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UWI TODAY
– SEPTEMBER 2015
Dr. Marissa Moses is the National Biosafety Project Coordinator in the Ministry of Legal Affairs
OUR CAMPUS
To the man on the street,
the clever media hype that
surrounds technology, might make it appear as though
creative products and solutions materialise from thin air and
unto our shelves, but this is not the case. Years, sometimes
decades of research, development and safety tests are needed
before any new products interface with the public, even
more so when it involves food and pharmaceuticals.
In October 2000, Trinidad and Tobago acceded to
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which is one the
Protocols found in the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The term Biosafety is used to describe practices to reduce
and eliminate any risks resulting from biotechnology and
its products. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is the
means by which over 169 countries will establishminimum
standards for regulating the import and export of products
made using modern biotechnology.
Since the inception of the project to implement the
Protocol, The University of the West Indies, through its
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), has been
partnering with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago
to reach out to citizens; heightening awareness of the
Protocol on Biosafety; explaining the science of modern
biotechnology and how this technology is used around
What do plastic bottles, goldfish,
glass marbles and
filtered water have in common? They are all parts of a basic
aquaponics system – so simple, a child can do it and 67
children from 3 to 13 did! They were at The UWI After-
School Care Centre’s Children’s Discovery Workshop as
part of the project
Science Education as a Climate Change
Resilience Strategy (SECCRS).
Aquaponics – the symbiotic system combining
aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish in tanks)
with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) wherein, the
fish waste produced provides an organic food source for the
growing plants, and the plants in turn, provide a natural
filter for the water the fish live in – was just one of the
topics covered during the two-week workshop.The children
also learned about climate change and green technologies
through outdoor activities, games, arts and crafts, and a visit
to the NIHERST National Science Centre.
The workshop was a result of the St. Augustine Campus
Department of Chemistry’s ongoing SECCRS initiative,
an 18-month project funded by the United Nations
Development Programme’s (UNDP) Global Environment
Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP). The project’s
overall goal is to empower communities to apply practical
knowledge of green technologies to best meet the need of
local circumstances.
Aqua Amazing!
Aquaponics takes Centre Stage at Children’s Discovery Workshop
B y J e a n e t t e A w a i
Members of the Heights of Guanapo community
were trained to use aquaponics to avoid soil and water
contamination from the landfill. Nine of these adults were
then mentored to work directly with the children of the
ASCC and Guanapo to pass on what they had learned. The
UWI Department of Chemistry and Department of Clinical
Veterinary Sciences Aquatic Health Unit, the Guanapo
Community Environmental Development Organisation
and the National Institute of Higher Education, Research,
Science and Technology (NIHERST) have a unique
partnership with the ASCC to accomplish the project goals.
According to workshop facilitator and the SECCRS
Project Team Leader, Dr. Leonette Cox, “the big picture is
knowledge sharing and building confidence and capacity
in community.” Confidence was in full display as the
combined teams of children, led by the Guanapo facilitators,
performed poems, skits and dance numbers dedicated to
aquaponics to a crowd of parents, UWI staff members and
others.
The project’s next phase involves project leadership
and proposal writing training. For more information about
the SECCRS project, contact
Dr. Leonette Cox
, Research
Outreach Consulting and Analytical Services, Department
of Chemistry at
or 662-2002
ext. 84334.
the world. The University has been the main collaborator
in national public consultations in north, east and south
Trinidad as well as in Tobago. Youth were also engaged in
specially designed sessions, which included many of the
young researchers from The UWI’s St. Augustine Campus
as well as national institutions such as NIHERST, IICA,
CARDI, UTT and secondary school students. Through
these varied interactions with the public, a National Policy
on Biosafety was created and successfully approved by
Parliament in April 2014.
As a regional institution, The University’s role extends
far beyond the twin-island shores of Trinidad and Tobago.
The UWI is the lead executing agency for the
Regional
Project for Implementing Biosafety Frameworks in the
Caribbean SubRegion
, which is part of the UNEP-GEF suite
of projects. It is mandated to oversee the implementation of
the Protocol in all Caribbean countries that are signatories.
The overall goal of the regional project is to implement
effective, operable, transparent and sustainable National
Biosafety Frameworks, which cater for national and regional
need and deliver global benefits, which are compliant with
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Countries participating
in this project include Antigua and Barbuda, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad
and Tobago. The countries of Barbados and Bahamas also
participate in project activities but in a limited capacity.
Relying on the strength of more than 60 years’
experience in leading regional issues, The University was
able to efficiently pool technical personnel and financial
resources for the maximum benefit of all in the Caribbean.
Nowhere has this been better reflected than in the numerous
University hosted regional workshops, facilitated by
international experts from the United States, Canada and
Australia, to build capacity among scientists and technocrats
in the region.
The University partnership with the National Biosafety
Co-ordinating Unit, focal point of the national project
of Trinidad and Tobago, continues in 2015. Professor of
Genetics Path Umaharan, is a member of the Trinidad and
Tobago Cabinet appointed committee on Biosafety and is
also the Technical Lead of the Regional Project on Biosafety
of which Trinidad and Tobago is a part.
The successful implementation of this policy will
promote the safe use of the technology while protecting
consumer rights. View the national biosafety policy at:
/
The Cartagena Protocol:
for the safe use of technology, for the protection of the consumer
B y M a r i s s a M o s e s
The project’s overall goal is to empower communities to apply practical knowledge
of green technologies to best meet the need of local circumstances.
Relying on the strength of more than 60 years’ experience in leading regional issues, The University was able to
efficiently pool technical personnel and financial resources for the maximum benefit of all in the Caribbean.
Workshop participants and their aquaponics system
Photo: Atiba Cudjoe
