Protection Research Institute of the Agricultural Research Council. He has been affiliated with the Working for Water Programme in South Africa, Landcare Research in New Zealand, and the Federal University of Parana in Brazil. He has given presentations in many countries across the world, and has published over 35 scientific papers on biological control of alien invasive plants.



Tony PalmerTony Palmer

Dr Tony Palmer leads a research group in the ARC-Animal Production Institute that focuses on using remote sensing to evaluate landscape water use. He has developed landscape analysis techniques which detect changes in natural rangeland (field survey, remote sensing, forage production modelling) and has defined new perspectives on rangeland condition assessment (e.g. using high resolution infra-red imagery). He was awarded a C2 rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF) for his research on the use of MODIS products to estimate landscape scale plant water use and net primary production.


Wayne TruterWayne Trutter

Dr Wayne Truter is currently employed by the University of Pretoria as a senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Plant Production and Soil Science. His field of specialization is planted pastures, forage crops and the application thereof in land reclamation. He currently manages various research projects for the Pasture Seed Industry, Water Research Commission as well as land reclamation projects for the Coal Mining Research Association of the Chamber of Mines. He also heads the Land Rehabilitation Services Unit at the Business Division of the University of Pretoria. He is responsible for the undergraduate teaching of Pasture Management to Veterinary and Agricultural students. He also presents undergraduate courses in Environmental Resource Assessment and Monitoring, Turfgrass Management, Scientific Writing and Presentation Skills. Postgraduate training is also one of his responsibilities, where he currently supervises 16 students, both MSc and PhD, in the fields of planted pastures, irrigation of pastures, land reclamation and rangeland management.

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