The Groundwater Division are hosting their 17th annual conference from the 17th to the 20th of October, where the theme is ‘Groundwater: Resilience and Visibility’. Some of our team at Umvoto Africa will be presenting at this virtual conference.
Sasha Dean Singh (Geologist), Lechelle Goslin (Junior Geologist) and Kevin de Bruin (Junior Hydrogeologist) will present on our work completed for the City of Cape Town’s New Water Program where Umvoto is involved in the development and management of the Table Mountain Group, Cape Flats and Atlantis Aquifer. Abstracts are entitled:
- “Suitability of drilling techniques for geological interpretation and borehole design within the Cape Flats Aquifer, Western Cape” by Sasha Dean Singh;
- “Intraplate tectonic setting of the southwestern Cape, South Africa: Analysis of the TrigNet geodetic record” by Lechelle Goslin and
- “Test pumping derivative analysis to improve conceptual understanding in a complex aquifer: Steenbras Wellfield” by Kevin de Bruin
Junior Hydrogeologist, Kirsty Gibson, will be presenting on research she completed during her M.Sc., which centered around using machine learning to predict groundwater level: “The application of machine learning for groundwater level prediction in the Steenkoppies compartment of the Gauteng and Northwest dolomite aquifer, South Africa”. Kirsty will also be showcasing the applications of this model in predicting groundwater levels in the Atlantis Aquifer.
Dr Kornelius Riemann was also invited by the GWD Conference Organizer’s to talk about the award winning internship programme of Umvoto Africa. This mostly informal training programme for students and graduates has been running since 2001 with now over 100 students and graduates passing through learnerships, internships or thesis supervision. The programme is aligned to the SACNASP requirements for achieving Pr.Sci.Nat. status, but goes beyond technical skill sets by highlighting scientific principles and methodology, and including soft skills. Umvoto continues to try set the standard and hopes to challenge other role players in the groundwater and earth-science industry to adopt similar programmes to help foster scientific excellence.
Head to the conference page to find out more.
