‘Eco-freak’ lunches with women’s club
Bio-geographer Jean Senogles was extremely well received when she gave a talk to a local garden club.
‘SEVEN Earth Elements’ is the intriguing title of a light-hearted, but interesting talk that former geography teacher and lecturer Jean Senogles will present at the October Tuesday Rostrum lunch at Mbango on October 13 at 12.15pm.
A highly recommended speaker who was extremely well received when she chatted to a local garden club a while back, Jean calls herself a bio-geographer and admits that she has been an eco-freak since her school days. She loved being a boarder at Epworth School in Pietermaritzburg and had a marvellous time studying at the University of the Witwatersrand and then teaching.
Her teaching career was put on hold when she met and married Ron, a photo-journalist. They started rushing around the country, or to sea, photographing and writing about what they experienced. They had done some Indian Ocean sailing so eventually moved to Durban to be closer to the sea.
Ron began to deliver yachts and, as being at sea for long stretches didn’t appeal to Jean, she went back to teaching and lecturing. Staying in Westville she soon came into contact with the monkeys who visited her garden and was surprised by the bad press they were receiving. She also joined a team from the then University of Natal doing research on vervets and soon she had students visiting her garden, moving in with her and Ron, camping under trees and filling her and Ron in with all they had discovered.
She was also involved in monkey research when pupils at Westville Girls’ High, where she was teaching, did a wonderful project on the vervets that earned them first prize in a provincial environmental competition. Monkeys are always so entertaining to watch. As they are such a part of the lives of so many coastal KwaZulu-Natal residents Jean will talk a bit about the troop structure, the ways these animals communicate and a little bit about how humans have interconnected with them over time.
Jean believes that, regarding the animals and plants in our environment, education brings understanding and understanding brings enjoyment. For this reason she will keep her talk on the light side and hopes it will be as entertaining as it will be informative.
Guests, including men, are more than welcome to come along. Lunch costs R120 for members and R195 for guests. To book for lunch and Jean’s talk contact Denise Millar at 039 3172600.
