Page 37 - UNAM Annual Report 2017

with faculties. The Centre is, therefore, proud technology in the response to major national
to report that, as a result of the support and
interaction of our partners, some postgraduate
research fellows secured scholarships for their
MSc and PhD studies from the DAAD, SABINA,
and fellowships from UCSF and Carl Schlettwein
Foundation. Furthermore, MRC supervised a
large number of students, of whom 10 who were
mentored at MRC graduated: one with a PhD
and the rest with Master’s degrees.
MRC implements its research programmes
through strong research collaborations with
the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences and Faculty of Agriculture
and Natural Resources and other partners. In
addition to publishing scholarly work/articles,
MRC maintained a newsletter, titled Research
Matters, which is published biannually. In 2017,
MRC researchers successfully published 24
peer-reviewed journal papers and a number
of chapters in books, which can be accessed
through the website at the following link:
www.unam.edu.na
Sam Nujoma Marine and Coastal
Resources Research Centre
SANUMARC is a fully-fledged multidisciplinary
research centre at UNAM, with the mandate to
promote research and development activities
in the field of marine science and coastal
resources. The Centre is part of the United
Nations University, as an operating unit of the
Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, based in
Accra, Ghana. SANUMARC has also joined the
Global Atmospheric Watch, through its Aerosol
Observation and meteorological stations. The
Centre has been home to the annual Regional
Graduate Network in Oceanography since 2013.
The research and development activities
of SANUMARC include marine, coastal and
arid land ecosystems, climate change, bio-
prospecting for novel natural products from
marine biota, and also from desert and semi-
desert systems. The ultimate goal of the Centre
is to develop the unique bio-resources of these
ecosystems for sustainable human development,
and to promote the application of science and
developmental challenges that cut across
national self-sustainability and agro-processing;
environment, energy and natural resources;
society, lifestyle, and health; and indigenous
knowledge.
The Centre managed to support the first cohort
of six MSc students through the SANUMARC Trust;
the students are registered with DFAS. This is one
of the initiatives for promoting early research
careers in marine sciences.
Research at the Centre was guided by the 2017
Annual Research Plan. Specifically, among the
research at the Centre were projects relating to
the marine environment and marine organisms,
freshwater fish, Henties Bay and Walvis Bay
socio-economic questions, and general coastal
environment and biogeochemical research.
The fourth annual African Discovery Camp
for Research-based Training summer school
was held at the SANUMARC from 13 April to
12 May 2017. This Regional Graduate Network
in Oceanography course attracted a varied
group of participants, from postgraduate (MSc/
PhD) students to technologists and early career
scientists from several overseas countries. This
camp was attended by 13 participants from eight
countries, five from the North, eight from Africa.
This course was aimed at “developing future
research directions for a better understanding
of the consequences of local and global
environmental alterations for the functioning
of the Benguela Current Upwelling Ecosystem”.
The Discovery Camp research findings were
presented by each fellow to the scientific
community during a research symposium,
hosted at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine
Resources’s National Marine Information and
Research Centre (NatMIRC) in Swakopmund.
This Discovery Camp marked the end of the
financial support of the Regional Graduate
Network in Oceanography, and a proposal was
put together to seek funding for second phase
of the Network. Fortunately, it was accepted
and funding approved to support the second
phase in 2018.
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