Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Prof A Ströh, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 3201
E-mail address: dean.nas@up.ac.za
Message by the Dean
Apart from establishing itself as one of the top international faculties of
sciences, the Faculty strives to be the leading science faculty on the African
continent, contributing significantly through its research and postgraduate
students to some of the major challenges the continent faces in relation to
poverty and food, energy and water security, climate change and its impact
on agriculture, animal and human health, as well as economic sustainability.
The Faculty is one of the most diverse science faculties in South
Africa. According to the ISI Web of Knowledge field rankings,
the Faculty is highly recognised internationally in the fields of
agriculture, environment and ecology, as well as in the plant and
animal sciences. In plant and animal sciences, the University
produces by far the highest number of articles in South Africa
and is listed under the top 60 universities worldwide in relation
to the total number of outputs in this field. The Faculty also has
significant expertise in the physical and mathematical sciences
with strong connections to the mining and mineral industries,
including Sasol and the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South
Africa (NECSA).
The strong research ethos of the Faculty is emphasised by the
fact that 127 of its scientists are formally recognised by the
NRF's peer evaluation system for the high quality and impact of
their research on the national and international front.
The new R100 million Plant Sciences Complex, which will enhance
interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research collaboration,
brings together departments and faculties that would not have
interacted with one another in traditional paradigms. This new
facility includes, among others, research laboratories that are
dedicated to conducting work in fields such as plant diversity,
ecology, biotechnology and medicinal plant science. One wing
of the Complex houses the new Forestry Research Programme,
which includes the South African Forestry Company (SAFCOL)
Forestry Chair, as well as a suite of laboratories to accommodate
the growing activities of the Forestry and Agricultural
Biotechnology Institute (FABI).
During 2011, the Faculty contributed significantly to the production of high-quality, internationally recognised research publications.
The 319 Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) units recorded constitute more than 20% of the total publication
output of the University of Pretoria. Through the Faculty's research endeavours for 2011, 128 master's and 48 doctoral degrees
were awarded.
Although it is not possible to mention all the special awards in recognition of the Faculty's scientists, it is appropriate to note the
following outstanding achievements:
The Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP) of FABI won a Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme
(THRIP) Award in the category Human Resource Development - Quantity and Quality of Postgraduate Education. This award
represents a very substantial vote of confidence not only in the TPCP, but also in its South African forestry industry partners. This
award clearly recognises the commitment that the South African forestry industry makes, not only to research and development,
but also to the education of young South Africans.
Two highly acclaimed female researchers in the Faculty were honoured with the prestigious South African Women in Science
Awards of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Prof Namrita Lall of the Department of Plant Science received the
Distinguished Woman Scientist Award for her outstanding scientific contribution to advancing science and building the knowledge
base in the field of indigenous knowledge systems. Prof Jolanda Roux of FABI was the recipient of the Distinguished Young Woman
Scientist Award (under the age of 40) for her outstanding contribution to advancing science and building the knowledge base in
the Life, Natural and Engineering Sciences category. The Commonwealth Forestry Association also bestowed the Queen's Award on
Prof Roux for her contribution to forestry.
Prof Sospeter Muhongo, Honorary Professor in the Department of Geology, was awarded the Ordre des Palmes Académiques by
the French government. Originally established in 1808 by the Emperor Napoleon as a way of rewarding academics in the newly
secularised university system, the Ordre des Palmes Académiques was conferred to honour eminent members of the University of
Paris. Prof Muhongo was the Director of the Regional Office for Africa of the International Council for Science (ICSU), based at the
NRF in Pretoria.
Prof Jean Lubuma was inducted as Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in 2011. Prof Lubuma was also awarded with
the prestigious South African Mathematical Society (SAMS) Award for Research Distinction.
Prof Bernard Slippers (FABI and the Department of Genetics) was awarded the 2011 African Union's Academy of Sciences for
the Developing World (TWAS) Young Scientists' National Award. Another feather in his cap was his election as the co-chair of
the Global Young Academy (GYA), an international, independent, science-based institution that aims for excellence and impact.
Prof Slippers and Prof Andrew McKechnie (Department of Zoology and Entomology and a core team member of the DST/NRF
Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute) are also two of three UP staff members to be elected as founding members
of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).
Prof Casper Schutte, an Honorary Professor and a member of the Unit for Advanced Studies in the Department of Chemistry,
was honoured with two prestigious medals for his scientific contributions in the field of chemistry. Prof Schutte was awarded the
Gold Medal of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI), which is given to a person whose scientific contributions in the field of
chemistry or chemical technology are judged to be of outstanding merit. The Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of
Science (S2A3) also bestowed the South Africa Gold Medal on Prof Schutte for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of
science.
Acknowledging the doyen of Precambrian, and especially Archaean palaeobiology and palaeontology, and his ground-breaking
work on the origin, evolution and habitats of life on the early Earth, Prof James William Schopf was awarded the degree Doctor
Scientiae (honoris causa) during the April graduation ceremonies. Prof Schopf developed many of the globally applied techniques
and several important scientific indices, which have become accepted standards in the evaluation of the fossil content of ancient
rocks.
Prof Nigel Bennett was appointed as a visiting professor in the Department of Zoology at the King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. Prof Bennett currently holds the Austin Roberts Chair of African Mammalogy and the SARChl Chair of Mammal Behavioural
Ecology and Physiology at UP. During his recent visit, Prof Bennett received a gold medal of partnership from the Vice- Rector of
Graduate Studies and Research at the University, Prof Ali S Al-Ghamdi.
Being people-centred, the Faculty continuously seeks for opportunities to recruit and appoint highly recognised researchers to
either strengthen its existing research teams or to introduce new and relevant research foci in the Faculty.
Prof Robert (Bob) Millar was appointed as the Director of the Mammal Research Institute (MRI) in the Faculty from 1 April 2011.
He has been the Director of the prestigious MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit at the University of Edinburgh, UK, for the
past 12 years.
Two researchers have been appointed in the new SARChI Chair in the Faculty. Prof Pavel Selyshchev will head the Chair in Complex
Systems in the Department of Physics and Prof Subhabrata Chakraborti will head the Chair in Nonparametric, Robust Statistical
Inference and Statistical Process Control in the Department of Statistics.
The African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT) partner institution appointed Dr John Becker as the new manager of the Centre.
Dr Becker took over from Dr Jane Morris, who announced her retirement as the Centre's Director last year after serving in the
position since the inception of the ACGT.
New DNA sequencing technologies developed over the past five years are now allowing scientists to simultaneously determine the
sequence of all expressed genes in a developing tissue and determine the expression level of each gene, yielding unprecedented
insights into the genetic control of growth and development of Eucalyptus tree species and hybrids (commonly known as gum
trees). Over the past two years, the research team of Prof Zander Myburg of the Department of Genetics set out to decipher the
DNA sequence of the entire catalogue of genes expressed during the growth and development of eucalyptus trees. PhD students
Eshchar Mizrachi and Martin Ranik sampled different woody and leaf tissues from a commercially grown eucalypt tree genotype of
Sappi and used a new ultra-high throughput technology to generate more than four billion bases of expressed DNA sequences. In
collaboration with Prof Fourie Joubert and PhD student Charles Hefer in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit at UP,
they assembled these sequences into a transcriptome catalogue of 18 894 expressed genes. Prof Myburg's research team is now
using the transcriptome sequence and profiles to identify candidate genes involved in the genetic control of wood development
and cellulose production in trees.
Research led by Dr Justin Boyles of the Department of Zoology and Entomology suggests that pest control services provided
by insect-eating bats in the USA are likely to save the American agricultural industry at least $3 billion a year. The research was
published in the April issue of Science magazine. The goal of the study was a universal one: to convince people that bats are worth
saving. A total of 45 species of bats are found in the USA, while southern Africa - a much smaller area - is the habitat of up to 60
species. The value of the pest control services to agriculture provided by bats in the USA alone ranges from a low of $3,7 billion
to a high of $53 billion a year, as estimated by the study. Bats eat tremendous quantities of flying pest insects, so the loss of
bats is likely to have long-term effects on agricultural and ecological systems. Consequently, not only is the conservation of bats
important for the wellbeing of ecosystems, but it is also in the best interest of national and international economies. This issue is
of particular importance because bat populations are at risk as a result of the emerging disease of white-nose syndrome.
A $4,475 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and
Rural Development (LEVLO) will allow UP to build long-term expertise in agricultural economics alongside partner universities in
Africa. An important outcome of the grant is to allow LEVLO and its partner African universities to offer more areas of specialisation,
to deepen research foci, and to leverage the expertise for developing similar capacities in three other countries in the region.
Prof Gretel van Rooyen (Department of Plant Science), and Ms Yvette Naudé and Prof Egmont Rohwer (both from the Department
of Chemistry) are investigating their new theory of a geochemical origin of "fairy circles" in the Namibian desert areas. This work
was published in the Journal of Arid Environments, 2011. National Geographic Wild has commissioned Tigress Productions from
Bristol in the UK to make a documentary on "fairy circles" as part of its Wild Case Files 2 series. The documentary on the theories
of the origin of the mysterious "fairy circles" will debut during 2012.
The first ever comprehensive dictionary of names for southern African trees was launched during Arbour Week 2011, which is
celebrated across the world. Prof Braam van Wyk of the Department of Plant Science is one of the authors of the book.
An expert on seismic hazards, Prof Andrzej Kijko, Director of the Aon-Benfield Natural Hazard Centre, is one of the senior authors
associated with the Encyclopaedia of Solid Earth Geophysics, Volume 1 (1st edition). The encyclopaedia, which was edited by
Prof Harsh Gupta, consists of two volumes with 220 articles by leading experts and aims to serve as a collection of concise
and detailed reference topics of solid earth geophysics. Prof Kijko was invited by the editor of the encyclopaedia to provide a
contribution to the category on seismic hazards.
Prof Anton Ströh
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