Geology student is best in SA
A DURBAN nature lover has been honoured as the best geology student in the country.
Kreesan Palan, 25, who graduated with his Master’s in Geology at the University of Kwazulu-natal earlier this year, has been conducting research on the workings of the world’s marine systems.
Palan has been given the Geological Society of South Africa’s (GSSA) John Handley Award. The award was instituted in 2002 to recognise the best MSC thesis in geology produced at
South African universities each year.
Palan specialises in marine geology and for his research project, he explored the creatures living in Cape Town’s submarine canyons, which are “valleys on the seabed”, he explained.
His research is unique in that it has never before been explored in the world of geology.
“It was a mix of using logic of how nature works, and my own imagination to research the submarine canyons,” he said.
This is not the first such prize for the young geologist. In 2015, Palan received the GSSA’S Haughton Award for his Honours research, and in 2016, he received the DMT Kai Batla Prize for the best Honours student in Geological Sciences at UKZN, during their annual College Awards Ceremony.
“I am the first in my family to have a tertiary education,” he said.