UWI gets grant from Harris Paints to bolster environmental research capacity

May 30, 2024 News

Harris Paints and UWI officials

Kaieteur News – The University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) has benefitted from a substantial grant aimed at bolstering the department’s scientific endeavours and graduate-level education in natural resource and environmental management.

This includes student support, funds for research and the purchase of a new drone funded through the Robert L Jones, Harris Paints Environmental Grant.

The company said in a press statement that the annual grant was created to mark Harris Paints’ 50th Anniversary, which was celebrated in November 2022, and looked back on an outstanding history of promoting the more sustainable benefits of quality paints and emulsion technology. It was named in honour of the then Chairman Robert L Jones, an avid environmentalist, who in turn matched the contribution to provide a total award of BBD $40,000.

Director of CERMES, Dr. David Yawson explained that one of the great benefits of this grant is the flexibility with which it is structured allowing support to be directed where there is greatest need.

“This is the first year to receive this grant and we were not only able to provide scholarships to three students, Kerstin Corbin and Dina Hinds, both with specialties in Tropical Coastal and Marine Resource Management and Shernise Mayers-Springer who is pursuing an interest in Climate Change, but importantly, it has allowed us also to put funds towards realizing students’ research projects which is a very vital part of the programme” the Director said.

Another addition to the department will be the purchase of a Mavic 3 (M) drone equipped with a multi-spectral camera that can produce an image based on a range of light beyond our visible sight. This tool has many applications and can provide valuable insights, for example, to help farmers optimize crop health and water productivity; coastal zone managers to understand changes in coastal vegetation and wetlands, and planners to produce detailed maps of land use and cover to inform land management.

“We have a deep respect for the important regional work done at CERMES with the highest degree of professionalism” noted Harris Paints’ Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Luke Ticknor. He continued, “So we are exceptionally happy to be able to lend some support to the programme and to assist Caribbean young people who will be tasked with solving the challenges our planet will face tomorrow”.

Moreover, for the coming year 2024-5 the Robert L Jones, Harris Paints Environmental Grant is open to applicants in the MSc Programme in Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NAREM) and the MPhil/ PhD programmes to students who are nationals from Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Suriname.

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Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Harris Paints’ 50th Anniversary, Robert L. Jones, scientific, University of the West Indies (UWI)

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