January 2025

Dear colleagues and regular users of the VTR research center; May we wish you an excellent start to 2025.

We hope that many scientists will return this year to use this research facility to conduct their respective field research. Indeed, much remains to be done in the region in terms of understanding and describing the interactions, connections and exchanges between and within the diverse environments forming the Chobe enclave. This in the scientific fields of biology, geology, sedimentology, hydrology, biochemistry and microbiology. We encourage you and your colleagues to come visit and study this pristine, diverse and environmentally rich region. Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss scientific research questions and refine your project.

This year we will work increasingly closely with the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). Our colleague Thuto Mokatse successfully completed his doctorate at the University of Lausanne at the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics (IDYST), he is now a doctor in environmental sciences and got a position at BIUST, we are happy for him and look forward to developing research projects between our institutions and welcome some of his students for field research in the Chobe region.

Thank you for your reading time and interest. May you have an excellent start to the year with lots of success in your projects.

Sincerely

Mrs. Rita Ridge and Dr. John Van Thuyne