In July, two PhD students from the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases attended the 23rd Congress of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa. The conference was held from the 11th to the 14th of July 2023, in the beautiful town of Stellenbosch. 

 

The first day opened with a welcome event. The next three days where filled with wonderful and interesting oral presentations and poster sessions. Miss Andeliza Smit gave an oral presentation entitled: "Intra- and inter-species variation of Amblyomma ticks from Southern Africa". The project was made possible through funding from AgriSETA, the Meat Industry Trust and a Postgraduate Bursary from the University of Pretoria. Miss Rebecca Ackermann also gave an oral presentation entitled: "Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial microbiome of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks in the Mnisi community, South Africa". The project was made possible through funding from AgriSETA, the Meat Industry Trust and the University of Pretoria.

 

Students were invited to a student event on the 12th, which entailed a very fun quiz night and unlimited pizza. Safe to say everyone enjoyed that very much. On the evening of the 13th there was a workshop on the journal application process. This gave attendees some insights on what happens behind the scenes, once you send in your manuscript to a journal. That night, everyone dressed up to the nines and attended the congress dinner. On the last day, after the final presentations, there was a prize giving event for the best oral and poster presentations.