USF launches the nation's first School of Global Sustainability, holding inaugural conference next week (2/11-12)

Though the school will center around global issues, it will also focus on the challenges of climate change, the protection of threatened natural resources and population growth in our own backyard of South Florida and our coast.


This momentous occasion kicks off with a formal launch next week, with the school's hosting of a two-day conference at the Marshall Student Center that will feature some of science's leading thinkers on climate change and sustainability.


At the event there will be representatives from USF's partner universities from around the world, including special guest Bae-Yong Lee, President of Ewha Womans University of South Korea, who will receive the President's Global Leadership Award for her work in promoting global cooperation.


USF's Global Sustainability Conference will be held throughout the day next Thursday and Friday, February 11-12, from at 9:30 am until 5 pm both days. It will feature some of the world’s leading researchers in climate change, the environment and health in a series of discussions on the future of the planet and its inhabitants. All events - which will be powered through the purchase of renewable energy and whose carbon impact will be offset - will be held in the Oval Theater at the Marshall Student Center. The program is free and open to the public. The public is invited to attend, but seating is limited. Please RSVP to [email protected] or 974-5534. See the agenda here: http://patelcenter.usf.edu/documents/glsust.pdf

The University of South Florida's School of Global Sustainability is set to be the first-of-its-kind in the nation, educating students with their world-class staff of environmental researchers and preparing them for the 2.5 million "green collar" careers that are estimated for the coming years.

USF President Judy Genshaft stated:

"The University of South Florida is committed to creating a 21st Century which is healthy, sustainable and prosperous for both Florida and for communities far beyond our borders. This school is a major step in that direction. The School of Global Sustainability will leverage USF's existing strengths to build new opportunities for our students and faculty. We are dedicated to preparing our students to face the challenges of the world we know now and of the world that will exist in their lifetime."

Students will be eligible for enrollment this summer, the program's first degree being a master's degree in global sustainability that will "initially focus on water with other concentrations being developed in such themes as food security and health, natural environments, gender, ethnicity and class, global citizenry, climate change, coastal wetlands, the history of sustainable communities and mega cities".

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