A group of six University of the Virgin Islands students, organized as the UVI Green Ambassadors, are attending the 1st International Conference on Green and Sustainable Technology: Research and Workforce Development, from Nov. 17-21, in Greensboro, N.C. The students - Odari Thomas, Basil Williams Jr. Mohammad Mustafa, David Mohammed, Mpho Sello and Troi Williams - are lead by Professor Cynthia Gómez Martin, the faculty advisor for the student group.
They will join energy professionals who are developing best practices policies for a variety of design, industrial and research fields. Participants at the conference will also include architects, building code officials, contractors, consulting engineers, local and state officials, researchers and educators.
The conference is organized by the Center for Energy Research & Technology at North Carolina A&T State University. Keynote speakers will include Roger Ebbage, an international instructor in energy management and director of the Northwest Energy Education Institute at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore.; Benjamin Goldstein, Recovery through Retrofit Coordinator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist and president of Bennett College in Greensboro.
The UVI Green Ambassadors will share what they learn at the conference during the Dec. 6 VI-EPSCoR Conference to Explore Science & Technology for Economic Growth, on St. Thomas.
Members of the group will be staying at the Proximity Hotel, the first in the U.S. to win Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - LEED - certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council. During their stay, the group will tour the facilities with the aim of learning the various green practices used by the hotel in order to later incorporate them into green initiatives at UVI and in the territory. VI-EPSCoR (the Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) and HBCU-UP (Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program) are providing travel funds to allow conference participation.