Welcome to the South African YES Network Chapter

Abstract submission to the 34th IGC-YES Symposium

2012-02-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

YES Network members are invited to submit an abstract to the 34th IGC YES Symposium ‘Overcoming geoscience challenges in the 21st century by developing and improving the skills of early-career geoscientists’ (Theme 36, symposium 36.7). You should note that this symposium is a part of the main IGC program and therefore abstract submission for this symposium will be governed by the same ‘rules’ as other IGC abstracts.This means that:

- Abstracts must be submitted via the IGC abstract portal (http://www.34igc.org/submit-abstracts.php; this involves a cost)
- Presenters may only give one oral presentation; they can however have both a talk and a poster (separate abstracts need to be submitted for each)
- Abstracts are due by 17 February 2012 (AUSTRALIAN TIME)- Abstracts must be submitted using the correct template or they may be rejected outright .

We recommended that you don’t leave your abstract submission until the last minute as many people do that and the servers can get overloaded preventing upload. Finally, if you do have any problems submitting your abstract please contact the conference organisers (email provided) not the YES Network President.

2nd World YES Congress in Brisbane from the 5-10th August 2012

2012-02-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

The 2nd World YES Congress will take place in Brisbane Australia in conjunctions with the 34th International Geological Congress (IGC) from the 5-10th August 2012. Most the 2nd World YES Congress sessions will take place in the evenings, which will allow YES Network members to participate on the main 34th IGC sessions. The YES Network Congress sessions are as follows:

Sunday, 5 August (University of Queensland)
12:00-14:00 YES Congress Registration
14:00-16:00 Workshop: CV Writing - online registration until March 2012
16:00-18:00 Industry-YES Members Event
18:30-20:00 Cocktail & Dinner hour

Monday, 6 August (Brisbane Convention Centre)
18:00-20:00 YES Network National Chapters Showcase
20:00-22:00 YES Network Meet and Greet Dinner
Tuesday, 7 August (Brisbane Convention Centre)
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 1): How can geoscientists best engage with the public and high school pupils?
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 2): Geological knowledge and technology transfer in developing nations

Wednesday, 8 August (Brisbane Convention Centre)
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 1): Engaging with policy
makers: A YES legacy
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 2): Education and Outreach in Polar Science

Thursday, 9 August (Brisbane Convention Centre)
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 1): Emerging geoscience
themes and the role of the YES Network
18:00-20:30 Roundtable (Room 2): Women in Geosciences

Friday, 10 August (Brisbane Convention Centre)
09:00-11:30 Roundtable (Room 1): Professional Development:
International skill recognition
09:00-11:30 Workshop: Communicating Science to the Public
4:00-15:30 YES Network Poster Session

For further information about YES Network activities in Brisbane, please visit the main YES Network website at http://www.networkyes.org

6th Siberian International Early Career GeoScientists Conference in Novosibirsk from the 9-23 June 2012

2011-11-09T00:51:00.000-08:00

You are invited to take part in the 6th Siberian International Early Career GeoScientists Conference that will be held in Novosibirsk from the 9-23 June 2012 . The scientific programme of the Conference includes a number of short courses and workshops, a plenary, oral and poster sessions as well as post-conference excursions to Gorny Altai and North-Western Altai. For more information please visit the Conference website http://sibconf.igm.nsc.ru/index.php?lang=english

Important Dates

Registration and abstract submission deadline 1-February 2012

Information about accepted abstracts 1 March 2012

3rd Circular April 2012

9-23 June 2012- The 6th International Siberian Early Career GeoScientists Conference

Climate Change in South Africa

2011-10-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

With recent social and economic advances in South Africa comes an immense added pressure on the National Energy Grid, consequentially resulting in rolling power outages during the times of peak demand. Moreover, this has a direct effect on our economy, such as the case with the construction of a large ferrochrome smelter being moved from Rustenburg to China because continuous electricity could not be guaranteed. In an effort to combat these energy shortages and provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the country and large industries, Eskom has planned construction of two new power plants in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as well as the recommissioning of three older stations, which will compound the Energy Grid and double it's capacity to 80,000 MW by 2026.

While these newer power plants are highly efficient at their usage of natural resources, there remains the ever present concern regarding climate change and carbon emissions. In addition, within the last decade South Africa has become the leading carbon emissive nation in Africa producing more than 430,000 kt of carbon dioxide emissions from burning nonrenewable energy sources, which amounts for 90% of South Africa's total energy production. Having agreed with the Kyoto Protocol and playing an active role in climate change and the global shift towards renewable energy that lead to the hosting of the COP17 climate change summit in Durban, which promises to provide concrete regulations not firmly constrained during previous summits, the South African Government launched the White Paper on Renewable Energy, 2004 which together with a renewable energy mandate in a National Environmental Act launched in 1999, aims to reduce carbon emissions by up to 34% by 2020 and moreover produce up to 10,000 GWh of renewable energy by 2013. This aim is on track to being realised with promising results shown in a solar heating pilot installation projects and compounded with plans to further hydro and wind generated forms of electricity.

In an effort to join this fight against climate change I've began investigating the prospect of harnessing geothermal energy within South Africa. Being placed on the Archean Kaapvaal Craton compounded by a very thick and dense mantle keel reaching depths of up to 250 km, which serves as the ideal location for the formation of some of the worlds best diamonds, but unfortunately does not provide the best target areas for geothermal energy which is further reduced with the lack of active volcanism. Previous research does however illustrate heat-flow signatures and the presence of anonymous high-heat flow and heat-producing regions within the Kaapvaal Craton, which may prove to be the ideal future locations for the successful extraction of geothermal energy. This form of geothermal energy, known as Enhanced Geothermal Systems, employs the use of exploiting a high geothermal gradient by pumping a working fluid down the gradient into a deep-seated reservoir where the water is heated to critical levels and thereafter runs up a production line and produces energy.

The energy producing capabilities of a successful geothermal plant of this nature in South Africa would have immense benefits with one plant having the equivalent energy output as 25 wind turbines and furthermore having the ability of exponentially decreasing carbon emissions with simultaneous sequestration. Being a new field, a great deal of further research is required to fully understand these possibilities, however if successful this could provide an ideal solution to South Africa's energy problems while substantially decreasing our carbon footprint.

A YES outreach initiative

2011-09-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

When one gives an earth science presentation, it is generally addressing an academic or an industrial environment whereby the speaker is trying to convey a specific geological related aspect across to a geological affiliated crowd. General causal earth science related conversation is also limited to colleagues and earth science professionals. However through casual coffee conversation with friends involved other realms of working world, such as lawyers, doctors etc, one realizes how little they understand what geological sciences are and how important they are for us as human civilization. To illustrate this, I am introduced as “This is Meagan, she studies Rocks!” by a very good friend of mine to her other friends just to see their reactions.

South Africa is a very rich country in terms of mineral wealth, with a long mining history, but this mineral wealth is generally concentrated towards the north of the country. Places such as the Eastern Cape and Western Cape are very poor in comparison and so general knowledge on earth science is significantly lower.

In keeping with the YES network’s “Earth Science for Society”, I decided to give a presentation on Monday, 19 September 2011, to about 30 Grade 11 and 12 learners at Hexagon High School in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. Hexagon High School is a FET (Further Education and Training) school and the learners are largely from the rural areas of the former Transkei.

The presentation purpose was to expose students on high school levels to the importance of Geology and the career possibilities associated with it. To keep it relevant to the students, I used the example of the town’s local landmark mountain to illustrate this point. The presentation was roughly 35minutes long followed by a question series

The student response was that of interest and a lot of questions were posed with regards to the direction of study one takes to get as far as I am currently today.

Overall the response was good and should this be done in the future, maybe a more interactive approach should be included, maybe a little trip into the field to expose them to the science on “ground level”

It was a good experience and I enjoyed sharing knowledge with people who were interested in the subject. I also challenge anyone to go out there and share a little about our work, the importance of what we do, the uniqueness of our planet earth and the problems we as society currently face.

GSA 2011 Short Course 515: Setting up a GeoSciML data service to publish your geological map data

2011-08-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

The YES Network is co-organizing the following short course at the GSA 2011 Annual Meeting with the Arizona Geological Survey and the American Geological Institute. Please consider registering for this course.

Short Course 515: Setting up a GeoSciML data service to publish your geological map data

Saturday, 8 October 2011, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $50; includes continental breakfast and lunch.
Organizers: Arizona Geological Survey, AGI, and YES Network

This course is aimed at graduate students and early-career faculty who are doing geological mapping projects and are interested in online data publication. GeoSciML is a standards-based data format that provides a framework for application-neutral encoding of geoscience thematic data and related spatial data. Using GeoSciML, you will learn how to set up a GeoSciML data service so that you can publish your geological mapping data in a vendor-neutral format that will allow for data exchange and interoperability. Participants are required to bring their own laptops that are equipped with a wireless connection.

Early registration deadline: 6 September
Registration after 6 September costs an additional $30
Cancellation deadline: 12 September

To register, please visit: http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2011/courses.htm

Retaining Students Through the Student-to-Professional Continuum

2011-05-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

The YES Network has co-partnered with the American Geological Institute on exploring the question of how to retain students through student to professional continuum. As as result they have created a set of questions through an online survey. The results of this survey will be used in the future YES Network national and international meetings as well as online roundtable discussions.

In order to participate on this online survey please follow this link http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/std2profsurvey/\

World Environment Day: 5th June 2011

2011-05-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is having a blog competition. The winner for this competition will win a trip to India to cover the World Environment day on the 5th June 2011. For more information about how to enter this competition please visit http://www.unep.org/wed/blog/

The African Geopark Network (AGN)

2011-03-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

The African Association of Women in Geosciences and the African Geoparks Network (AGN) are creating a common task group in order to promote the african geology. So, these organisations are calling all geoscientists who are working on the African continent to send nice photos of geological sites of scientific and/or educative interest or just with a scenic beauty with a short description that will be published on the AGN website http://www.africangeoparksnetwork.org/ as well as on its related facebook page. This action will help to create a data base related to the geological heritage of the African continent and will allow to promote the geology of the continent. Please don't forget to mentionne your full name, your address and email.

So, please send your photos on the following email address: contact@aawg.org

YES Network Activities at the EGU General Assembly 2011

2011-03-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

The YES Network and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) will be hosting a townhall meeting at the 2011 European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria from 19:00-20:00 on April 5. If your not attending EGU 2011 in Vienna, you could still join the town hall via FREE webcast. Follow this link to register http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/egu_2011/

The YES Africa Symposium 2011

2011-01-04T01:40:00.000-08:00

The YES Africa Symposium, which will take place in the University of Johannesburg, South Africa starts next week (11-12 January)! You can still participate in this event by registering as as a web-based participant. Registration and participation as a web-based participant is free. You will be able to listen to the Opening Ceremony, Oral Presentation Sessions, Roundtable Presentations, and also take part in the virtual working group discussions at the roundtable session. For further details follow the link below and register as a web-based participant now:

http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/yes_africa_2011/

CAG23 Geoscientific Information workshop: 8-9 Jan 2011

2010-11-11T05:02:00.000-08:00

"Geoscientific information infrastructures in Africa: OneGeology-AEGOS-GIRAF"
This 1½ day superworkshop will bring together the three complimentary initiatives of OneGeology, AEGOS and GIRAF to provide Geoscientific information and developments in Africa. For more information, download the event flyer at http://www.onegeology.org/docs/CAG23.pdf

To register for this FREE workshop, please complete the form at http://cag23.co.za/workshops2.php

Register for the YES Africa Symposium 2011 Roundtables

2010-11-10T00:08:00.000-08:00

The YES Africa 2011 Symposium that will take place in the University of Johannesburg, South Africa from the 8-14th January 2011 will be convening two roundtable sessions. Pre-registration for web-based roundtable participants is now open and it's free! Follow the YES Africa 2011 webpage to register http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/yes_africa_2011/

YES Africa 2011 Symposium :Abstract deadline 30th September 2010

2010-09-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

The abstract submission deadline for the YES Africa 2011 Symposium is tomorrow 30th September, if you have not yet submitted you're abstracts, please do send it to abstractsyesafrica@yahoo.com. For more information about this event please follow this link

http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/yes_africa_2011/

Decision Points in the Geoscience Career Pathway

2010-09-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

The YES Network is undertaking the Decision Points in the Geoscience Career Pathway survey! please take a moment to share your thoughts about what has influenced your decisions about whether or not to pursue a geoscience major and/or geoscience career. You can take the survey and read more about the project by visiting the following this link

http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/projects/descision_points_survey/

YES Africa 2011 Symposium: Abstract Submission deadline extended to 30 Septmber 2010

2010-09-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

The YES Africa 2011 abstract submission deadline has been further extended to 30 September 2010 to be in-line with the new CAG abstract submission date.

For more information about abstracts submission visit YES Africa 2011 webpage at http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/yes_africa_2011/ or the CAG website at http://www.cag23.co.za/

YES Africa 2011 Symposium : Abstracts deadline 20th August 2010

2010-09-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

Abstracts submission deadline for the YES Africa 2011 Symposium in Johannesburg, South Africa has been extended until 20th August 2010. For those who have not submitted their abstracts yet, it is now your chance to participate. You can also send more than one abstract according to the related topics proposed for this event.

Here are the proposed topics

Earth’s Resources and Sustainable Development of Africa
Post Gondwana Geodynamics of Africa
Environmental Geology and Geohazards (Natural Hazards vs. Man-made Hazards)

Additionally, there will be the following two roundtable sessions at the YES-Africa 2011 Symposium:

Natural Hazards in Africa: Climate change, earthquakes, landslides, hydrological hazards, etc.
Creating Local and Regional Professional Development Resources for Young and Early-Career Geoscientists

For more information about the YES Africa 2011 symposium visit us on the YES Network website http://www.networkyes.org/index.php/meetings/yes_africa_2011/

The first International Conference on African and Arabian Geoparks

2010-09-15T00:11:00.002-07:00

The First International Conference on African & Arabian Geoparks, entitled Aspiring Geoparks in Africa and Arab world will be taking place in El Jadida, Morocco, from the 21-28 November, 2011, for more information please follow this link

http://www.aawg.org/AAWG/spip.php?rubrique42

Welcome to official South African YES Network Chapter

2010-08-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the South African YES Network Chapter of the International Young earth Scientists Network. The South African YES network aims to promote and build on the mission of the international network "promoting Earth Science for Society" whilst focussing on current issues facing our country within the earth sciences field. Geosciences amongst school going students is largely unpromoted, with many students not knowing enough about the science and the future possibilities it may hold for them and the future of the country. As a Chapter we aim to improve the view of earth science within the secondary and tertiary education levels in South Africa.

This Chapter also aims to create a platform for a support system whereby young earth-scientists can share information between one another and create a support group by providing professional development, resources and opportunities.

Please feel free to send pictures of you in the field, publications and anything else that you may find relevant. We would like to hear from you, contact us at earthscience.sa@gmail.com for any enquires

Join our mailing list by joining the South African YES Network, its Free!!

You can also find us on facebook, join our facebook disccussion here