Dr Christel Hansen and Michael Loubser, as well as several students, attended the recent Southern African association of Geomorphologist (SAAG) biennial conference held in and around Hogsback, Eastern Cape from 28-30 September. During the conference, Philani Apleni, a current MSc Geoinformatics student, received the award for the best student presentation. The award was awarded for his Masters work on Quantifying changes in the extent of wetland types of the Maputaland Coastal Plain using remote sensing: implications for restoration and conservation, and he received Veld Management - Principles and Practices, sponsored by Briza Publishing, as the award. His work is co-supervised by Dr Heidi van Deventer from the CSIR, and Dr Philemon Tsele from our department.

Lukho Goso, a current 2^nd year MSc Geoinformatics student, Renée Grundling, a current 2^nd year MSc Environmental Management student, and Nkosingizwile Ndlovu, a current 1^st year MSc Geoinformatics student were all recipients of IAG grants to take part on the Young Geomorphologist Training Program offered in parallel to the conference. In addition, Lukho and Nkosingizwile were awarded grants from Esri South Africa to attend the conference.