SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER, 2016 – UWI TODAY
13
CAMPUS NEWS
Three senior officers
from the Child Protection Unit of the
Trinidad and Tobago Police Service recently conducted a
seminar for the benefit of participants in the MEd Health
Promotion programme and teachers enrolled in the In-
Service Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Dip Ed)
Programme. This signaled the beginning of collaboration
between the School of Education and the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Service, aimed at furthering the social well-
being of the nation’s children. The officers who conducted
the exercise were Odette Lewis, Ag Superintendent; Beverly
Paul, Ag Inspector; and Suzette Woodes-James, Ag Asst
Superintendent.
As an intra-departmental initiative, the seminar
was organised by faculty and students of the MEd Health
Promotion programme at the School of Education. With
both programmes being conducted during the recent
summer semester, a unique opportunity was presented to
realise respective objectives.
Health Promotion subscribes to the World Health
Organization’s definition of healthwhich states that:
Health is
a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
In that regard
the seminar created an opportunity for operationalising one
of the Health Promotion strategies, that of building alliances
.
In so doing, the Dip Ed teachers were updated on their legal
responsibilities in relation to disclosing even suspicion of
sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, neglect or ill-
treatment of children.
The frame of reference throughout the seminar was
the
Children’s Act 12 of 2012
which now defines a child as
being 18 years or younger. The presenters clearly established
the distinction between the role and functions of the Child
Protection Unit
viz-a-viz
that of the Children’s Authority.
They emphasised that the efforts of the Child Protection
Unit (CPU) are investigative in nature while the Children’s
Authority is concerned with care and protection of at-risk
children or victims of abuse or neglect. Members of the
CPU team outlined the criminal offences related to the Act;
parental responsibility and that of others such as teachers and
nurses; and the various Marriage Acts providing exceptions
to children engaging in sexual activities. They highlighted
new Sections of the Act like those related to powers of the
court and the process that should be followed in reporting
suspicion of an offence against a child.The audience was also
made aware of new offences created under the Act such as
child pornography, sexual touching and sexual grooming.
At the School of Education teachers are prepared
to function at all levels of the education system, from
Early Childhood Care and Education to the tertiary level.
Therefore the School of Education intends to extend its
partnership with the Child Protection Unit of the TTPS to
cover its entire student base.
A RESPONSE TO CHILD ABUSE
THE SYNERGY
BETWEEN
EDUCATION
&HEALTH
B y B e r n i c e D y e r - R e g i s
UWI at Green Talents
International
B y M e l i s s a A t w e l l
The team of presenters from the Child Protection Unit
of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service along with
MEd coordinator. From left to right: Odette Lewis, Ag
Superintendent; Beverly Paul, Ag Inspector; Dr Bernice
Dyer-Regis, MEd HP Programme Coordinator; and Suzette
Woodes-James, Ag Asst Superintendent.
I am one of just 25 people
who have been selected from a global
field of outstanding young scientists to attend the
Green Talents
International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development
that has just concluded in Germany. It was an opportunity to
be exposed to state-of-the art research being carried out by
cutting-edge research institutes and companies, and to meet
experts from various fields, who presented and discussed their
scientific approaches to solving today’s most urgent environmental
challenges. I see this opportunity as beneficial to not only the
Department of Geography where I work and study, but also to the
Faculty and the University at large.
When I learned about
Green Talents
, hosted by the German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) I was
immediately attracted to this highly competitive award as it
promoted the international exchange of innovative green ideas
from global award winners. I was selected by a high ranking
expert jury along with 25 other Greet Talents from 22 different
countries. The jury was impressed by the global significance of
my research and valuedmy outstanding academic record reflected
by numerous scientific publications in high impact prestigious
international journals.
The aims of the
Green Talents
programme are to intensify
international sustainability research and development through
cooperation between threshold and developing countries. The
programme came into being as a result of the German government
recognising that no single country or discipline alone can come
up with a holistic solution to the developmental challenges ahead.
Germany, as front runner in environmental technologies, sought
to foster the mobility and creativity of promising young scientists
by connecting them to a unique global network through the Green
Talents programme.
The award entailed many opportunities for creating long-
lasting partnerships with German research elite. It firstly includes
an invitation to Germany to participate in a two-week Science
Forum which involves touring Germany’s top research institutes
such as the Siemens‘ Gas Turbine Plant Moabit, the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research, the Max-Planck-Institute
for Plasma Physics, Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, the
Southern African Science Service Center for Climate Change and
Adaptive Land Management and the Alfred Wegener Institute
for Polar and Marine Research. Each of these research institutes
offers exclusive insights into their facilities and projects.The award
also offers the opportunity to present your research in personal
discussions held with experts of your choice. Secondly, another
invitation to Germany is issued for a fully funded research stay
of up to three months where new experiences can be gained at a
research institution of your choice to advance your professional
career. Lastly, Green Talents give exclusive access to the Green
Talents networkmade up of high potentials from all over the world
in the field of sustainability development.
The awardees of the programme benefit through gaining
first-hand information about Germany’s research landscape,
laying the foundation for the establishment of international
research cooperation in the near future. Creating linkages with
German experts allows an awardee to access the German research
community fostering the exchange of ideas as well as the discussion
about potential collaborations. Awardees are given the unique
opportunity to learn about sustainability research in Germany
while building up or strengthening professional networks.
The impact of my time spent in Germany was surely
immeasurable. The opportunity to tour various research institutes
ignited ideas that can be applied to my own research in soil
ecosystem services and the sustainable management of the impacts
of land use development upon this ecosystem. Interacting with
German experts enabled me to form relationships for the sharing
of resources, information and to obtain expert advice and feedback
on my work.
The Green Talents science forumaffordedme the opportunity
to show case my research while seeing what other scientists are
doing in the field of sustainability research. The science forum
highlighted potential sources for research funding in Germany
while offering targeted workshops on water sanitation, food
security, climate change, urban planning and ecosystems. Going
forward, the new insights obtained will give an international
perspective which will strengthen my work and sharpen my
research skills which can be shared to the benefit of the Department
of Geography and the University at large.
Green Talents 2016 awardees in front the Berlin Wall (Atwell is in the
purple jacket, left middle row)
Plasma manipulation within magnetic coils at the
Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics
MelissaAtwell
completed her MPhil Degree in Geography and is
currently undertaking a PhD in which she is developing methods
for soil ecosystem valuation and prediction based on current
land use trends.
Geography has been taught at the Mona Campus of The
UWI since the 1960s; however, it was only introduced to Trinidad
and Tobago in 2005 as a Geography Unit in the Department of
Food Production of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture. The
Department of Geographywas inaugurated in 2012within the new
Faculty of Food and Agriculture, where it offers a BSc Major, BSc
Special, and administers the Environment and Natural Resources
Management Major. The Department of Geography also offers
research degrees, the MPhil and PhD, at a postgraduate level.
Geography is taught as two integrated components: Physical
Geography and Human Geography, both of which examine the
complex relationships between the environment (natural or
built) and its effects on people, as well as human impacts on the
environment. Current research in theDepartment includes climate
change adaptation, ecology and conservation, rural and urban
development impacts, and social exclusion and food sovereignty.
For more information on research projects, staff,
students, and postgraduate opportunities, please visit our
Departmental website
and Facebook Page uwistageography
