WSU RSVC STRENGTHEN RELATIONS WITH SAEON TO ENHANCE SCIENCE RESEARCH

The Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC), the National Research Foundation - South African Environmental Observation Network (NRF- SAEON) and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) recently conducted a capacity-building workshop for RVSC staff and students.

The workshop was aimed at strengthening engagements between the RVSC and NRF-SAEON, and also included activities on the demonstration of tools and applications to analyse and display data.

NRF-SAEON collects long-term observations from strategically selected landscapes, and this dataset is also made available through the platform.”

RVSC Acting Director, Professor Motebang Nakin, said: “One of the RVSC mandates is to contribute to SARVA which is a national database located within NRF-SAEON. This mandate has been stagnant for a very long time because it required a stronger connection between the hosts of SARVA and the RVSC.”

SARVA is an open-access platform that unites data to solve complex interconnected problems. The application is a living collection of global change resources including scientific data and long-term observations, static content, references to documentation and reports, and other digital objects.

Nakin said NRF-SAEON      is conducting a series of capacity-building workshops with RVSCs and this is the first of many to come.

NRF-SAEON Managing Director, Dr Mary-Jane Bopape, said: “SARVA is an initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation that was started in 2008 as part of the Global Change Grand Challenge. NRF-SAEON has been its host since 2015.

Bopape asserted that these observations do not cover the whole of the country hence they have to work with RVSCs because they work with different municipalities and research on landscapes that NRF-SAEON is not working on.

She added that they also provide some training on the use of statistical analysis and display systems such  as Python and Geographic Information System software. She also mentioned that they have a strong  science engagement team that works with schools, therefore they can collaborate with RVSCs to reach more learners and teachers.

“This collaboration and training will improve our science research at the university since our academics and students are being trained on different ways to analyse scientific data. Also, using these softwares can streamline research processes, promote collaborations, ensure data security and enhance the overall efficiency of university research outputs,” said Nakin.

With a shared vision of harnessing science for the betterment of society, the alliance between the WSU RVSC and NRF-SAEON holds promise for shaping a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.

By Anita Roji