New website for Fitztitute

So much more: (From left) Hilary Buchanan, Prof Phil Hockey and Dr Rob Little of the FitzPatrick Institute - with Melissa Stander, the institute's webmaster (seated) - helped redevelop the institute's website.

UCT's FitzPatrick Institute, the only ornithological research institute in the Southern Hemisphere and one of only a handful in the world, has revamped its website as part of their 50th anniversary this year.

The site will raise awareness of the institute's invaluable contributions to science, conservation, education and outreach.

In 2004 the institute was named a Centre of Excellence in Science and Technology by the South African Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation, one of only six such Centres of Excellence in the country.

Institute director Professor Phil Hockey said that the site is part of a number of 50th Anniversary activities to increase the public profile of their operations and consolidate their financial security.

The home page now includes new features on the histories of the Fitztitute, the Niven Library and the master's in conservation biology course. The institute's scientific publications section on the website now goes all the way back to 1960, and a complete list of dissertation theses is also included.

The website also includes .pdfs of all full-length, semi-popular Fitztitute articles published in Africa Birds & Birding since the magazine's inception in 1996. This collection totals more than a hundred articles.

The site includes a special alumni feature that acts as a virtual reunion template and a point of access to the institute's graduates. An extensive, dedicated 50th Anniversary fundraising page focuses on donor opportunities and offers facilities for donors to contribute to student bursaries, research projects and bequest contributions.