Kate Bray interview

Afrikelp® capitalises on analytical potential of GIS systems

The potential to advance the Afrikelp® and Taurus business monitoring operations using GIS offers great potential. This opportunity was identified by Dr Nicole Hart, Managing Director at Afrikelp®  who in turn contacted Kate Bray, the Director of GeoGoose, a data analytics company.

Kate has been in the GIS and Data Analytics world for 20 years and spent some 15 years working at an environmental company called Golder Associates. Initially she worked in the company’s Sydney office but when she moved to the company’s Johannesburg office she met Dr. Hart, which eventually led to Kate consulting for Afrikelp®.

Kate says what she enjoys most in her job is the fact that her work often transforms the way businesses operate. “When they see the value data analytics brings, it gives me great pleasure. I enjoy the data analytics side of my work the most and being able to build smart solutions with modern technology that adds value to a business. All my clients are different, and I thrive on the challenge that each client brings,” she points out.

She acknowledges that Afrikelp® and Taurus brought a unique challenge to her desk and pointed out that she has never worked with boat monitoring before. But says that the 10 years of available history offered exceptionally exciting information to her as a data scientist. “The task was not difficult but certainly kept me engaged and required me to apply my mind.”

 

She says that sustainability is very close to her heart and believes that what she created for Afrikelp® and Taurus will have an impact on the sustainability of the company. “The work we are doing together will most certainly have an impact on sustainability. We now have a baseline against which we can measure, monitor, and understand how our kelp resources are changing. We have the ability to capture data and see how things are changing. It is really very exciting. The next step will be to get a handle on the environment in which our kelp exists, and really get to grips with how our kelp ecosystem is faring.”

She adds that she raised her children to understand the impact that humans have on the earth. “Our family try to buy preloved toys instead of new ones and opt for wood instead of plastic. Recycling is an easy decision in our house!

Before she started with this project, she studied a great deal of company literature and says that the information she found in the literature was exciting and enticed her to start. “I jumped at the opportunity to get to know more about the world in which Afrikelp operates, but also, I am a scientist at heart so it spoke to me on many levels. The plus side was that I also gained a great deal of knowledge and I saw how resilient and exceptional kelp really is – even on a global scale.”

According to Kate, the stakeholder meetings they conducted added a great deal of insight and value to the project. “I think the coming together of scientists and stakeholders can only have positive outcomes that not only benefit the individual but has the potential to benefit the country at a national level. Kelp’s importance globally cannot be underestimated and I hope that the work we are doing will benefit the local, national and even possibly the international seaweed community. I am positive that the work I am doing with Afrikelp® at present, will make an impact that matters.”

She says that Afrikelp® and Taurus have a unique mapping system and believes that these may, in future, open up the possibility for creating jobs and could become a tool that can be used worldwide. “I know it is unique locally. I have not seen anything internationally that indicates something similar is being used elsewhere. I am quite sure that the work we are doing will be noticed internationally and hopefully some, if not all of it, will be applied for the greater good. It would be wonderful if this system can lead to job creation.”

Kate adds that this project has been a pleasure to work on. She did admit that she had a sleepless night or two. “I might have once or twice woken up with an answer to a problem that was challenging me, but grasping those solutions is one of the reasons why I love my job!”

In conclusion, Kate says that the found the staff at Afrikelp® and Taurus a pleasure to work with. “The  people I work with are great. The company’s leadership has strong values that show caring and focus on sustainability. Also, the very essence of the business of kelp is so very special that I am honoured to have such a precious resource in my working repertoire.”