Another Well-Deserved Honour for Dr Sue Milton

Prince Albert’s Dr Sue Milton was a finalist in this year’s prestigious Shoprite Checkers/SABC 2 Woman of the Year Award, having been nominated in the Science and Technology category. Sue, in her typical unassuming way, told the Friend that the fact that she had been nominated by a former student had been particularly pleasing.

Rose Willis in her popular newsletter about the Karoo, Rose’s Round-Up, noted that Sue’s nomination honoured her immense contribution to the ecology of the Karoo, as well as her role as a conservationist and researcher into the plants and animals of the region. The Award citation described Sue as “an outstanding researcher, teacher and outreach contributor over many years [in a field that] for long has been male-dominated.”

Sue has done a great deal, Rose Willis wrote, to promote the Karoo through many papers and books written on this area. She works unstintingly, sharing her knowledge of the region with everyone from major role-players to her students and to school-children. Anyone who has joined Sue on her walks on the Robert Gordon koppie or at Wolwekraal can attest to this, as can the science and biology classes at Prince Albert Primêr and the young people, who have attended the local Land Care Bush Camps. She firmly believes that there are many ways to use the plants and animals without destroying the resources. She has great plans for the future and these include setting up a conservation area for tourism and education at Wolwekraal on the outskirts of Prince Albert, as well as an indigenous seed nursery. Sue has also been instrumental in the recent establishment of the Prince Albert People’s Skills Trust.

Congratulations, Sue. Prince Albert is indeed fortunate to be able to benefit from your generous and enthusiastic sharing of your know-how, as well as your determination that our special town and its surrounds provide a long-term sustainable livelihood for all who make a living here, without harming the resources on which we are so dependent.

The glittering Woman of the Year Award ceremony was broadcast on SABC 2 on 8 August 2007. The Woman of the Year was Ms Linda Olga Nghatsane, a health practitioner turned farmer from Mpumalanga, while Allyson Lawless, a civil engineer, won the Science and Technology category.

With thanks to Rose’s Round-Up,
July 2007.