Prof. Stephen A. Prevec Head, Dept of Geology Rhodes University P.O. Box 94 Grahamstown South Africa 6140 tel: +27 (046) 603-8309/8313 cell: 082 395-8278 e-mail: s.prevec@ru.ac.za

Department of Geology : Rhodes University : PO Box 94 : Grahamstown : South Africa : 6140

re. Letter of Reference for Mr Gordon Ballantyne 1 July, 2016 To whom it may concern, This letter of reference has been provided at the request of Mr Ballantyne, with whom my experience consists of serving as his Head of Department for the duration of his undergraduate degree at Rhodes, and lecturing him in his first, second, third year undergraduate and Honours geology courses. Mr Ballantyne has been a consistent and competent academic performer throughout his degree to date, averaging around 60% in his Geology subjects. He has been consistent in his attendance of lectures, and is enthusiastic and interested in his courses, and interacts well with his colleagues and lecturers. Gordon has particularly stood out in terms of his interest and enthusiasm for his courses and his interactions with lecturers, always being well-motivated and keen. He has organized extra-curricular visits for palaeontological surveys for his classmates and professional colleagues (Dr R. Prevec at the Albany Museum, specifically), and in the Third Year mandatory field course in which I taught him in 2014, he achieved one of the highest marks in the class (within the top 25%), and was a generally useful student to have around, serving as a kind of proxy teaching assistant at times. I have found him a pleasure to teach over the course of his degree, and can strongly recommend him for further geological employment. Sincerely yours,

Steve Prevec