Talk to SAEON

Thanks for the invitation. I enjoyed the Summit, learned a whole bunch of new things, and had a reasonable amount of fun to boot. What more could one ask for. From an outside perspective things look very exciting and dynamic indeed. Congratulations both on the Summit and on achieving so much with SAEON.
Prof Steven Chown, Director - DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, University of Stellenbosch

Congratulations on the great and a hugely successful Summit. I personally learned a lot of new directions in Environmental Observation which have re-invigorated my almost dormant research aspirations.
Wandile Nomquphu, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

From my side well done on the SAEON Summit - I found it to be a very good and diverse gathering of environmental scientists in SA. The presentations were good and disciplined and the workshop discussions extremely valuable. As a member of the SAEON Steering Committee I come away with a strong feeling that SAEON is now part of the equation and a new force in the NSI.
Prof Paul Skelton, Managing Director: South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, National Research Foundation

I found the overview given by the speakers in the Plenary Sessions very interesting and informative. I am also pleased to report that we cover all these important aspects of environmental awareness and issues of sustainability in our Delta Environmental Centre teaching. So some of your future scientists from the humblest of backgrounds may have had their interests in science stimulated by our simple efforts!
I made a point of interacting with as many of the young people at the Summit as I could. They were all very in awe of and inspired by being in the company of the upper echelons in their scientific disciplines. The presenters were legends who published papers, and now they had the opportunity to interact with them all at once.
The students also felt that the opportunity to develop and present their posters and have them reviewed by such specialists was a huge honour. There was obviously great educational value in terms of conceptualising their work in poster format and in analysing and comparing their work with other students.
It was good to hear about the level of commitment and enthusiasm of some of the more isolated students. The gathering gave them a valuable chance to benchmark their efforts.
From my perspective in the sidelines, may I congratulate you all on a very worthwhile event!
Helen Williamson, Delta Environmental Education Centre

Baie dankie vir al die moeite wat julle met die Summit gedoen het. Ek dink almal het dit baie goed georganiseerd en leersaam gevind.
(Thank you for all the effort that went into the Summit. I think everyone found it very well organised and informative.)
Prof Kobus Pienaar, Dean of Science, North-West University