Continuing to expand its network of international environmental partners, the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Portsmouth, UK. More on this report.
The developing relationship was initiated as part of a UK Darwin Plus Initiative-funded Multi-purpose Soil Survey led by the BVI’s Department of Disaster Management (DDM) in partnership with Portsmouth University and HLSCC.
President of HLSCC, Dr. Richard Georges said, “The purpose of the agreement with Portsmouth University is to support the exchange of information related to teaching and research in fields of mutual interest, especially including ecological resilience, environment and geosciences.”
Dean of Workforce Training at HLSCC, Ms. Marva Wheatley explained, “HLSCC’s Centre for Applied Marine Studies hosted four workshops in soil sampling and soil analysis during 2023 with participants from several public sector environmental agencies as a part of the on-going study.”
She went on to explain that one key aim of the project was to help establish a soil laboratory housed at the marine centre.
Director of Marine & Maritime Studies, Ms. Susan Zaluski commented that it is hoped that the agreement will help the Centre for Applied Marine Studies (CAMS) to advance its capacity in environmental studies, with an emphasis on laboratory analysis.
Director Zaluski further explained that the healthy soils play an important but often overlooked role in the health of our coastal and marine environment.
She also added that HLSCC Lab Technician, Briana Dawson Sheriffe has been instrumental in helping to establish the soil analysis laboratory.
Mrs. Dawson Sheriffe, who attended the series of 2023 soil workshops that were a part of the larger project trained two recent HLSCC graduates, Michaela Potter and Pearly-Grace Oyetunji in laboratory methods. Along with staff from the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), the HLSCC team members helped to process samples for the on-going soil study.
HLSCC Mangrove Nursery Manager, Miss Jian Jeffers further explained that the new HLSCC Soil Analysis Lab would be of great value to the marine centre’s Mangrove Nursery, supporting training of interns in soil analysis at mangrove restoration sites, especially at sites where regeneration has proved to be problematic.
Lead Scientist in the Multi-Purpose Soil Survey and Professor at Portsmouth University, Dr. Richard Teeuw said, “The new soil analysis laboratory at the HLSCC Marine Centre is providing much needed data for improved management of soils under different types of land use, from farming and biodiversity conservation, through to construction and waste disposal.”