T
hree members of the Faculty of AgriSciences are
among the outstanding
scientists, professionals
and role models who have been
named as finalists for the
2015/2016 NSTF-South32 Awards.
They are Prof Linus Opara, Prof Michael Samways and Mr Willem Botes.
The winners will be announced at a
gala dinner on 30 June 2016 in
Gauteng. Ms Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology and
patron of the awards, will be in attendance.
“Given the quality of the nominations received and the fierce competition faced by the nominees, it is
indeed an extraordinary honour to
be an award finalist,” says Jansie
Niehaus, Executive Director of the
National Science & Technology Forum (NSTF). The NSTF is the largest
multi-stakeholder forum for science, engineering, technology (SET)
and innovation organisations in
South Africa.
Prof Umezuruike Linus Opara
Engela Duvenage
Prof Umezuruike Linus Opara is
nominated in two categories: the
TW Kambule-NSTF Award for research and its outputs over the past
15 years, and in the category recognising capacity development in
terms of research or engineering.
He is holder of the DST-NRF South
African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology, and distinguished
professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at Stellenbosch
University.
His multi-disciplinary research team
is the leading group worldwide
working on postharvest practices
that improve the postharvest handling, packaging and marketing of
pomegranate fruit. Prof Opara is
recognised globally as the leading
individual researcher on postharvest
technology of pomegranates. The
National Research Foundation (NRF)
recently estimated that the efforts
that his team has put into developing handling technologies for this
anti-oxidant rich fruit work has provided over R65 million of direct and
indirect benefits to South Africa’s
fledgling pomegranate industry.
His research group also tests and
develops packaging and quality
control methods relevant to the
handling and storage of fruits and
vegetables such as table grapes,
citrus and apples. These efforts are
focused on alleviating unnecessary
food loss and waste in the fruit and
vegetable sector. His team also recently investigated the preservation
and quality of fish, and the use of
cassava flour to bake bread with.
Prof Opara is the recipient of numerous international awards. Most
notably he received the AU Kwame
Nkrumah Continental Scientific
Award for Life and Earth Science at
the annual African Union Heads of
State Summit earlier this year, and
the IMPRESSA Award in 2015 from
the Regional Universities Forum for
Capacity Building in Agriculture
(RUFORUM).
Prof Michael Samways
Prof Michael Samways of the Department of Conservation Ecology
and Entomology is a finalist in two
categories. His nomination in the
Lifetime Award category highlights
his outstanding contribution to especially insect conservation and
biodiversity science over the past 40
years. He has been able to put his
academic interests into practice by
among others helping to rethink
local pest management strategies,
freshwater assessments, sustainable
wine and timber production and to
help restore the Cousine Island in
the Seychelles to its natural state.
His name was also put forward in
the NSTF-GreenMatter Award to-