THE 23RD CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SOCIETY FOR QUATERNARY RESEARCH
“Southern African climates and environments in a changing world: A view from the Quaternary”
25 – 30 September 2022
LOCATION
The congress will be held in person in St Lucia, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
St Lucia is in northern Zululand and is a popular tourism hub nestled between the St Lucia Estuary, the Indian Ocean, and the the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
CONFERENCE VENUE
St Lucia Ecolodge | St Lucia Ecolodge Website
ACCOMMODATION
Self-catering and B&B accommodation is available at the conference venue:
https://www.stlucia-ecolodge.co.za/
Special Conference Rates (15% discount) will be offered to delegates who book at the venue.
Contact: info@stlucia-ecolodge.co.za (reference: SASQUA 2022)
There is also a variety of other accommodation options in St Lucia to suit a range of budgets.
IMPORTANT DATES
Conference dates: 25th – 30th September 2022
Abstract submissions deadline: 15 July 2022
Financial support deadline: 15 July 2022
Registration deadline: 15 August 2022
PROGRAMME
Sunday 25th September: Arrivals and ice-breaker (boat trip St Lucia Estuary):
The Hippo & croc cruise start time is 15h45, meeting point is the conference venue
Monday 26th September: Day 1 presentations
Tuesday 27th September: Day 2 presentations
Wednesday 28th September: Field excursion (departure: 07h00)
Thursday 29th September: Day 3 presentations, SASQUA Business Meeting (BGM) and Conference Dinner
Friday 30th September: CREST workshop (optional) / departures
FULL PRELIM PROGRAMME:
REGISTRATION & ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
**Registration is now closed**
Daily conference attendance fee: R500
*Non-salaried = students, ECRs, postdocs
The registration fee surcharge will be used as a contribution to supporting and boosting student attendance.
Registration fees include daily lunches and refreshments, boat trip, field excursion and conference dinner.
Payment details:
Please pay the fees by bank transfer or Credit Card (PayFast payment gateway using link below) before 15 August 2022 and send the proof of payment to: sasquacomms@gmail.com
Bank: ABSA Bank
Account Name: SASQUA
Account Number: 9054912711
Bank Branch Name: Durban city, branch code: 632005
Swift Code: ABSA ZA JJ
Reference: (SASQUA2022 + YOUR INITIALS + YOUR SURNAME)
*Input amount value needs to be in Rands
**When using the PayFast credit card option please add the transaction fee of 3.2% plus R 2.00
STUDENT SUPPORT
We will be offering limited support to students and ECRs, to apply please download and fill out the form (below) and submit to sasquacomms@gmail.com (include email subject line: SASQUA 2022 Student Support)
FIELD EXCURSION
Itinerary for the day: morning drive from St Lucia EcoLodge to Mission Rocks, Catalina Bay, then on past Mfabeni overview to Cape Vidal beach for lunch. After lunch return trip over Bhangazi berm and Eastern Shores loop road back to St Lucia. Afternoon loop through Western Shores reserve with stops at Pliocene beach and Makakatana overview, then back to the lodge.
CREST WORKSHOP
[30 September 9:00 – 15:00]
The CREST (Climate Reconstruction SofTware) technique has proven to be a flexible tool for reconstructing climate from various palaeoecological datasets (e.g. pollen, rodents). In particular, it has successfully been employed to reconstruct multiple climate parameters from different regions of southern Africa. To enable its use by the broader community, CREST is now encapsulated in a dedicated R package crestr. The goal of the workshop is to introduce the package and provide guidelines on how to produce high-quality reconstructions. In particular, I will 1) describe the fundamental theory that underpins the model, 2) demonstrate how the different R functions can be parameterised to best model the data and 3) help participants format their datasets and produce preliminary reconstructions. Details about the method and package can be found here:
https://mchevalier2.github.io/crestr/index.html
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PRESENTERS
Oral presentations: 12 minutes talk with 3 minute question time
Posters: A0 size, portrait orientation
HEALTH CONCERNS
For the safety of all delegates, all Covid-19 health protocols will be observed. Participation is limited to fully vaccinated delegates or those with a valid medical exemption.
St Lucia falls within a low risk malaria area. The KZN Department of Health does not recommend antimalarial drugs for low risk areas. Consult this map for further information: http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/malaria/riskmap.pdf
ANY QUESTIONS?
Email the Local Organising Chair Dr Jemma Finch: finchj@ukzn.ac.za
Or contact us on: sasquacomms@gmail.com
