AESEDA News :: AESEDA Attends Climate Change Conference in Kenya
Representatives from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA) attended the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya from November 6-13, 2006. The Penn State faculty, Dr. Petra Tschakert, Assistant Professor of Geography and AESEDA, and Dr. Paul Desanker, Professor of Geography and Head of Capacity Building and Outreach for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany joined AESEDA South Africa partners Bruce Hewitson, Gina Ziervogel and Mark Tadross of the University of Cape Town Climate Systems Analysis Group at this important international meeting convened to discuss global climate change.
Penn State AESEDA has been granted permanent status as an observer organization to the Conference of the Parties (COP) and to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP). This status grants faculty permission to attend future meetings, workshops and conferences sponsored by the UNFCCC.
"Given the urgent need to develop a comprehensive global strategy to deal with the impact of climate change, I am pleased that AESEDA is taking a leadership role in participating in the dialogue about climate change mitigation and adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa," said Robert Crane, Interim Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Details on the proceedings of the COP 12 meetings, plenary sessions, and press releases may be found online at: http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_12/items/3754.php.
Dr. Petra Tschakert
Based in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, AESEDA is a multidisciplinary academic alliance which supports scientific efforts that build human and academic capital in Africa. AESEDA's activities promote the integration of physical sciences, engineering, and social sciences to address the developmental challenges facing Africa through innovative educational programs. AESEDA has relationships with eighteen organizations in seven African countries with particularly strong ties in Nigeria and South Africa. Domestically, the Alliance is collaborating with Historically Black College and Universities to develop programs designed to attract underrepresented students into the petroleum and natural gas engineering and geosciences programs at Penn State. For more information, visit us on the web at: www.aeseda.psu.edu.