Two of Rhodes University’s women scientists were recognised for their research by being awarded in two out of six categories at the Department of Science and Technology’s Women In Science Award ceremony at the Sandton Hilton on 21 August.
A fitting celebration of Women’s Month, the DST Women in Science Awards aim to increase the number of prominent women scientists and their access to research professions in the country, and to profile them as role models for younger women scientists and girls countrywide.
Dr Michelle Cocks was joint winner in the category Achiever Award for a Woman Researcher in the Area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Local Innovation and Dr Kim Bernard was second runner up in the category DST WISA Best Young Woman Scientist 2009. Both scientists receive an award of R50 000.
Candidates for these awards are required to demonstrate the contribution of their research to improving the quality of life of women or advancing science and building the knowledge base. This further requires a demonstration of their involvement with mentorship, coaching or community outreach programmes, and the possibility of using research results for community development, or to develop or improve products, processes and services.
As part of its response to the vision of the National Research and Development Strategy, which is to improve the quality of life of all South Africans, the Department of Science and Technology recognises the achievement of women scientists in South Africa or Africa by rewarding outstanding work done by women in research.
The 2009 Women in Science Award categories are:
? Distinguished Woman Scientist in the Area of Natural Sciences or Engineering
? Achiever Award for a Woman Scientist in Industry
? Best Emerging Young Woman Scientist in the Area of Natural Sciences or Engineering
? Achiever Award for a Woman Researcher in the Area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Local Innovation
? Fellowships for Women Scientists (three)
? Tata Africa Scholarships for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (three)
Dr Michelle Cocks scoops Women in Science Award for IKS
Dr Michelle Cocks was joint winner in the category Achiever Award for a Woman Researcher in the Area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Local Innovation at annual Women in Science Awards. She receives an award of R50 000.
The Achiever Award for a Woman Researcher in the area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Local Innovation, awarded for the first time in its own category this year, is made to a woman scientist or Indigenous Knowledge Holder/Practitioner for her outstanding scientific contribution to indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and local innovation.
“It is difficult to imagine a researcher whose passion and track record fits more appropriately the criteria for the IKS award than Dr Michelle Cocks,” said Dr Peter Clayton, Rhodes University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research. “She has contributed substantially to research in the area of traditional knowledge and the environment, with a specific concentration on the use of medicinal plants, and Bio-cultural diversity. Her work is extensively hands on in the Eastern Cape, and has an extremely strong community engagement focus. She furthermore contributes policy, strategy, and leadership to a range of initiatives in the area of IKS.”
“The social and ecological circumstances in which we find ourselves has led to the ways in which we define, understand and interpret our world,” said Dr Cocks. “I am trying to unpack this relationship by focussing on how plants, animals and landscapes are reflected in local communities’ language, stories, poetry, religious rituals and healing practices.” Currently concentrating on amaXhosa culture, she believes such information will help find ways to protect and sustain cultural diversity and indigenous knowledge, which are as much under threat today as our natural biodiversity.
Over the past 10 years Dr Cocks has secured nine research projects with funding from local and international organisations for research on local indigenous knowledge systems. She has delivered papers at 12 international conferences and 11 local conferences. Her publications include 18 articles in international and local peer reviewed journals and 10 chapters in academic books. She has also written 20 popular articles on local indigenous knowledge in various magazines.
Dr Cocks has been particularly active in community engagement initiatives. In early 2009 she developed an educational awareness program called Inkcubeko Nendalo - Bio-cultural Diversity Education Programme. Begun with seed funding from Rhodes University Mobile Science Lab, the programme aims to raise awareness that the loss of our natural resources threatens not only biodiversity but also local indigenous knowledge systems. The lessons and materials are approved by the Department of Education and are learners continuous assessment (CASS) accredited. The program is implemented in seven schools in Grahamstown East and reaches over 750 Grade 10 learners.
She has contributed to two government policy briefs entitled “Inceda njani imithi yesiXhosa? Why are wild plants important to Xhosa culture?” and “Plants for health, life and spirit in Africa: Implications for biodiversity and cultural diversity conservation”. Furthermore, she has developed four illustrated educational booklets on behalf of local NGOs and government departments.
In 2000 Dr Cocks constituted the Eastern Cape Medicinal Plant Forum comprising stakeholders from Traditional Healers Associations, informal medicinal plant street traders, muthi-store owners, DWAF, DEDEA, Rhodes and the University of Fort Hare to consider issues around the medicinal plant trade in the Eastern Cape. The forum was taken over by DWAF in 2005.
Dr Cocks has co-supervised nine postgraduate student research theses based at Rhodes and Wageningen Universities focusing specifically indigenous knowledge systems. She was also the principal supervisor of two students currently based at the ISER focusing specially on children’s level indigenous knowledge and local community members’ appreciation of nature. She has also supervised nine diploma students’ practical semester research reports from the Social Forestry Department, at the Fort Cox Agricultural & Social Forestry College.
Since 2007 Dr Cocks has been a trustee member of Umthati Africulture Steering Committee. She was also awarded the Cacadu District Achievers Award (together with A.P. Dold) by the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture in February this year, in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in the preservation of customs and traditions.
Saying the award “symbolises the importance that the South African community is placing on local Indigenous Knowledge”, it seems this long-awaited recognition of this critical knowledge base dovetails with Dr Cocks’s belief in sharing the knowlege she has gained to uplift local people’s lives.
“I hope to inspire more students and researchers to become interested in and passionate about the importance and relevance of indigenous knowledge,” said Dr Cocks. “From this knowledge base I hope to contribute to the theoretical debates around bio-cultural diversity and assist in the design and implementation of relevant policies at both local and international level”.
Dr Kim Bernard
Dr Kim Bernard was second runner up in the category DST WISA Best Young Woman Scientist 2009 at the Women in Science Awards. She receives an award of R50 000.
The Best Young Woman Scientiest award is made to a woman scientist under 40 years of age for her outstanding scientific contribution to advancing science and building the knowledge base in the fields of natural sciences or engineering. Candidates are reguired to have a PhD and less than five years of postdoctoral experience in either natural sciences or engineering. The nominee’s research project must have contributed to advancing science and building the knowledge base.
“Dr Kim Bernard is an outstanding Marine Biologist who has established herself as a respected scientist in a very short time period in an area that has a strong environmental focus,” said Dr Clayton. “She has already attracted significant research grants as a principal investigator, and has achieved an extremely impressive publication record for her age, including 11 Journal Publications of considerable impact, and a range of outputs in other scholarly forums.”
Dr Bernard’s research focusses on pelagic ecosystems (both coastal and off-shore) with an emphasis on zooplakton ecology. “I am particularly interested in how climate change is impacting marine pelagic ecosystments, from changes in biogeochemical cycling to changes in food web structures and organism life history patterns. Not put off by extreme conditions and harsh environments, she is determined to make a difference in marine science, both locally and internationally.
She is currently co-supervising Mr Luzuko Dali at the Master’s level. Having joined SAEON in 2007 after completing his BSc Honours degrees at the University of Fort Hare in terrestrial zoology, Mr Dlali did not have any background in marine science but wished to register for an MSc in 2008. During that year Dr Bernard was his mentor, training him in various aspects of marine science, including sampling design, equipment design, scientific writing and speaking, and statistical analysis.
Dr Bernard has published 11 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has worked in collaboration with a number of international reserachers. She has also given several conference presentations and authored popular articles. Dr Bernard has also set up a multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional long term monitoring and research programme in Algoa Bay that aims to improve our understanding on how the marine ecosystems of Algoa Bay Function and how they may be impacted by global change.
She has recently been offered a position as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (USA), working with Professor Debrah Steinberg. Her current track record in Southern Ocean research as well as her current experience in developing and implementing long term monitoring programmes in marine environments, has made her very competitive in landing this highly contested position.
The research that Dr Bernard will be conducting is part of the Palmer Antarctica Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) programme and a Gordon & Bettie Moore Foundation funded programme entitled “From Microbes to Mammals: bet36体育投注_bet36体育在线—激情赢盈中√ Climate-Induced Changes in the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem with a Robotic Cluster”. Her primary role will be working with Webb Slocum Gliders fitted with acoustics to monitor Antarctic krill and other zooplankton in the region off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. She will also work closely with researchers from the Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) where the gliders will be developed and tested.
While acoustics have been used previously to monitor zooplankton and Webb Slocum Gliders have been used for monitoring physical properties of the oceans, the combination of the two has not yet been done. Furthermore, the programme will consist of three Gliders each with different abilities, one to measure physical variables, another to measure phytoplankton biomass and productivity and a third to measure zooplankton abundances and biomass. The data collected will ultimately be used to improve our understanding of how the marine ecosystems of the Western Antarctic Peninsula function and how they are being altered through climate change.
This is the first programme of its kind globally and, once tested in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, will be deployed in other coastal and marine environments throughout the world. Dr Bernard plans to return to South Africa with new skills as well as new international contacts to continue this kind of research in her home country.
“It’s always daunting setting off into one’s career,” said Dr Bernard. “But this award reminds me that I’m definitely doing the right thing and that I will eventually be in a position where I am making a big impact in my field and making a difference in the world.