The World's your oyster: Crack it open at the Sasol Scifest
Christina Scott
This week sees the start of Africa's largest science festival, now in its
ninth year and attracting tens of thousands of local and international
visitors to more than 500 events in usually-sleepy Grahamstown in South
Africa's Eastern Cape province.
With so much to do - talks by the world's best brains, workshops on how to
build a car, a radio or a chocolate, and hundreds of exhibits - the Sasol
Science Festival can require copious amounts of caffeine.
Here's a brief look at some of the environmentally-oriented events available
during this year's festival, which runs from March 16 to 22. All events,
unless otherwise noted, take place in the vast concrete structure known as
the 1820 Settlers national monument building overlooking Grahamstown.
Jumbo Headaches
Across eight neighbouring southern African countries, the elephant is a
puzzle - so abundant in some places that it threatens farmers and bushveld
alike, and yet threatened with local extinction in others. What gives?
Rudi van Aarde is currently researching elephants in Namibia, Botswana,
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. The University of Pretoria
zoologist believes that transfrontier conservation areas that ignore
national boundaries are the solution, and will cause elephant groups to
disperse instead of being continually herded into smaller and smaller areas
as humanity encroaches.
Van Aarde's views will form the backbone of the Cecily Niven Memorial
lecture, named after the only daughter (and keen nature-lover) of Sir Percy
Fitzpatrick, author of the classic novel Jock of the Bushveld. The lecture
is at 3h30 pm on March 19.
Still on the topic of jumbo-sized national headaches, Hector Magome will be
chatting about the incredible challenges of managing national parks to
satisfy a variety of objectives - some of them conflicting. Do you please
the tourists or the animals, do you go for short-term or long-term, and is
that a shrinking budget I see before me? Dr Magome, who currently oversees all
scientific activity in 20 national parks in South Africa, will be
speaking for an hour starting at 3:30 pm on March 17 in the Hot Topics late
afternoon lecture series.
Wildlife rehabilitation may warm the hearts of those doing the rescuing but
how much does it actually contribute to conservation? Karen Trendler,
founder of the Wildcare Africa Trust, speaks on Wildlife Rehabilitation -
Science or Sentiment? as part of the evening lecture series at the ninth
annual Sasol Science Festival in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Trendler's
one-hour talk forms part of the evening series of lectures and begins at 6:30 pm
on March 17.
Trendler, Magome and van Aarde will be among the expert panelists arguing
the pros and cons of culling these intelligent animals on March 18 in
Elephant Management. The 64-page Scifest programme notes, "questions,
questions, questions - no simple answers and the problem is getting worse
fast. It is our democratic duty as South Africans to be familiar with the
social and ethical implications of official policy - and the science that
shapes that policy."
Every year the Sasol Science festival focuses on a particular living
creature in a section known rather unglamorously as Spoor of the Year. This
time, the elephant falls under the spotlight.
Out to Sea
Technological innovations are bridging the gap between our world, and the
hidden worlds of creatures of the sea and air.
On March 16 at noon, diver and scientist Malcolm Smale is kicking off the
hot topics lecture series with a talk called "Sharks like Maxine - Wired
for
Sound."
The shark biologist will be discussing how sophisticated technology such as
satellite tagging works - and what its benefits are for species such as the
basking shark and ragged tooth sharks such as the well-known celebrity shark
dubbed Maxine, who was recently released from the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape
Town.
Remaining immersed, the African Coelecanth Ecosystem Programme, which uses
manned submersibles to scout the twilight zones of the Indian Ocean, is running
workshops for both beginners and the more advanced techies on how to build an
underwater robot. The advanced four-hour workshop is on March 18 or 19 and costs
R60 but the beginners' lessons on March 17, 20, 21 or 22 is only R7.50.
There's a fantastic excursion meant to explore the border between sea and
land. The guided tour (no fancy shoes, please; this is sunblock, packed
lunch and sensible hats territory) will trek across the estuaries between
the Great Fish and Kowie rivers with Alan Whitfield of the South African
Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity on March 16 from 8:30 am until sometime
late in the afternoon and costs R7.
Two days later, Nadine Strydom from the same institute will be taking a
group on a four kilometre beach walk between Riet River and East Kleinemonde
where participants can pretend to be marine detectives, using sampling gear such
as a box sieve and a beach seine. The same cost and clothing rules apply,
although this time you can bring a bathing costume.
Up in the air
Technology may also provide the solution to preserving the one thousand Cape
Parrots left in the world. The Cape Parrot is only found in South Africa - and
South Africans have not been kind to it.
Illegal trade, diseases, and humanity's destruction of its habitat are some
of the reasons why these beautiful birds are endangered.
Now conservation biologist Mike Perrin will be giving a one-hour talk on how
forensic techniques used to capture criminals, such as DNA fingerprinting,
may well be the salvation of the parrot. The talk is part of the series of
late afternoon lectures running during the Sasol Scifest and takes place on
March 20 at 3:30 pm. A bird rescued from the illegal trade will be shown to see
how it has been injured by unscrupulous smugglers. Sales of the Cape Parrot
t-shirt will also be on sale in the Ntsikana Gallery.
Still in the air, Rhodes University is offering three free bat walks.
Equipped with bat detectors, high school students and adults are invited to
spend the early parts of the evening on March 16, 17 or 21 exploring Eden
Grove's denizens of the air.
But if you want to go higher, check out the workshops at the Albany History
Museum in which you can assemble your own binoculars, design your own telescope,
build a moon dial or create your own comet. Not to mention building and
launching your own rockets. Hosted by Sivuyile Manxoyi of the South African
Astronomical Observatory in a series of three one-hour workshops starting at
11:00 am and ending at 4:30 pm every day from March 16 to March 22. Check the
programme guide or the website for details.
Off the Beaten Track
World-renowned speakers tend to hog the limelight every year at the Sasol
Science Festival in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, but there are jewels
off the beaten track to be discovered as well.
Once again, the University of the Western Cape will be providing a
thought-provoking exhibition at the Sasol Science Festival in Grahamstown in the
Eastern Cape. It's normally a very democratic display - last year, staff
included everyone from very young students to the dean of the faculty! This year
students and staff will be narrating the links between the living environment
and our everyday lives.
Water water everywhere
So you think you know how to sort out southern Africa's persistent water
shortages? Come and play the water game with staff from the Institute for
Water Research. Four interactive workshops use a fun computer simulation of a
town or village water supply. Players find out what happens if poor
communities improve their standard of living and use more water, or if you
decide to supply some water for free, and the results when some members of the
community simply can't afford to pay. Workshops are from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm
on March 16, 17, 18 and 21 in the Rhodes University physics
department's Guthrie laboratory. Entrance fee is a wallet-whopping R7.50.
See you in a while crocodile
Flat Dog the crocodile and his pet blonde human, Basil Mills, will be
sharing (and hopefully dispelling) some of the myths and legends surrounding
crocs. If you don't know about the importance of crocodiles in the environment,
now's the time to find out. Flat Dog and Basil will be
performing Crocodile Tears and Tales on March 16, 17, 18 and 22.
Mead and massage
To find out more or to book for Africa's biggest science festival, check out
their website at www.scifest.org.za or
pop in for a visit any time between
March 16 and March 22 but be warned - with over 500 events on offer, both the
website and the festival can be overwhelming. Fortunately, visitors can move to
the art gallery in the 1820 Settlers national monument building to have a free
and relaxing massage from Medi-Sage Trust or a coffee at the Shakespeare Tavern,
both on the ground floor.
And if that's not your cup of tea, hit the local brewery. There are free
tours of South Africa's first meadery in the old power station, complete
with honey guide birds, bees and honey, on the 17, 18, 19, and 22 of March and
you get to sample Makana Meadery's famous
mead. It packs a punch, which is probably why Makana's owner warns, "all
young children under adult supervision, please!" If that's not good enough,
the Meadery is offering several chances to be a master brewer, with
make-your-own workshops in which you can make your own personal batch of mead.
But patience: don't drink it immediately. It has to age for eight months. The
master brewer workshops cost R40 and take place on March 16, 18, 20 and 22.
More information:
www.scifest.org.za
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