News
Members of the Plant Conservation Unit along with several other arid zone ecologists attended the Arid Zone Ecology Forum's annual conference in May 2017 at Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute near Middelburg in the Eastern Cape. This year's conference focused on change and innovation in the arid zone with talks on Karoo Shale Gas Development, the Karoo BioGaps project, long-term projects and socio-ecological studies. Overall it was a fun and successful event!
Estelle Razanatsoa, PhD Candidate at the Plant Conservation Unit, recently attended the Young Scientists Meeting and the Open Science Meeting held in Spain from 7-14 May 2017. The meetings were organised by Past Global Changes (PAGES) and the Quaternary Terrestrial Environments group (Pyrenean Institute of Ecology-CSIC). The PCU would like to congratulate Estelle for receiving a prize for being one of the best oral presentations during the Young Scientists Meeting! Read Estelle's article to learn more!
Over the weekend, a group of Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) postgraduate students and staff attended the first-ever PCU popular writing retreat, held at Rainbow Glen self-catering cottages in the peaceful town of Montagu in the Western Cape. The aim of the retreat was for each attendee to produce a product (written/ drawn/ recorded etc.) that effectively communicates their research to the public. The importance of communicating our science more generally emerged during the five-year review of the PCU held in November 2016. Our writing retreat was an attempt to address this need. Read the article to learn more!
The University of Cape Town held this year's annual Open Day from 10 AM - 3 PM on Saturday 22 April 2017. The Plant Conservation Unit team got involved in the event and helped out at the Department of Biological Sciences stand in Jameson Hall alongside other Departments that fall under the Faculty of Science. Overall it was a fantastic day and we look forward to getting involved again next year. Read the full article to learn more about the day.