Florida A&M delegation traveling to South Africa for summit on environmental solutions
Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson and a delegation including 13 FAMU students are getting ready for a trip abroad to the Motherland.
The group of FAMU administrators, students, faculty and staff will be heading to Durban, South Africa, for the 2024 EnergyWaterFoodClimate Nexus International Summit — a four-day conference from July 1-4 that aims to expand research for new discoveries and solutions to environmental challenges.
While the International Summit is hosted by FAMU every two years, the trip to South Africa marks the first time FAMU participants will travel outside of the country for the biennial event.
"The 2024 EnergyWaterFoodClimate Nexus Summit represents part of FAMU's role in addressing some of the most urgent environmental questions of our time," Robinson said in a prepared statement.
"It's also an opportunity for both students and faculty to adopt a global focus even as they hone their research to confront complex issues on the home front in Florida and around the U.S."
The inaugural International Summit was held in 2015. Since its beginning, more than 1,000 people — including corporate leaders, legislators, researchers and scientists — have come together to brainstorm solutions to sustain valuable resources.
The summit's nine thematic tracks are: water quality , microbial systems and bioinformatics, harnessing big data, zero GHG emission, achieving soil carbon goals, climate resilient agriculture, food security , AI-driven circular economy, and "let a new science enterprise lead the way."
More on the summit: FAMU's School of the Environment hosting international summit to address water, energy solutions
In April 2022, the summit was held on FAMU's Tallahassee campus, where the university hosted hundreds of participants from as far as Europe, South Africa and across the U.S.
But this year's summit — taking place at the Coastlands Musgrave Hotel in Durban — will be a collaboration with Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in Durban, South Africa to focus on addressing the challenges facing Africa.
Following registration on July 1, the summit will feature a keynote address on July 2 by Jiwoh E. Abdulai, minister of Environment and Climate Change in the West Africa country Sierra Leone. University administrators, scholars, business executives and government officials from Africa, Europe and North America will address the summit as well.
When asked for the delegation's makeup, FAMU declined to name the individuals attending the trip.
But besides the administrators, faculty and staff heading to South Africa, the 13 students who will also be a part of the university's delegation will serve as note takers during the four-day summit's sessions.
The notes will be used to produce a peer-reviewed post summit proceeding, according to the university. FAMU School of the Environment Dean Victor Ibeanusi is the founder of the EnergyWaterFoodClimate Nexus Summit.
"The FAMU School of the Environment is leading this summit to promote cross-cutting discussion, scholarship and collaboration among researchers, students and entrepreneurs to advance science, policy and decision-making," Ibeanusi said in a university release.
"Most importantly, the summit creates a platform for global discussions that allow participants to present innovative ideas for sustainable solutions," he added.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_ .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU delegation will go to South Africa for international summit
