Celebrating Information and Communication

"A Better Place: St. Helena, South Carolina"

Thursday, Oct. 11
7 p.m.
PHRC 114

Dr. Buz Kloot

Buz started his professional life as a chemical engineer; he spent 12 years (1985-1996) at Rössing Uranium Mine in Namibia, and worked in a number of operational and technical support jobs in that time. Buz left Namibia in 1996 to earn an MBA at the Moore School of business and joined Metago Environmental Engineers, which was headquartered in Johannesburg South Africa. In 1999, he joined the Earth Sciences and Resources Institute (ESRI-SC) at USC and in 2001 was the principal investigator of a project sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

In his work at ESRI-USC, he has been involved in various projects that included the development of nutrient and grazing management software, GIS, and water quality investigations on Lake Wateree, the Bush River and Toms Creek. Since 2005, he has become more involved with projects that involve outreach related to natural resources (soil, water, air, plants and animals). These projects included a series of Rapid Watershed Assessments in South Carolina and a book, Summary of Natural Resources in South Carolina.

Since 1999, Buz has used the video medium to tell stories about natural resources and people.

Buz holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, an MBA from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from USC’s Normal J. Arnold School of Public Health.

Denise McGill

In her day job, Denise McGill is an assistant professor of visual communications at the University of South Carolina, in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She teaches courses in photojournalism, visual literacy, digital media, and religion in the news. She joined USC in August 2008.

Any time she can get away, she’s working as a photographer and writer. She’s stood on five continents gathering images that document the human experience.

Her work has been featured in many publications, including Christianity Today and on CNN. Her projects focus on migration and faith issues. Major assignments in recent years have been Christians in Turkey, AIDS in Africa, and Muslim families after 9/11. She also followed a refugee family as they moved from the plains of Kenya to suburban Chicago in the dead of winter.

McGill served as an overseas correspondent for the award-winning magazine The Commission. Previous to that she was a staff photographer at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune and the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader.

Along the way she has slept on the beach, in a barn, a toilet stall and plenty of grimy airport lounges. She’s seen a lot of beautiful sunrises. And she has lost her keys on several continents.

McGill earned her bachelors in photojournalism at the University of Missouri, and her Master of Arts degree at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication.

McGill is a member of AEJMC’s Visual Communication Division, and she advises the award-winning USC Student Chapter of the National Press Photographers Association.