Earlier this year one of our Master’s students, Claire van Wyk, attended the biennial Adaptation Futures conference in Rotterdam. Adaptation Futures is run by the Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA). This year the conference was co-hosted by the European Commission and the Government of the Netherlands.

Adaptation Futures 2016 welcomed over 1700 scholars, practitioners, policymakers and business people from 108 different countries to connect, learn and inspire one another. The conference highlighted adaptation practices and solutions for people, governments and businesses, with a programme that addressed all sectors, in all parts of the world. The conference report can be found online.

Two awards were presented at the conference: the Young Scientist Best Presentation Award, and the Young Scientist Best Poster Award. We are proud to announce that Claire van Wyk won runner up for the Young Scientist Best Poster Award, with her Master’s research on Climate Change communication and training. Claire also attended UCT’s Postgraduate Science Symposium last week, where she won first prize for her poster presentation.

Claire had the following to say about her experience at Adaptation Futures:

“When I submitted my abstract I honestly didn’t think it would be selected. When I was notified that it had been selected I was overjoyed, but I didn’t think I’d get funding to go. I applied everywhere I could and eventually secured the funding I needed to attend. I had the most fantastic time at AF2016. The session topics were so diverse, and I was exposed to researchers who were at the top of their fields. Listening to researchers and practitioners from around the world was incredibly inspiring, I felt so honoured to be there. I think I had an out-of-body-experience when my name was announced as runner up for the Young Scientist Best Poster award, I was so shocked!

I encourage all my peers to find the confidence to submit their abstracts when they see conference adverts. Even if you are an Honours or Masters student – your research is so valuable and it is important that you share your findings. If you’re unsure about how to find conferences or need help securing funding – ask your supervisor for guidance, they are there to support you on this journey. “