SAEON student acquires scarce skills due to South Africa/Poland collaboration

By Phumlile Cotiyane, PDP* PhD student, SAEON Elwandle Coastal Node and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Tweet

SAEON’s Elwandle Node and the Paleoceanography Unit at the University of Szczecin have been collaborating since 2009 and were recently awarded a South Africa/Poland collaboration grant. 

This grant has enabled Polish scientists to visit South Africa for a field trip and for me to attend the 4^th International Workshop on Siliceous Microorganisms held at the University of Szczecin in Poland during October 2016.

SAEON’s Phumlile Cotiyane (R) gains hands-on experience in the identification of siliceous microorganisms

Presented by world experts on siliceous microorganisms, the workshop included hands-on laboratory activities such as slide preparation, diatom culturing for biofuel, and DNA sequencing. The event provided an incredible platform to engage with other emerging researchers and lay foundations for future collaborations with institutions abroad, thus expanding SAEON’s global footprint.

Another field trip is planned for 2017 and thereafter the South African scientists working on the project will visit Poland to attend the International Phycological Congress. As my PhD aims to investigate the environmental parameters that drive the diversity and geographic patterns of the marine benthic diatoms along the coast of South Africa, I will remain in Poland for a few weeks to further improve my diatom identification skills.

Through these opportunities I hope to acquire a skill set that is scarce in South Africa in terms of marine benthic diatom identification.

 ^* The Professional Development Programme of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation aims to accelerate the development of scientists and research professionals in key research areas.

Learning from world experts on siliceous microorganisms