NOVEMBER 2010 Connect with UCT Alumni and What Is Happening at UCT on Facebook, Linked In, Youtube and Flickr

CONTACTFACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER – NO.8 – NOVEMBER 2010 Connect with UCT Alumni and what is happening at UCT on Facebook, Linked in, YouTube and Flickr

Message from the Dean A highlight of 2009 was the record number of PhD graduates in Science with 67 doctorates being awarded in our two graduation ceremonies.

Our focus on quality research gathered further Development Centre at UCT. The newly ac- momentum with a significant rise in interna- credited Centre for Astrophysics, Cosmol- tional citations of our publications. More than ogy and Gravitation, will promote stimulating 75% of our academic staff are National Re- interdisciplinary research. search Foundation rated researchers, with 64 A pilot intervention, ACHIEVE, provided of our scientists in the A or B category. out-of-hours academic assistance in math- Six new chairs in the Faculty of Science, ematics and physics for first-year students at funded by the South African Research Chairs risk, many of whom are from disadvantaged Initiative, have provided additional capacity for backgrounds. supervising postgraduate students and host- The Faculty has strong transformational ing postdoctoral fellows. leadership which finds expression through our The faculty’s researchers attracted sig- Faculty Transformation Forum. Staff demogra- nificant external funding for their exciting phy has changed significantly in recent years projects. Professor Kelly Chibale (Chemistry), although we still face challenges in achieving whose group is using plants to find novel our desired representivity and diversity. compounds for antimalarial drugs, received Thank you for your interest and valuable a R3.6-million grant from the Medicines for support. Malaria Venture. The Hassno Plattner Institute in Germany Kathy Driver funded the development and launch of the Professor of Mathematics Information Communication Technologies for Dean, Faculty of Science

Outstanding Achievements in 2009

Staff: Applied Mathematics) was named Best Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry con- • Prof Jill Farrant (Molecular and Cell Biol- Emerging Scientist at the annual Depart- ference in Glasgow. ogy) was awarded the Harry Oppenheimer ment of Science and Technology’s South • Renee Hlozek won the 2009 S2A3 Medal Fellowship Award to fund her research on African Women in Science Awards for the best Masters by Dissertation thesis “resurrection plants”. • Honorary doctorates were awarded by UCT from the South African Association for the • Prof Johann Lutjeharms received the Order to Emeritus Professors Brian Warner( As- Advancement of Science. Her work relates of Mapungubwe for his exceptional work in tronomy) and George Ellis (Cosmology). to dark energy, the mysterious form of anti- oceanographic science. • Prof Brian Warner was elected a fellow of gravity believed to be responsible for the • Prof Mino Caira, Director of the Centre for his alma mater, University College London. acceleration of the Universe. Supramolecular Chemistry Research, was • Prof Gary Marsden (Computer Science) re- • Shikoh Gitau won the prestigious 2010 Anita awarded the South African Chemical Insti- ceived a Distinguished Teacher Award Borg Award Google Scholarship awarded to tute’s Gold Medal for 2009. • Profs Kelly Chibale, Susan Bourne and Jill a female student with an excellent academic • Prof Linda Haines (Statistical Science) won Farrant were elected Fellows of UCT. record in Computer Science. the 2009 Sichel Medal for the best paper • Batsirai Magunje, Wole Solana and Stanley by a South African author in a statistical Students: Walton, scooped three out of four applied journal. • Grace Mugumbate won a prize for her physics prizes at the 54th Annual conference • Dr Amanda Weltman (Mathematics and poster presentation at the International of the South African Institute of Physics. www.facebook.com/uct.ac.za • www.flickr.com/photos/44590630@N06/ • www.linkedin.com/company/7936 • www.youtube.com/user/UCTSouthAfrica uct fACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER • OCTOBER 2010 • 1 CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT

Shoreline Mathematical Contest IN Modelling

The MCM is hosted each year by the Con- event was between designing protocols for sortium for Mathematics and Its Applications the prediction of the next attack site of a se- (COMAP), based in the United States, and is rial criminal, or an analysis of the dynamics of open to teams of three undergraduates from baseball bats and their “Sweet Spots”. Our any university across the world. This year 2254 teams drew on techniques from the stand- teams entered from fourteen countries as ard toolbox of applied mathematics as well far afield as China, Germany, Indonesia and as a handful of unexpected approaches from Pakistan. mathematical physics, computer science and In February 2010 twelve students (in four statistics. The teams selected an open prob- teams of three) from the Department of lem and spent ninety six hours proposing, sim- Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and ulating and calibrating mathematical models. the Department of Physics entered the inter- Competitors were judged on the quality of national Mathematical Contest in Modelling a scientific report summarising their findings (MCM). Three of the teams earned the second and the creativity of their solutions. highest award and were declared Meritorious The success of the teams attests to the vi- Winners, while the fourth team was placed brancy of applied mathematics at UCT, and Eleanor Yeld, in action on site as Successful Participants. The teams were suggests an exciting opportunity for further advised by Dr Henri Laurie. interdisciplinary research amongst undergrad- Two UCT researchers, historian Nomalanga This year the choice of problems in the uates. Mkhize and marine biologist Eleanor Yeld, co-presented the highly rated, 13-part environmental documentary series Shoreline, which aired on SABC2 in February 2009. This documentary explores the approxi- mately 3000 kilometres of South African coastline, stretching from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic coast, southwards around the tip of Africa and then north to the border with Mozam- bique on the Indian Ocean. Combining scenic photography with background on the communities and previously unseen natural riches, the series explores how the environment and historic events have shaped the lives of coastal communities.

MCM Competition Winners: Back row from left: Anthea Field, Stefaan Conradie, Pieter New Chair in Slabbert, Subhaan Brey, Tariq Desai, Timothy Povall, Thomas Mbewu, Andy Ramnath. Astronomy Front Row: Bianca Bohmer, Azhar Desai, Laura Hayward. Absent: Priscilla Chauke The Department of Astronomy was awarded the South African Research Chair in Ex- tragalactic Multi-Wavelength Astronomy NANSEN-TUTU Centre for in collaboration with the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA) office. The ENVIRONMENTAL MARINE Research new Chair will focus on galaxy formation, evolution and cosmology through radio The Marine Research Institute (Ma-Re) and observations and will be ‘embedded’ in the Nansen Environmental & Remote Sens- the Faculty of Science’s Astrophysics, Cos- ing Centre (NERSC) have established the mology and Gravitation Research Centre. Nansen-Tutu Centre in Cape Town. The vi- sion of the centre is to serve Africa through advancing knowledge of the marine envi- Positron Emission ronment and climate system in the spirit of Particle Tracking Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond Tutu and Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, scien- The signing of the agreement at Arch- Facility tist, diplomat and humanitarian. The goal of bishop Desmond Tutu’s offices. Front Row The world’s second positron emission par- the Centre will be to improve the capacity (L-R): Prof. Berit Rokne, Archbishop Des- ticle tracking facility, PEPT Cape Town, to observe, understand and predict marine mond Tutu and Prof George Philander. has opened at the iThemba LABS national ecosystem variability on timescales from days Back Row (L-R): Ambassador Tor Christian cyclotron centre near Faure. Associate to decades in support of scientific and soci- Hildan, Prof. Johnny A. Johannessen, Prof Professor Andy Buffler and Dr Indresan etal needs including fisheries, coastal man- Frank Shillington, Dr Neville Sweijd, Mr. Govender of UCT’s Department of Physics agement, maritime security, recreation and Hans Erstad, Prof John Field and Dr. Lasse will provide essential research capability tourism. H. Pettersson. Photo: Katherine Traut. for the facility. uct fACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER • OCTOBER 2010 • 2 CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT • CONTACT

AFRICAN CENTRE FOR CITIES LAUCHES NEW URBAN ECOLOGY CITYLAB

The African Centre for Cities’ CityLab pro- to explore the challenges facing urban ensure its effective management in the ur- gramme facilitates engagement between ecology in the City of Cape Town through ban setting, and (c) a detailed review of the researchers and practitioners on a number addressing issues such as conservation, eco- air pollution status of Cape Town, what this of key themes: namely the central city, system services, and environment and gov- means for the city, and what interventions Philippi, climate change, healthy cities and ernance systems. Dr Anderson explains that are possible. These first few sessions have urban flooding. A new CityLab on urban the new Citylab has met and discussed is- included input from staff of the City work- ecology was launched in January 2010, sues such as: (a) the management of large ing for Cape Town, academics at UCT and with Dr Pippin Anderson, from the Depart- mammals in the urban context (grappling independent consultants working in the ment of Environmental and Geographical with the interface of biology and policy); field, reflecting the broad community that Science, as co-ordinator. This initiative aims (b) how to monitor fresh water quality and participates in Citylab.

Mobile phone technology and Traditional Medicine

Computer Science PhD student Shikoh Gitau won the prestigious 2010 Anita Borg Award Google Scholarship which is awarded to a female student with an excellent academic record in Computer Science.

Shikoh is a Kenyan PhD student in the Com- a.) The Apprentice: A web-based applica- puter Science Department at UCT. Her PhD tion that will ‘apprentice’ Traditional Heal- dissertation looks at how the use of mobile ers during various healing sessions, record- internet and its related applications (web ing both audio and video through mobile 2.0, social media) can be used as tools for phones. This will result in a collaboratively service delivery in a South African and Ken- authored database on how to handle vari- yan urban collective. Through incorporating ous ailments traditionally. The searchable Africa inspired interaction techniques such catalogue will act as a repository for persons as ‘Ubuntu’, where technology use is com- interested in traditional medicine as well as munal, and ‘mediation’ where technology for people researching drug design. use is through a capable other, she aims at b. ) The Biodiversity Map: A web-based overcoming some of the challenges facing mapping of various medicinal plants will first-time mobile only internet users. show where they are available, how they should be prepared for healing purposes, and whether they are endangered or not. Shikoh’s submission Inspired by research on the design of mod- M-Ganga can be accessed through the mobile ern medicine by extracting compounds from internet as well as from a computer. medicinal plants, Shikoh wrote a proposal on a mobile phone based system that will Working with First-time Mobile record, catalogue and map-out traditional the custodians of the art die, the knowledge Internet Users in Khayelitsha medicine and knowledge for both archival also dies. The nature and practice of tradi- purposes as well as a way of passing the tional medicine relies heavily on an in-depth Over the past 18 months Shikoh has con- knowledge on to the next generation. understanding of local plants and herbs ducted an extensive study on the use of Traditional Medicine is a practice that and their medicinal value. Furthermore, the mobile internet by illiterate and semi-literate is ingrained in many African cultures with increased degradation of the environment users in urban Cape Town and its surrounding up to 80% of the population said to have as well as urbanization may lead to the di- townships. A key finding of the study is that utilised traditional medicine. As an art that minishing and in some cases the extinction although many women had mobile handsets is passed down from one generation to an- of medicinal plants. Hence, there is need to with internet capability, they did not use the other through apprenticeship and oral tra- preserve knowledge of the medicinal plants service. However, many of the women inter- dition, there is a threat to its sustainability The system developed by Shikoh has been viewed are interested in learning about the as many young people take up mainstream named M-Ganga (Mobile-Healer) and is a internet as they believe it could be a useful career choices and when the elders who are two part system that will include: tool in securing better employment.

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A Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle for the Department of Zoology

Cross faculty collaboration between Zoology’s and organic samples at depth. UCT marine re- Andrea Plos and Stephen Marais of Mechani- search divers often have to spend considerable cal Engineering, has given birth to a prototype time investigating various sites, but now they Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) can put the ROV overboard, find what they are affectionately called “The Baby”. The ROV is a looking for and thereafter send in the divers. tethered underwater robot, which is unoccu- Although the current ROV is still a research pied, highly manoeuvrable and operated by a prototype, it points the way towards future person aboard a vessel via an onboard camera. collaboration in which smart, compact robot- Used extensively by the science community to ics could be used at UCT in one department as study the ocean, these robots can cost mil- a research tool and in another as a teaching lions of rands. However with UCT ingenuity, design project for robotic and engineering stu- students from the Engineering Faculty built dents. Andrea Plos, the inspiration behind this “Baby” for R25 000. The students commented project, says that creating the prototype has that the budget constraints challenged them been a steep learning curve and that she and to think of different solutions while staying Stephen are thinking of the next ROV which focused on their original design requirements. will be made of stainless steel and will need “Baby” has been pressure-tested to 50m, to be outfitted with high-output lightning sys- weighs 80kg and can collect water, sediment tems and “broadcast-quality” cameras.

Studying the effects of Volcanic Ash on Marine Life

In May 2010, marine scientists from Britain, European countries, and South Africa (UCT’s Mike Lucas), were aboard the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) vessel RRS Discovery while iron-rich volcanic ash rained down onto the decks of the ship from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which first erupted beneath a glacier in April. The reason for their presence was to study the effects of volcanic ash deposition on marine life in the concentration of the “green-house gas”, CO2. covered a vast area of the North Atlantic as surface of the ocean as part of the Interna- The sub-polar region in the North Atlantic well as Europe, even extending as far south tional climate change programme; Surface is the most important region of any of the as North Africa. Beneath the ash cloud, dis- Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS). world’s oceans in terms of removing atmos- solved iron concentrations in the surface pheric CO2 due to phytoplankton growth and ocean increased 10,000-fold relative to near- Phytoplankton and the Global the biological carbon pump. by ocean regions that were unaffected by the Carbon Cycle Many mechanisms introduce iron into the ash cloud. Phytoplankton biomass in the wa- Although microscopic, total phytoplankton oceans, including desert dust storms and vol- ter increased 3-fold, and the efficiency with productivity in all the world’s oceans is almost canic ash deposition, which is very rich in iron which they photosynthesised, also increased exactly the same as that of all terrestrial plants and other elements such as aluminium. Since substantially. The quantity of CO2 removed on Earth. Both terrestrial plants and phyto- surface waters of the sub-polar oceanic region from the atmosphere due to photosynthesis plankton play a unique and important role in south of Greenland and Iceland are deficient increased in response to increased phyto- the global carbon cycle, where variation af- in iron, they hypothesised that the volcanic ash plankton growth rates. fects climate change and global warming. cloud would add vast amounts of iron to the Increased phytoplankton biomass and When phytoplankton cells die and sink to ocean and that this in turn would stimulate growth rates also meant that there was, the deep ocean floor (perhaps three to five phytoplankton growth. If correct, this would temporarily at least, more food for herbivo- kilometres below the sea surface), they take also remove more CO2 from the atmosphere. rous zooplankton that are a vital part of the this fixed carbon with them, which helps to food chain, providing the link between phy- remove CO2 from the atmosphere for periods What did they find? toplankton and commercially important fish of hundreds to thousands of years. Scientists The Icelandic volcanic ash cloud that dis- such as Cod, as well as piscivorous sea-birds, believe that this process helps to reduce the rupted international flights in April and May seals and some whales.

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Aquatic Food in Early Human Diet

Almost 2 million years ago, our ancestors incorporated a far wider variety of foods in their diet than previously suspected, including animals rich in brain-growing nutrients. Incorporating these lake and river animals - including fish, turtles, and crocodiles - into their diets could have played a critical role in fuelling the development of a larger, more human-like brain in our early ancestors.

A team of scientists from Kenya, U.S.A., antelopes that ended up as the meals of U.K., Australia, and South Africa discovered these early humans. The discovery of such the 1.95 million year old site in northern a diverse animal diet is especially impor- Kenya in 2004. Four years of excava- tant because, after 2 million years ago, tion yielded literally thousands of fossilized brain size increased dramatically in early bones and stone tools. The team of archae- human ancestors. Growing a large brain ologists was lucky to find a locality that had requires an enormous investment in calo- just the right local conditions to preserve ries and nutrients, and places considerable ancient bones and tools. costs on the mother and developing infant. “At sites of this age we often consider While anthropologists have hypothesized ourselves lucky if we find any bone associ- that adding meat to the diet was key to ated with stone tools, but here we found the evolution of a larger brain, it came as a everything from small bird bones to hippo- surprise that human ancestors this long ago potamus leg bones” remarked David Braun, had incorporated animal foods from lakes of the University of Cape Town, who was and rivers rich in brain nutrients. “These the lead author on the article published