Colette de Villiers has won the award for the best master’s oral presentation in Geographic Information System/Remote Sensing category. The student conference took place from the 8^th to the 10^th of July at the University of the Witwatersrand. This conference was organized by the Society of South African Geographers (SSAG), and students from various universities took part in the event.

Colette's presentation was titled: “Mapping Prosopis glandulosa (mesquite) in the semi-arid environment using remote sensing and machine learning algorithms: a case study of Prieska in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa”. Mapping of invasive alien plants and other land cover can provide valuable information about the semi-arid regions of South Africa using satellite products. Prosopis is one of the top 100 worst invaders in the world with rapid dispersal and large thicket invasions in natural ecosystems. In South Africa, water resources are threatened by the spread of Prosopis into water catchments (e.g. the Orange River).

The research focused on finding the best machine learning algorithm to map this invasive plant with the highest accuracy. This research can assist in informing decision makers about the management of Prosopis invaded areas in South Africa. The project presented was funded by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and is being supervised by Dr Cilence Mungemezulu (UP), Dr George Chirima (ARC) and Dr Philemon Tsele (UP).

The SSAG Student Conference is an excellent opportunity for students of geography, environmental sciences and geoinformatics to share knowledge with their peers from different institutions across South Africa. Colette would like to thank the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology for supporting and encouraging postgraduate students to attend conferences.