The second semester has ended at UWI St Augustine and even though the "summer" semester is well underway, the campus is quiet and peaceful. It’s a great time for research, writing, editing and introspection. It’s a wonderful time to enjoy the beauty of UWI St Augustine’s open and green spaces while contemplating the academic year coming to a close.
As editor of UWI TODAY, looking back on 2024-2025, the theme has been “inspiration”. This past year, we have shared so many stories of the outstanding achievements of the members of the campus community—students, staff at all levels, and graduates. This month is no different.
Our cover story is on student athlete Johan Biput. Johan is an adaptive athlete who, in his short career, has already made an impressive impact on para athletics on the world stage. He is also very much a leader and motivator for other athletes on campus. Jehue Gordon, Johan’s coach and one of T&T’s most decorated athletes, says of him that “he takes on the most, despite having the most difficulties”. It is truly a pleasure to highlight this amazing young man.
In this issue, we also had the opportunity to highlight a breathtaking initiative led by a homegrown scientist that brought some titans of the international scientific community to Tobago. The Caribbean Future of Science Symposium, founded by Trini theoretical physicist Professor Stephon Alexander, included Nobel laureates, NASA scientists, Caribbean inventors, and even jazz-playing physicists, for a four-day, surprisingly musical, gathering. Several members of the campus community took part in the symposium, such as Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, and UWI astronomer Prof Shirin Haque, the principal organiser of the event.
The mission of the symposium was to “reframe the region not as a periphery of science, but as a catalyst for it”.
During this period, the St Augustine campus played host to a different type of meeting, the University Council. This is the annual meeting in which the Vice-Chancellor gives his report on the performance of The UWI in the completed financial year, as well as sharing the institution's plans for the future. Themed “Regionally Respected. Globally Celebrated”, this year’s University Council included two firsts. It was the first in-person meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. It was also the first meeting presided over by our new Chancellor, Mr Dodridge Miller.
Sir Hilary’s presentation was engaging and concise, and laid out a compelling blueprint for the future growth of The UWI while elucidating our collective vision as an institution for regional development and positive international impact.
A few weeks later, on May 17 and 18, UWI St Augustine hosted another important gathering. Open Days 2025, the annual event where we invite prospective students and their families/supporters to experience the campus, were held despite very rainy weather. And they came out in the thousands.
Open Days are the single best opportunity for those interested in pursuing higher education to receive a massive amount of information on programmes of study, entrance requirements, financing education, and all other aspects of the student experience. Every department played their part in making this event as informative (and enjoyable) for guests, and numerous measures were taken beforehand to ensure that potential students from communities throughout T&T were informed about the Open Days and encouraged to attend.
This issue also looks at very impactful and timely research from a team at the Department of Geography within the Faculty of Food and Agriculture on leatherback turtle nesting at Grand Riviere, the operationalisation of the region’s first Geospatial Observation Centre within the Faculty of Engineering’s Dept of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, and the International Human Rights Clinic, a groundbreaking advocacy and educational initiative from the Faculty of Law.
As always, my challenge as editor is finding enough space to include all of the amazing work taking place on the campus. Sixteen pages is never enough. For more stories from UWI St Augustine, I encourage our readers to visit the homepage at sta.uwi.edu/, Facebook at facebook.com/UWISTA/, and Instagram at instagram.com/uwi_staugustine.
