We are almost done with our series of lunchtime lectures in celebration of International Polar Week. Today, Dr Christel Hansen from the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology from the University of Pretoria spoke to the attendees on the advantage of being part of polar associations, as well as landscape processes in Antarctic ecosystems.
The importance of polar student and emerging researcher associations, like those of PYRN and APECS was highlighted in terms of access to resources, networking and obtaining skills. This was followed a talk on physical geographical investigations into Antarctic lanscapes, the processes that drive these, as well as insight into how fieldwork is conducted in Antarctica: climbing and First Aid training, setting up campsites, the extreme environment and more. A large portion of this talk was based on work done under the previously NRF/SANAP funded project Landscape Processes in Antarctic Ecosystems (PI: Ian Meiklejohn, RU).
We would especially like to thank the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology for making the venue available and Professor Ian Meiklejohn from Rhodes University for making the Antarctic gear available. We look forward to the next event tomorrow, again from 12:30-13:20 in room 1-2 of the Geography building (Hatfield campus).
Order of Talks
- Polar student associations – the importance of connecting with your peers; Dr Christel Hansen (Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, UP)
- Landscape processes in Antarctic ecosystems; Dr Christel Hansen (Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, UP)