Marion IslandNewsS.A.Agulhas IISouthern OceanSub-Antarctic

S.A. Agulhas II leaving for Marion Island

Overwintering, Team, Marion Island

Photo: The 75th Marion Island Overwintering Team (Photo Credit: Ben van der Walt)

Take-over voyage (06 April – 12 May 2018)

On board the vessel is the 75th Marion Island Overwintering team, take-over personnel, researchers, maintenance crew and ship crew.

The 75th Marion Island Overwintering Team:

Name and Surname Job Title Job title as referred to by islanders Affiliation
Liezl Pretorius Field Assistant – Mammals Sealer UP (MIMMP)
Marike Louw Field Assistant – Botanical Botanist UP
James Burns Meteorological Observer Metkassie SAWS
Michelle Thompson Field Assistant – Ornithological Birder NMMU (MAPRU)
Sean Movar Field Assistant – Ornithological Birder Dept. of Oceans & Coasts
Bongekile Kuhlase Field Assistant – Botanical Botanist UP
Maliviwe Melford Mnengisa Medical Orderly Medic DEA
Danielle Z. Keys Field Assistant – Ornithological Birder NMMU (MAPRU)
Charlotte Heijnis Environmental Conservation Officer ECO DEA
Bukelwa Mavis Lekhesa Communications Engineer Radio Tech DEA
Zinhle Shongwe Meteorological Observer Metkassie SAWS
Sechaba Nyaku Senior Meteorological Observer Metkassie SAWS
Welly Owabe Field Assistant – Mammals Sealer UP (MIMMP)
Daniel Clarke Assistant Environmental Conservation Officer Assistant ECO DEA
Stephan Keys Field Assistant – Ornithological Birder NMMU (MAPRU)
Michael Voysey Field Assistant – Mammals Killer Whaler/Sealer UP (MIMMP)
Vhuli Manukha Space Weather Engineer Space Weather Engineer SANSA
Elsa van Ginkel Field Assistant – Botanical Botanist UP
Dineo Mogashoa Field Assistant – Botanical Botanist UP
Abuyiselwe Nguna Field Assistant – Geomorphology Geomorphologist FH
Taunyane Michael Diesel Mechanic Diesel Mech DEA
Dakalo Gangashe Base Engineer Base Engineer DEA
Ben Van der Walt The chaplain who will be on the island only for take-over, for support and guidance.

(please follow us on social media, (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) as we will be putting faces to the names of the team members)

Scientific Projects on Marion Island and the surrounding Southern Ocean:

Dr Azwianewi Makhado Department of Environmental Affairs (Oceans and Coasts) Bottom-up and top-down control of seabirds of the Southern Ocean: implications for conservation
Prof Jonathan Sievers University of KwaZulu-Natal Observing Dawn in the Cosmos
Dr Pedro Monteiro CSIR – Natural Resources and the Environment How storm characteristics in the Southern Ocean influence inter annual variability of CO2 fluxes
Dr Thato Nicholas Mtshali CSIR – Natural Resources and the Environment Seasonal evolution of biogeochemical Fe cycle in the Southern Ocean
Dr Sarah-Anne Nicholson CSIR – Natural Resources and the Environment The role of storms in shaping upper ocean physics and primary production in the Southern Ocean
Dr Sandy Thomalla CSIR – Natural Resources and the Environment An improved understanding of the climate sensitivity of the Southern Ocean’s biological carbon pump
Dr Michelle Greve University of Pretoria Invasions in the changing sub-Antarctic
Dr Peter le Roux University of Pretoria Modelling wind patterns and their ecological impacts
Prof Michael Kosch South African National Space Agency (SANSA) SANAE HF radar
Dr Stefan Lotz South African National Space Agency Polar Space Weather Studies (PSWS)
Dr Pierre Pistorius Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Southern Indian Ocean Top Predators: linking ecology, oceanography and marine spatial planning needs
Dr Maelle Connan Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Small Procellariiformes as indicators of ecosystem changes and plastic pollution
Prof ISABEL HOFMEYR University of the Witwatersrand Southern Oceanic Humanities
Prof Werner Nel University of Fort Hare Landscape and climate interactions in the sub-Antarctic
Prof Bettine Jansen van Vuuren University of Johannesburg Biocomplexity: Understanding biological patterns in space and time
Dr Katye Altieri University of Cape Town Biogeochemical controls on the sources and chemical composition of Southern Ocean marine aerosols
Dr Sarah Fawcett University of Cape Town A nitrogen cycle view of atmospheric CO2 sequestration in the Antarctic Ocean
Prof Isabelle Ansorge University of Cape Town SAMOC-SA
Prof Nico de Bruyn University of Pretoria Marion Island Marine Mammals: Individual Variation and Population Processes in Changing Environments
Dr Thulani Makhalanyane University of Pretoria Disentangling the role of chemolithoautotrophs in the sequestration of atmospheric CO2
Prof Chris Reason University of Cape Town Southern Ocean influences on Western Cape Drought and Flood Events

Click here to see the full list of 2018-2020 South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) Projects.

Contact Us if more information about this voyage is needed.

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, 06 April 2018.

 

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