FOURTH FOREST ENGINEERING CONFERENCE – WHITE RIVER, SOUTH AFRICA, April 5-7, 2011

Some of my readers have requested me to post details of Fourth Forest Engineering Conference. In deference to their wishes I am posting details of 1st announcement.

First Announcement  

The Department of Forest and Wood Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa in conjunction with IUFRO, is proud to announce the presentation of the 4th Forest Engineering Conference in April 5-7, 2011 at the Protea Hotel, The Winkler, in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The Forest Engineering Conference (FEC) is an international event held every four years and is a forum for forest engineers from around the world to share their knowledge, experience, and emerging ideas.  This meeting follows previous successful FEC events held, in Mont-Tremblant, Canada (2007); Växjö, Sweden (2003); and the inaugural event in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1999.

The three-day conference, will include both oral and poster presentations. A full-day field excursion is being arranged for the 6th of April in and around the Nelspruit and White River industrial forestry plantation of Komatiland Forests and York Timbers.  A call for papers and posters related to the conference theme and other important information will follow this first announcement.  FEC sponsors' logos will be added to the website, other official correspondence and future announcements.

Important Dates:

Early Registration Deadline         December 31, 2010
Late Registration Deadline          January 31, 2011
Abstract Submission      August 15, 2010

Contact Information:

For further information please contact Hannél Ham (hamh@sun.ac.za) or Pierre Ackerman (packer@sun.ac.za). 

Chemistry is the Winner of ‘Dance Your Ph.D. 2010' Award

Dance your Ph.D. is an award given to turn your Ph.D. thesis into a dance, sponsored by Science. Maureen McKeague, a chemistry Ph.D. student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada has been declared winner of  ‘Dance Your Ph.D. 2010' Award. Her dance was an interpretation of her research on designer molecules. She gets $1000 prize ($500 for being a finalist, $500 for winning) from Science, which sponsored the contest. 45 dances were submitted to this year's contest.

McKeague's aim is to use SELEX to create aptamers. SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) is a technique which generates short segments of DNA and RNA called aptamers. Aptamers cheaply and accurately measure homocysteine in blood samples.

This Week's Wildlife Images from Guardian

Have a look at this week's beautiful wildlife images from Guardian. Click HERE

South Africa Fits GPS on Rhinos in an Effort to Stem Poaching

More than 200 rhinos have been slaughtered in South Africa since the start of this year. This is a precarious situation. Alarmed by this South African wildlife authorities have plumbed for GPS in an innovative trial. They have fitted five rhinos in the Mafikeng Game Reserve of North West province with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to help protect them from poachers.

A small hole is drilled in the dead part of the horn and the GPS chip is fitted there. The system connects with the cell phone system and the wildlife authorities are able to track the movement if Rhinos. One alarm is specifically for excessive movement. Another goes off if the rhino sleeps for longer than six hours. The park rangers get an alert if the Rhino goes outside the game reserve.

The authorities are planning to tag more animals in the coming weeks.

No Updates for the Next 3 days

I am travelling and have  no access to the internet for the next 3 days. Consequently there won't be any updates for the next 3 days.

Good News from South Africa - Black wildebeest Reintroduced to the Ongeluksnek Nature Reserve

Here is some heartwarming news for nature lovers. A herd of black wildebeest have been reintroduced to the Ongeluksnek Nature Reserve on the north-east boundary of the Eastern Cape, in South Africa, on the Lesotho border.   Black wildebeest had disappeared from the area a century ago due to over-hunting.

 30 animals have been released so far. The black wildebeest were introduced to Ongeluksnek from the Tsolwana Nature Reserve.

Ongeluksnek Nature Reserve is   13 000 ha in extent and was proclaimed as a protected area in 1976.