Community Engagement
Within our Community Engagement portfolio the Department of Geology has been involved in a number of activities. We welcome invitations for school visits and presentations to the public that help to raise the awareness of the geological heritage of the Eastern Cape and South Africa. Steve Prevec, Steffen Büttner, Silindo Mavuso and postgraduate students are is involved in this work annually.
We invite interested members of the community to participate in our field excursions to geological sights in the vicinity of Makhanda. On occasions we have offered such field trips during SciFest Africa , and we are happy to organise such trips for small groups at request. A short Geological Field Guide and a geological map provide further information. Please contact the Department's secretary in that regard.
In collaboration with Kim Weaver and colleagues from the Albany Museum the Department of Geology organises the Geology Internship Program. Students in the program, usually senior highschool learners from local schools, are introduced to what it is that a geologist does, and how they go about it. Interns will learn about the various rock types that are exposed in the Makhanda area, and what they tell us about the geological history of the area. Such rocks include folded and faulted quartzites, shales, clay deposits, and rocks containing fossils of ancient life forms. Interns will experience how geological samples are prepared for study, both fossils and rocks, including some hands-on sample processing and data collection. The interns will also see how we use geological information to create a picture of how a rock, or a living plant or animal, existed through Earth history. They will be mentored by post-graduate geology students and academic and technical staff to find out why we do what we do.
Last Modified: Sun, 04 May 2025 11:06:37 SAST