Message from DDG Judy Beaumont to Marion 77 Overwintering Team: “I want to send a special farewell to the five amazing Marian 77 expedition members who for the first time in the history of the program are experiencing a different, unexpected and never been done before kind of voyage. I’m equally grateful to your family, friends, and loved ones for allowing you to serve the nation even during these trying times in absentia. ….convey my heartfelt gratitude to the Marion 76 those returning and also those that heed the call to remain behind, their sacrifice, generosity and display of the love they have for the program is visible to all”
The S.A. Agulhas II with Captain Knowledge Bengu, his crew and voyage particpants left Cape Town Harbour just after 14h00 on Tuesday 21 April 2020 for Marion Island.
Communication Engineer: Aphiwe Dyum (M76)Diesel Mechanic: Alain Jacobs (M76)Medical Orderly: Winnie Moodaley (M76)Base Engineer: Patrick HlongwaneSenior Meteorologist: Nkoane MathabataAssistant Meteorologist: Khulisa MaphahaAssistant Meteorologist: Philani NgcoboSANSA Engineer: Stephanus Schoeman
Marion 77 will depart today from East Pier to Marion Island. In a press release Minister Creecy (see below) stated that :” As a result of the lockdown and as per announcement of the President, the voyage planning and arrangements have to be reconfigured to minimise risks;
We have taken decisions which we believe are in the best interest of existing participants and the overwintering team which we need to return from Marion Island to South Africa;
To this end, the Department together with key partners and specialist advisors have decided that the voyage will proceed but with a significantly reduced vessel crew and expedition complement;
The expedition will include an essential support team for logistics, maintenance and overwintering. There will be no field science activities during the relief and overwintering periods;”
As the team members is in isolation a photo of team members will be post as soon as possible
Listen to DDG Judy Beaumont speech to Marion Island Voyage Participants, wishing them all the best for this historic trip during COVID 19 pandemic. Letter to participants available on digital repository.
Werner Nel was born and raised in East London. He was educated at the University of Pretoria with a BSc in Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Science, BSc Hons in Environmental Analysis and Management and an MSc and PhD in Geography. His MSc was on the Quaternary landforms on Marion Island (overwintered with M56) while his PhD was on the climate attributes and its geomorphic effect in the Drakensberg.
Why you love your career in science?
Very simply for the fact that science take me places and allows me to meet new people. (Above L-R: Aktru Glazier in Siberia, Huangshwen in China, Abisko mountains in Sweden) Since I was a young boy I always yearned for adventure (I still do) and field research gives you that. There are very few careers which allow you to be creative (making maps and figures and writing papers), work with your hands (setting up and maintaining field equipment) and challenges you intellectually. However more importantly, being able to work with people is the best thing about my career. I have had the honour of mentoring some wonderful students, each unique in their personality and approach to life. I have also met some magnificent people through research and travel. My best friends are my research partners and colleagues. I have had the privilege to be on numerous expeditions and travels to far off places with some of the best people, and even though we have different nationalities and come from different cultural backgrounds, I have learned that people are just people and field scientists (young and old) are the best of them all.
Latest research or study you’re working on ?
I am involved in many things. (Above fieldwork in Antarctica L-R; Flarjuvan, Robbertskollen and Lorenzpiggen) Firstly, at Fort Hare, I supervise many students across diverse fields of research interests in Geography and Environmental Science and to keep abreast of all this work takes a large chunk of my research time, but is the best part of my job. Then as for my own current research, I am involved in a very exciting collaboration with colleagues from Nanjing University in China where we are looking at the effect of weathering and human activities on heavy metal pollution in the Pearl River Basin. Then I am also involved in some climate and landscape interactions work on Mauritius and it’s off shore islets with SA colleagues (Paul Sumner, David Hedding and Jay le Roux) and our friends from the University of Mauritius and the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. Then of course my SANAP sub-Antarctic research with Dave Hedding and students are the most important to me. We are currently busy with a number of ongoing research projects on the contemporary periglacial geomorphology of the island. We are also re-examining the glacial reconstruction and timing of deglaciation on Marion Island through the use of new funky cosmogenic dating techniques in collaboration with colleagues from SUERC in Scotland and the British Antarctic Survey.
Werner’s Message:
Ja, well there are better paying jobs out there and I guess jobs that give you more status in society (if this is what you are looking for). But I think no other career gives you more freedom to express yourself. Also, unlike what most people think, you don’t need to be particularly clever. Most of the top researchers that I know are just ordinary people that have a passion for what they do and they just put in the time. A willingness to learn (and read), to explore, and not be scared of new things are all you need. Science also allows you to break free from stereotypes and permits (actually insists) you to be who you are. And the rewards are amazing. To see your students graduate and go on to do wonderful things (and be great in their jobs) and to meet truly inspiring and interesting people are way more rewarding I think. And even though it seems that every academic in the universe is perpetually broke you can make a decent living from being an academic. However more importantly, given the flexibility a lot of us enjoy, you can still be there for your family when they need you, and you can always count on a fellow field researcher to buy you a beer.
UPDATE ON WAY FORWARD FOR MARION 2020 RELIEF VOYAGE – 2 April 2020.
The Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) hereby wishes to inform all participants, principle investigators and support teams of the arrangements pertaining to the forthcoming Marion Island 2020 relief voyage, which was scheduled to depart on 9 April 2020. As a result of the lockdown from 26 March 2020, as per announcement of the President, the voyage planning and arrangements had to be reconfigured to minimise any risk.
The DEFF as a custodian and key Department of the SANAP program needs to mitigate risks and
ensure that decisions are made in the best interest and well-being of all participants, as well as that of the overwintering teams. To this end, the DEFF together with key partners and specialist advisors has
decided that the voyage will proceed but with a significantly reduced vessel crew and passenger complement. The voyage configuration was premised on the guiding principle of having the minimum
number of essential voyage participants during the relief as well as to overwinter.
The format of the voyage will include an essential support team for logistics, maintenance and overwintering. There will be no field science activities during the relief and overwintering periods. The Department is facilitating quarantine and testing of all voyage participants.
This decision was not taken lightly and should not be construed as a lack of priority assigned to the science activities. This is certainly a tremendous set back for all of us, however we need to do the best that we can under the circumstances, and strive towards positive future outcomes. The parties that will be participating in the voyage will be contacted either directly or through their respective focal points. These would include personnel from Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, SA Weather Service, SA National Space Agency and Ultimate Heli.
The Department would like wish you and your families well.
Stay safe and healthy.
Ms Judy Beaumont
Deputy Director General: Oceans and Coasts
Date: 2 April 2020
The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) clarifies the recent evacuation of the Marion Island 76 over-wintering members
Media Release 13 March 2020: During the recent return leg of the SANAE 58 voyage, South Africa’s polar research vessel, the SA Agulhas II had to be rerouted to Marion Island for the urgent medical evacuation of a member of the Marion 76 over-wintering team.
The decision to evacuate the team member resulted from an independent medical report compiled by a medical specialist from the South African National Defence Force. Following long distance consultations with the team member concerned, and the team leader, the specialist recommended urgent evacuation of the team member, in the interest of the particular member and the team as a whole. His conclusions were that the existing first aid services on the island could not diagnose and appropriately treat the member, who required urgent professional assistance.
The member’s partner was also evacuated on compassionate grounds. We request the media and members of the public to respect these members’ rights to medical confidentiality.
Two other members were included in the repatriation. Their cases are not linked to the one above. The decision to include a third person followed the failure of remote disciplinary action to correct ongoing misconduct. His employer had requested that if an opportunity presented itself, they would want the individual to be repatriated.
A fourth person requested to leave the island to attend to a family emergency.
In looking for a suitable way to comply with the need for urgent medical evacuation, the department considered a range of options. The most cost effective option was to divert the SA Agulhas II, which was returning from a voyage to Antarctica, via Marion Island.
The Department initially paid the full cost of the evacuation which amounted to R2, 8m. There was a clear notification to all institutions responsible for the team members being evacuated, that the Department will require costs to be shared amongst the parties, either through the institutions’ own budgets or through insurance claims. The Department has to date partially recouped costs incurred from one of the institutions and is currently in discussions with others to recover the rest.
Expeditions to SANAP comprises of a range of members from the following organisations: Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries, SA Weather Service, SA National Space Agency, University of Pretoria, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, University of Fort Hare, University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town and University of KwaZulu Natal.
It is common knowledge that South Africa’s Antarctica and Islands research bases are isolated and climatically harsh environments and all expedition members suffer hardship. Accordingly, every effort is made to screen candidates and prepare them for the hardships they will encounter. Recommendations to improve the screening process for future candidates will be included in the new contracts with our sister organisations once the current three-year contracts expire in June 2020.
I completed all my science degrees at the University of Pretoria after some time at Wits studying law. I was fortunate to be appointed at Stellenbosch University in 2000, spent 2001 in France, and returned to Stellenbosch University in 2002 where I worked first as a Senior Technical Officer, then as a Researcher and finally an Associate Professor before relocating to the University of Johannesburg in 2011, and became a Full Professor in 2012. Our research group at UJ transitioned into a Research Centre, and we currently house a number of postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students. We have collaborations with a number of groups both within South Africa, and internationally.
I have been involved in research on the Prince Edward Islands since 2004 and have been fortunate to work with some of the legends as well as bright upcoming researchers (then students, now fully established and leading their own research groups). For my sins, I was appointed as Chief shore-based Scientist in 2006 (the first time that a woman held this position), and managed to get all people to relevant huts on time, even though we almost had to put together a rescue party to retrieve Valdon Smith and Sarette Slabber from Mixed Pickle (typical Marion Island bad weather meant that they could not walk over Azorella Kop). Thankfully the weather cleared, and all shore-based people made it back to the SA Agulhas I.
I have always thought that animals are interesting and wondered why they act in certain ways. Why do some dogs get on well, while others fight? How do bees know where to find flowers and pollen, and how do they get back to their hives? Are they really all female? Why are some species so successful while others are continuously threatened and faced with extinction; especially considering that our world is changing much faster than ever before?
Once I understood that the answers to most of these questions have a strong genetic basis, I was hooked. My work allows me to search for the answers to many of these questions, and I work in some of the most extraordinary and beautiful places on earth (from our hot and dry desert and semi-desert regions to extremely wet and cold sub-Antarctic islands). I am privileged to work and interact with extremely talented people (both within and outside South Africa; old and young); there is not a day that I am not thankful for the way my life turned out. What is perhaps the strongest motivating factor is that I can make a difference in the lives of younger people (through education, working at the University of Johannesburg), and this is priceless.
Why you believe more women should pursue a career in science?
The first thing to say is that I believe there is nothing that any person can’t do if they apply their mind (and time) to it. We often set our own ceilings based on the general beliefs that society or others impose on us; and it is crucial that we break through these (non-real) boundaries. STEM fields are a case in hand. This is especially true for woman, who traditionally were considered homemakers or child-carers. In STEM specifically, fields such as mathematics, physics and engineering, and traditionally more field-based disciplines such as zoology, botany, or oceanography, are seen as more suited to men (either because women were not traditionally considered as analytically strong, capable to work in the field, or for that matter, be away from home for any period of time). It is critical that any person (both men and women) should carefully consider what they enjoy, what their specific strengths are (be that a STEM career for a woman, or as a child carer / homemaker for a man), and then pursue that with all their strength and passion. Personally, I was initially directed into a field that I had no interest in (because I could not answer questions asked regarding where I would work if my husband lived in a small town), and from a personal perspective I strongly urge and support woman that want to step out of the “beaten track”, i.e., what is typically expected from you by society, and follow what they are passionate about.
Latest research or study you’re working on?
I am currently involved in a number of larger projects which aim to understand how species (individuals / populations) respond to change. One such project is on sub-Antarctic Marion Island (funded through the South African National Antarctic Programme), where we are assembling the full genomes of a number of macroinvertebrate species, with the ultimate aim to understand genes under selection, and how biotic and abiotic factors shape the genetic diversity on oceanic islands. In South Africa, and in collaboration with national (SANBI) and international partners (an NSF/NRF funded project), we are investigating how reptile species adapt to changing and transformed landscapes, and what the downstream impacts are on their genes, morphology and behaviour. Across the African continent, and in collaboration with the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (Portugal), we are documenting the spatial genetic patterns in a number of economically important larger antelope species (such as roan- and sable antelope); our work here directly informs South African policies on translocations.
Student: Daniela Monsanto
Colleagues & Students at a conference
Students often ask me about their future careers, what they can do with a BSc degree (or broader, a Science degree), or where they will find employment. And my answer is always the same: You can be whatever you want to be. The ultimate aim of science education should be to train students to critically assess situations, to learn how to solve complex problems, and to find solutions to questions. If you have mastered this skill, you can become the President of South Africa, an artisan, an entrepreneur, or a brilliant scientist.
Marion 77 will depart today from East Pier to Marion Island. In a press release Minister Creecy (see below) stated that :” As a result of the lockdown and as per announcement of the President, the voyage planning and arrangements have to be reconfigured to minimise risks;
Listen to 
Werner Nel was born and raised in East London. He was educated at the University of Pretoria with a BSc in Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Science, BSc Hons in Environmental Analysis and Management and an MSc and PhD in Geography. His MSc was on the Quaternary landforms on Marion Island (overwintered with M56) while his PhD was on the climate attributes and its geomorphic effect in the Drakensberg.
Very simply for the fact that science take me places and allows me to meet new people. (Above L-R: Aktru Glazier in Siberia, Huangshwen in China, Abisko mountains in Sweden) Since I was a young boy I always yearned for adventure (I still do) and field research gives you that. There are very few careers which allow you to be creative (making maps and figures and writing papers), work with your hands (setting up and maintaining field equipment) and challenges you intellectually. However more importantly, being able to work with people is the best thing about my career. I have had the honour of mentoring some wonderful students, each unique in their personality and approach to life. I have also met some magnificent people through research and travel. My best friends are my research partners and colleagues. I have had the privilege to be on numerous expeditions and travels to far off places with some of the best people, and even though we have different nationalities and come from different cultural backgrounds, I have learned that people are just people and field scientists (young and old) are the best of them all. 
Ja, well there are better paying jobs out there and I guess jobs that give you more status in society (if this is what you are looking for). But I think no other career gives you more freedom to express yourself. Also, unlike what most people think, you don’t need to be particularly clever. Most of the top researchers that I know are just ordinary people that have a passion for what they do and they just put in the time. A willingness to learn (and read), to explore, and not be scared of new things are all you need. Science also allows you to break free from stereotypes and permits (actually insists) you to be who you are. And the rewards are amazing. To see your students graduate and go on to do wonderful things (and be great in their jobs) and to meet truly inspiring and interesting people are way more rewarding I think. And even though it seems that every academic in the universe is perpetually broke you can make a decent living from being an academic. However more importantly, given the flexibility a lot of us enjoy, you can still be there for your family when they need you, and you can always count on a fellow field researcher to buy you a beer. 
and became a 
Islands since 2004 and have been fortunate to work with some of the legends as well as bright upcoming researchers (then students, now fully established and leading their own research groups). For my sins, I was appointed as Chief shore-based Scientist in 2006 (the first time that a woman held this position), and managed to get all people to relevant huts on time, even though we almost had to put together a rescue party to retrieve Valdon Smith and Sarette Slabber from Mixed Pickle (typical Marion Island bad weather meant that they could not walk over Azorella Kop). Thankfully the weather cleared, and all shore-based people made it back to the SA Agulhas I.
flowers and pollen, and how do they get back to their hives? Are they really all female? Why are some species so successful while others are continuously threatened and faced with extinction; especially considering that our world is changing much faster than ever before? 
or others impose on us; and it is crucial that we break through these (non-real) boundaries. STEM fields are a case in hand. This is especially true for woman, who traditionally were considered homemakers or child-carers. In STEM specifically, fields such as mathematics, physics and engineering, and traditionally more field-based disciplines such as zoology, botany, or oceanography, are seen as more suited to men (either because women were not traditionally considered as analytically strong, capable to work in the field, or for that matter, be away from home for any period of time). It is critical that any person (both men and women) should carefully consider what they enjoy, what their specific strengths are (be that a STEM career for a woman, or as a child carer / homemaker for a man), and then pursue that with all their strength and passion. Personally, I was initially directed into a field that I had no interest in (because I could not answer questions asked regarding where I would work if my husband lived in a small town), and from a personal perspective I strongly urge and support woman that want to step out of the “beaten track”, i.e., what is typically expected from you by society, and follow what they are passionate about.
I am currently involved in a number of larger projects which aim to understand how species (individuals / populations) respond to change. One such project is on sub-Antarctic Marion Island (funded through the South African National Antarctic Programme), where we are assembling the full genomes of a number of macroinvertebrate species, with the ultimate aim to understand genes under selection, and how biotic and abiotic factors shape the genetic diversity on oceanic islands. In South Africa, and in collaboration with national (SANBI) and international partners (an NSF/NRF funded project), we are investigating how reptile species adapt to changing and transformed landscapes, and what the downstream impacts are on their genes, morphology and behaviour. Across the African continent, and in collaboration with the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (Portugal), we are documenting the spatial genetic patterns in a number of economically important larger antelope species (such as roan- and sable antelope); our work here directly informs South African policies on translocations.
website 
