Every year in August, Women’s Month, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) celebrates the achievement of South African women scientists and researchers by hosting the South African Women in Science Awards Gala Dinner.
This year’s event will be held at the Royal Elephant Hotel in Centurion, Pretoria, on Friday, 24 August at 18h00, under the theme “Using Science and Technology to Develop Rural Women and End Poverty”.
In keeping with this theme, Dr Merida Roets, the Managing Director and founder of Scientific Roets (Pty) Ltd, which is one of the five Centres of Excellence of AgriSETA in South Africa will deliver the keynote address.
Dr Roets has worked in different agricultural projects across a number of African countries, with her recent work in Papua New Guinea on “Using Innovative Systems Approach to Agriculture for Development” for the benefit of rural farmers being the most interesting. She would share some of this work with the audience during her keynote address.
Other highlights of the evening include a brief presentation by Dr Britta Thenge, the Scientific Manager at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Gender Research and Diversity, Kiel University in Germany, on a topic “Women in Science – An imperative for sustainable knowledge building.”
The call for nominations which closed on 20 July 2012 attracted a total of 74 nominations and applications across all the categories. A total of about 300 people, comprising Ministers, government officials, scientist and researchers, and ambassadors are expected to attend the event.
Media are invited – for accreditation purposes; please forward your particulars to Lunga Ngqengelele before Wednesday, 22 August 2012.
Lunga Ngqengelele
Tel: 012 843 6802
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: lunga.ngqengelele@dst.gov.za
Dr Merida Roets’s Biography
Dr Merida Roets is the Managing Director and founder of Scientific Roets (Pty) Ltd, which is one of the five Centres of Excellence of AgriSETA in South Africa.
Scientific Roets provides accredited, high quality, agricultural and entrepreneurship-related training to rural beneficiaries. Dr Roets obtained her PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Pretoria in 2004.
Dr Roets has extensive experience as an Agricultural Project Manager, Animal Scientists, Agriculturalists, Rural Development Specialists, and Agricultural Educationists.
She has worked in different agricultural projects across a number of Africa countries with her recent work in Papua New Guinea on “Using Innovative Systems Approach to Agriculture for Development” for the benefit of rural farmers being the most interesting, and has highlighted this work as something she would like to share during the keynote address.
In 2008, Dr Roets was invited by President Clinton to serve as a panellist at the Clinton Global Initiative. Dr Roets has published 48 scientific and popular press papers and 2 books.
