Seipati Poopedi, a master’s student at the North-West University (NWU), recently participated in the Wetskills Water Challenge in Cape Town and her team walked away with the spoils.

Her team members were Tariro Marekwa, an MSc student from the University of Cape Town, Dr Fulya Kandamir from Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Climate Change in Turkey, Zanele Lulane of the Joint River Basin Authorities Project Board in Eswatini, and Nomandla Nxusa from Rand Water South Africa.

You should start planning your future career as early as in Grade 9. This was what North-West University (NWU) statistics lecturer Dr Piet Ntema, told Grade 9 learners during a recent career guidance workshop.

Dr Ntema hosted the workshop in partnership with the office of Prof Rodney Medupe, deputy dean for community engagement and stakeholder relations at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and Phomolong Community Library.

Prof Louis du Preez, professor of zoology at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU), was honoured by having a newly discovered Malagasy frog species named after him.

The honour was bestowed by a group of German scientists from the University of Braunschweig, Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, and the Zoological Museum in München, in recognition of Prof du Preez’s substantial contributions to understanding the flatworm parasites of Malagasy anurans.

NWU staff continue to make significant contributions, not only locally but also internationally. The executive dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof David Modise, has been appointed to the interim governing council of the African Network of Scientific and Technological Institutions (ANSTI).

Prof Modise will serve as a member of this council for two years, effective from 1 March 2023.

Leaf blight in maize poses a threat to food security but, although it has complex causes, it can be effectively managed. This is one of the findings of a group of North-West University (NWU) researchers who have been investigating this plant disease at the university’s Molelwane farm in Mahikeng.

Their research shows that the disease defies many control measures because it is caused by multiple organisms, which in most cases interact to cause the leaf blight disease.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a huge threat to Africa’s and, by extension, the world’s health care systems and should be addressed with haste. This according to Prof Carlos Bezuidenhout, director of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Microbiology (METSI) at the North-West University’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

AMR refers to the resistance that microbes develop to certain pharmaceutical drugs.

Prof Frank Winde, a professor in environmental science at the North-West University (NWU), recently presented a Water Policy Brief at the United Nations (UN) Water Conference that took place at the UN Headquarters in New York. 

This was the first global water conference in nearly 50 years and stakeholders across the globe were welcome to attend. Officially known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028), the gathering attracted more than 6 600 delegates from 150 countries.

North-West University (NWU) academic at the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Centre, Prof Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu, has been inaugurated as the president of the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) during the annual SAAB conference that took place at the University of Limpopo earlier this year.

He will serve as president from January 2023 to January 2025.

Prof Aremu says he is honoured to lead the SAAB. “Given the rich history of the SAAB and its impact on society, I am sincerely grateful to SAAB members and the council for trusting me with this important job.

The North-West University (NWU) continues to feature in international rankings. The latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject includes the NWU in two subject areas: agriculture and forestry, and medicine.

The 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject ranked the NWU in the 351 to 400 category for agriculture and forestry and in the 551 to 600 category for medicine. This is the first year that the NWU has featured in the ranking table for agriculture and forestry.

North-West University statistics lecturer Dr Piet Ntema recently presented a paper at the 17th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED2023) in Spain.

He presented the paper from his PhD thesis titled “Feature selection of student(s) at risk of dropout using administrative data at a university in South Africa”. He was among six other participants from South Africa who presented at the conference.