The course will be led by Dr Justin du Toit from the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute. His research specializes in the biotic and abiotic factors influencing Karoo vegetation dynamics, with a special focus on grazing, drought and rainfall patterns and the impact of fire. Since the advent of open-source AI models, he has explored their application and limitations in areas such as statistical analysis, information retrieval, academic writing, hypothesis generation, and summarization. Furthermore, he has delved into how AI can streamline routine tasks for a diverse group including students, educators, farmers, and administrative professionals, and has presented lectures and workshops on how AI can be used in the agricultural and research fields.

Justin will be assisted by Dr Victoria Goodall from VLG Statistical Services. She is a statistical consultant, working in various fields including medical, marketing and the biological sciences. Her research work focuses mostly on statistical ecology. Projects include modelling of movement data obtained from satellite tracking of various terrestrial and marine species, marine conservation planning and invasive species eradication programs. Victoria and Justin have investigated the usefulness (and challenges) for analysing data using AI techniques in comparison to traditional work performed by an analyst.