Sol Plaatje University’s (SPU) Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) attended the fifth DSI/NRF Global Change Conference (GCC5) at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. The conference ran from 30 January to 2 February 2023 with the theme: ‘Research and Innovation Accelerating Transformations to Global Sustainability’.
The conference brought together experts, researchers and students in the global change community and focused on topics such as climate change and biodiversity, alternative energy, smart grids, knowledge for global change, leadership for sustainability transformation, ocean monitoring, climate smart agriculture, resilient cities and communities, sustainable cities, minerals carbonisation and extreme climate events.
Five RVSC-funded 2022 Honours students and two postdoctoral fellows attended and presented at the conference. All the Honours students are from the School of Natural and Applied Sciences; three from the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT), a student from the Physical and Earth Sciences Department (PES) and one from the Biological and Agricultural Sciences Department (BAS).
“The conference provides a wonderful opportunity for SPU students to not only communicate their research but also to learn more about the diverse and dynamic global change arena. I believe conferences like these open students’ minds to the importance of sustainable development which then highlights the significance of not only their research but the work of the Centre,” said Dr Doug Harebottle, the Director of the RVSC.
Dr Harebottle added that the networking and collaboration opportunities offered at conferences are vital for students’ future careers or postgraduate studies. Other benefits of conferences is that it allows students and postdoctoral researchers, sponsored by the Centre, to communicate their work to the broader global change community.
Future collaborative links were made with South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) to look at the contribution of air pollution in arid and semi-arid regions to human health, and setting up a potential long-term research project on small carnivores and rodents in semi-arid regions as vectors of zoonotic diseases and the impact climatic changes on transmission and infections.
The conference proceedings sparked debate and generated increased knowledge on climate systems. It has excited and inspired post-graduate students to make a difference in global environmental change, including climate change, in an informed and innovative way.
