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Call for abstracts: 3rd Garden Route Interface Meeting (GRIM)
Science and management co-learning to navigate social-ecological issues 17-19 September 2019 Pine Lake Marina, Sedgefield, South Africa Background: The Garden Route Interface Meeting (GRIM) is an annual event taking place in the Garden Route and providing a forum for researchers and practitioners interested in better understanding and managing (or navigating) social-ecological systems (SES) and their complex interactions and feedbacks. Three types of interfaces are of particular interest: human-nature (social-ecological systems), theory-practice (scientists and managers), and social-natural (sciences). Previous meetings: The 2017 and 2018 meetings each attracted >70 delegates and [...]
South African Women in Science Award
Congratulations to Professor Karen Esler from the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University for finishing in second place in the South African Women in Science Awards (SAWiSA). This is the 15th edition of this prestigious event that celebrates outstanding women researchers and scientists. This year's theme was 'leveraging science, technology and innovation to enhance inclusive growth and development.' The awards aim to recognise the excellence of women scientists working in South Africa, profiling them as role models for younger scientists. Karen was honoured for her [...]
Research Project Coordinator for CST
The Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST) is a research flagship initiative at Stellenbosch University (SU), that brings together research on transdisciplinary, complexity, sustainability and resilience at SU. The CST hosts leading scientists and students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, and fosters collaborations with a variety of departments across the University, nationally and globally, providing a vibrant hub for solution-orientated, transdisciplinary sustainability science. The primary objective of the CST is to co-produce transformational knowledge on the dynamics of multi-scale, social-ecological change in partnership with key stakeholders, integrating across [...]
PhD bursary:Social‐Ecological Systems & Resilience
Historical and conceptual development of Social‐Ecological Systems (SES) research The research within this PhD project will focus on the different aspects associated with the historical and epistemic development of the interdisciplinary field of SES research. During the course of the last 30 years, social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as a field of enquiry that spans the traditional divide between the natural and social sciences. SES research is based on the insight that human‐nature relations are integrated to the extent that the delineation between social systems and ecological [...]
Young Scholars Spring School on SES research 5-10 October 2018
The Young Scholars Spring School follows the 2nd Garden Route Interface Meeting (2-4 Oct 2018) and will build on the same theme of “science and practice colearning to navigate complex social-ecological issues”. The main aim will be to stimulate and capacitate young scholars (master to post-doc levels) interested in social-ecological systems (SES) and transdisciplinary research. Participants will be exposed to a broad spectrum of approaches and methods that can be used to design social-ecological studies as well as hands-on study design in collaboration with peers, managers, experienced academics [...]
RELATED NEWS
Climate Change Ecology Postdoc Opportunity
The University of Cape Town is seeking two Postdoctoral Research Fellows to join a highly interdisciplinary team working on climate change risks to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Job advert for further details and to apply: http://www.acdi.uct.ac.za/postdoctoral-research-fellowship-climate-change-risks-biodiversity-and-ecosystems Positions are for two years. Project research is flexible within three broad objectives: Forecasting the spatial and temporal dynamics of biodiversity disruption from climate change at the species and/or community level; Using existing trait, phylogenetic and species range databases to map relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services across Africa and predict how these might change due [...]
Post-doc opportunity: Researcher in climate change adaptation focusing on the role of youth change agents and climate change
The University of the Witwatersrand is recognised internationally for excellent research, high academic standards and commitment to social justice. The Global Change Institute would like to appoint a post-doctoral researcher in climate change adaptation focusing on the role of youth change agents and climate change. About the job: Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change owing to a range of reasons including climate and weather systems. Low coping and adaptation capacity add to the vulnerability of the continent. Recently, notwithstanding the international upsurge in interest in [...]
Opportunity to join the Tsitsa Project team
Opportunities to lead Capacity Development; Knowledge Management; Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection & Learning Send a CV and 2-page motivation to: Margaret Wolff (M.Wolff@ru.c.za) by 24 May 2019 The Tsitsa Project is being implemented primarily by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Chief Directorate Natural Resource Management (NRM) in the communal and free-hold title areas of the north-eastern Eastern Cape. The project works with local authorities and traditional leaders, conducting land restoration in the highly erodible catchment, while a number of South African universities conduct related research in this remote rural [...]
PhD opportunity at Monash University, Australia
Assessing the role of scientists within conservation management agencies. We are offering a PhD scholarship to work with an international team led by Dr Carly Cook at Monash University (School of Biological Sciences) in Australia. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with research interests in the integration of conservation science into management action for an exciting project investigating the role of scientists within conservation management agencies. The project: Conservation agencies are increasingly aiming to achieve evidence-based management. In order to support this goal, there is a growing focus [...]
Call for Applications: Mentoring and Training Program in IPCC Processes for Early Career Mountain Researchers
Background The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the scientific evidence on climate change. The IPCC regularly produces reports that assess the state of knowledge and science. The IPCC has three Working Groups (WG): WG I on the physical science basis; WG II on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and WG III on mitigation of climate change. Currently, the IPCC is in its 6th Assessment Cycle (AR6), and the 6th Assessment Reports (AR6) of the three WG’s will be published in 2021, [...]