What the UWI campuses are doing in the Non-Campus Countries (NCCs)

This page is intended to maintain a record of what the UWI in its various arms is doing directly in the non-campus countries.  It will be organised by country and by academic year.  At some point, old years will be archived to prevent this page becoming unwieldy.

We will not be listing here the Distance Education activities carried out by several Departments through the UWIDEC or independently, nor the occasional "monitoring" visits provided for TLIs that are franchising UWI programmes.  This list is concerned more with occasional rather than regular activities: lectures, workshops, research projects, consultancies, publications, etc.

At the end of the listing we include some information on entities with special responsibilities or projects that impinge significantly on the non-campus countries.  They are:

2007-2008

Professor Sean Carrington (Biological and Chemical Sciences, Cave Hill) is constructing an online database on the flora of the Eastern Caribbean. Fieldwork for it has been conducted in Dominica and the Grenadines.

The Sustainable Grenadines Project (exhaustively documented under 2006-2007) continues. One CERMES student is researching land-based sources of pollution in the Grenadines.

Anguilla

BVI

Grenada

St Kitts

2006-2007

One general activity involves Dr Julia Horrocks (Biological and Chemical Sciences, Cave Hill), Dr Adrian Hailey (St Augustine) and Dr Byron Wilson (Mona Campus) as co-editors on a Special Issue (3 vols) of the journal Applied Herpetology, which will address the status of amphibian and reptile conservation efforts in the insular West Indies. One such papers is: Wilson, B.S., Horrocks, J.A. and Hailey, A. 2006, Conservation of insular herpetofaunas in the West Indies, Applied Herpetology 3: 181-195.

The Sports Agronomy Research Unit (Chemical and Biological Sciences, Cave Hill) continued consultancy work as the Sports Agronomy Team for Cricket World Cup 2007. Members of the team (Dr Francis Lopez and Dr Louis Chinnery) made periodic inspection and advisory visits to the countries in which games were scheduled (including Antigua, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent).

Camille Bell-Hutchinson (Educational Studies, Mona) has been working since 2004 on a DFID Support to the OECS Education Development Project, which operates in Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. She has been working in the capacity of Numeracy Adviser. The project aims to support the Ministries of Education in developing a more comprehensive strategy to improve the levels of numeracy with upper primary mathematics. She has provided training for Numeracy Coordinators in each country and has now published: Bell-Hutchinson, C. (ed.), 2006. Handbook for Numeracy Coordinators' in the Windward Islands.

CERMES (Cave Hill), as usual, has been involved in several projects with impacts on several of our contributing countries:

Antigua

Bahamas

Belize

British Virgin Islands

Dominica

Grenada

Montserrat

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent

Turks and Caicos

 

2005 - 2006

Among regionally focussed activities at the campuses, we may mention that the Centre for Gender and Development at St Augustine organised between March 19th-25th 2006 an intensive one-week gender training course. The course was offered to advocates, practitioners and academics in the field of gender and development to strengthen their analytical understanding of gender as well as their skills in the areas of policy formulation and application.  About 25 participants from across the region participated in the course, 7 of whom came from non-campus countries.

A general programme that has impinged on several countries is that of the WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Marine Turtle Tagging Centre) which is hosted by the Barbados Sea Turtle Project (BSTP) at Cave Hill (since 2001). The aim of the MTTC is to strengthen and coordinate the many isolated small-scale sea turtle tagging projects in the region, and to encourage and enable collaboration among range states with regard to sea turtle tagging and the documentation of international movements. The Centre provides training and equipment support to over 20 research projects in the Wider Caribbean and archives tag fate data for all of these projects and provides a central clearinghouse for information on international movements. It is working with Government Fisheries Divisions and/or NGOs in St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines to support new or on-going monitoring programmes. Support includes training of personnel. A Workshop "Monitoring sea turtles on the nesting beach and at sea - a field training workshop" sponsored and hosted by the BSTP and WIDECAST was held in Barbados (May 22-26th 2006) which participants from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia's Fishery Divisions attended. In addition, a graduate student Darren Browne and Dr Julia Horrocks have visited St Vincent and the Grenadines (J. Horrocks, 16-19th October 2005) Grenada (J. Horrocks, November 2nd 2005; D. Browne, November 2nd 2005, 20-31st July 2006) and St Kitts (D. Browne, December 21st, 2005-January 12th 2006) to assist local sea turtle projects to identify potential index nesting or in water monitoring sites, to train personnel in monitoring techniques, including tagging and tissue sampling of animals for population genetic analysis, and to make presentations to Government agencies, tourism industry personnel, school children and other stakeholders.

The Sports Agronomy Research Unit (Dept of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Cave Hill) has been appointed as the Sports Agronomy Team for the Cricket World Cup 2007.  As a result, members of the team have been paying periodic visits to the countries in which games will be played (including Antigua, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent).

Dr Keith Miller from the Department of Surveying and land Information (St Augustine) has been working with the Director of Surveys of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on improvements to the national geodetic infrastructure. Using funding provided by the InterAmerican Development Bank, a contract to install five sites across the islands is being undertaken by a commercial consortium comprising Fujitsu, Spatial Innovision and Trimble. Similar activities are going on in Jamaica and bids are being sought to undertake installation work in the Bahamas, but the distribution of stations regionally will still be sparse.

Dr Miller is now working with staff at the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) project that is being run from the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) to install further stations regionally in Belize, Dominica, St Vincent and Antigua. It is anticipated that the CCCCC will act as a data distribution centre for all data acquired regionally, which introduces a further complication of data transfer throughout the Caribbean. Staff from the Seismic Research Unit at UWI have experience in this component and their skills have been offered to the project. The data provided by the CORS network offers advantages to their activities in measuring the deformation of volcanoes and they have further agreed to undertake servicing of some of the instrumentation as part of their ongoing maintenance.

To further ensure sustainability of the stations it is desirable that governmental and commercial users situated locally make use of the data. To increase awareness and to identify advantages for relevant agencies within these sectors, a workshop was delivered at the Department of Surveying and Land Information, UWI from 5th to 12th August 2005 with funding provided by the MACC project. Twenty two surveyors attended representing eight states from the region, namely: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. The workshop was delivered jointly by Dr Miller and staff from Spatial Innovision Ltd. with presentations by staff from the Seismic Research unit and the Petroleum Geoscience Unit within UWI. The programme included a significant practical content that was supported by technical staff and Graduate Research Assistants from the Department of Surveying and Land Information. 

Dr Hazel Simmons-McDonald (Linguistics, Cave Hill) has been involved in various regional initiatives: a literacy survey/reading diagnostic project in selected primary schools in all the Windward Islands and Barbados, reports of which are being submitted; work has also been completed on the OECS Harmonised curriculum in the Language Arts for the OERU project.

Anguilla

Antigua

The Bahamas:

Belize

British Virgin Islands

The Cayman Islands:

Dominica

Grenada

Montserrat

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent

 

 

2004 - 2005

Among regionally focussed activities at the campuses, we may mention that the Centre for Management Development (Cave Hill) is planning to hold a regional five-day workshop on Capital Markets and Securities Evaluation. The workshop will be targeted to finance professional in Barbados and throughout the OECS and is currently being planned to take place in Barbados around late February 2005.

Antigua:

The Bahamas:

Belize:

British Virgin Islands:

The Cayman Islands:

Dominica:

Grenada:

Montserrat:

St Kitts:

St Lucia:

St Vincent:

 

2003 - 2004

J. O. Opadeyi (Engineering, St Augustine), together with S. Ali and E. Chin, prepared a series of reports on the Status of Hazard Maps, Vulnerability Assessments, and Digital Maps that dealt with Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, BVI, and the Bahamas.

Professor Arthur Richardson (Education, Cave Hill) participated in the initial stages of an OECS-OERU research project on indiscipline in OECS schools, visiting St Lucia, St Kitts and St Vincent.

The Executive Director of the Caribbean Law Institute Centre is engaged as a joint consultant on the constitutional implications of an OECS Economic Union.  This has involved consultations in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Dr A. Fields (Biological and Chemical Science, Cave Hill) contributed to a series of pamphlets on the terrestrial malacofauna of Dominica, St Vincent, St Kitts, and St Lucia.

Cynthia Barrow-Giles and Dr Tennyson Joseph (Social Sciences, Cave Hill) helped prepare questionnaires on national integrity systems indicators for Dominica, Grenada,  St Vincent, Antigua, St Kitts, and St Lucia.

Anguilla:

Antigua:

The Bahamas:

Belize:

British Virgin Islands:

The Cayman Islands:

Dominica:

Grenada:

  • The 23rd Annual Conference on West Indian Literature, organised by the Department of Literatures in English (Mona) in association with St George's University, is held here, March 8-11, on the campus of St George's University.
  • Grenada: A History of its People by Beverley Steele (Resident Tutor) is launched on March 19.
  • In May, the Seismic Research Unit participated in Disaster Awareness Week, with lectures at three locations in Grenada and one in Carriacou, together with radio, TV, and print interviews. 
  • Anthony Griffith (Education, Cave Hill) conducted a workshop for Social Studies curriculum officers in the Eastern Caribbean on the harmonization of social studies learning outcomes for OECS primary schools, in June.
  • J. Lashley (Economics, Cave Hill) published  MicroStart Market Demand Survey. Barbados: UNDP/CIDA, based on research in Grenada and Saint Vincent.

St Kitts and Nevis:

  • The Technical Advisory Committee, which advises the University Grants Committee on funding the University, is meeting here on 11-12th March.
  • Dr Lennox Honychurch (SCS, Dominica) gave a lecture in March on 'Re-inventing Ourselves: Caribbean Nationalism and the Creation of ‘Heritage”.' 
  • Gerry Rose (Education, Cave Hill) conducted a staff development and assessment workshop for mathematics tutors and other tutors in the Teachers' Colleges in May.
  • The Caribbean Studies Association met here in May.  Several UWI academics contributed papers.
  • The Institute of International Relations (affiliated institution at St Augustine) held a workshop on Human Resource Development, July 5-9.
  • Professor Neville Duncan (SALISES, Mona) anchored a session in Nevis on July 7th on matters relating to secession.
  • The Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (St Augustine) continued research on the geomorphology of Nevis. 
  • The Faculty of Law held its 3rd annual Caribbean Legal Drafting forum here in July 14-16; its theme was 'Interpreting Legal Texts in the 21st Century'.
    •

St Lucia:

  • Dr Cecilia Karch-Brathwaite and Dr Letnie Rock (Social Sciences, Cave Hill) conducted a two-week training workshop on 'Child Development for Practising Child Care Professionals', August 2003.
  • CERMES students are doing internships with the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), and the OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU).
  • A CERMES student is researching the topic - Responding to global climate change: implications for data capture, management and analysis in St Lucia.  Another is working on the production and consumption of charcoal and firewood.
  • Natasha Mortley was awarded the M.Phil. in Sociology (St Augustine) with a thesis on "A Study on Gender Relations and the Migration Decisions of St. Lucian Women".
  • See under Belize for a research project conducted by the Institute of Business (St Augustine).
  • The Institute of International Relations (an affiliated institution at St Augustine) undertook a survey as part of a project on Adopting Border Controls to Provide Global Public Goods.
  • Lynda Quamina-Aiyejina (Education, St Augustine) continued research on education and training in St Lucia.
  • Professor Karl Theodore (Health Economics Unit, St Augustine) worked on Moving the Financing Element of the Health Sector Reform Process Forward.
  • M. Mycoo (Surveying and Land Information, St Augustine) presented a paper on 'Land Alienation, Marginality and Polarisation in St Lucia' at a conference in Egypt, October 2003.  He also published 'Minimising Foreign Control of Land: A Case Study of St Lucia' in Land Use Policy.
  • The Literacy survey (noted under St Lucia for 2002-2003) continued, and led to workshops for curriculum officers and teachers in St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent, and Dominica, while a new study of attitudes to language began under the direction of Dr Hazel Simmons-McDonald (Humanities, Cave Hill).
  • Dr Simmons-McDonald also gave a paper, 'In support of Afrogenesis: A Study of St Lucian French Creole Proverbs' at the St Lucia Studies Conference in March.
  • Dr Martha Isaac (Humanities, Cave Hill) began field-work on a Narrative Inquiry project.
  • Professor O'Garro (Biological and Chemical Science, Cave Hill) is conducting research on growing anthurium under forest cover.
  • Dr A.S. Downes (SALISES, Cave Hill) published a biographical article on W.A. Lewis in the Biographical Dictionary of British Economists, volume 2.

St Vincent:

  • Dr Anthony Layne (Education, Cave Hill) was invited to deliver the annual C.W. Prescod Lecture by the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers' Union in November.
  • The Trinidadian novelist, Mr. Earl Lovelace, lectured under the Distinguished Lecture Series facilitated by Mona. On March 26, Mr. Lovelace spoke on the topic The Writer at Home in the Caribbean and the World. On the following day, he facilitated a workshop for writers. This workshop complemented an earlier one held by Dr. Philip Nanton, the Sherlock Artist in Residence, and motivated the young writers to form themselves into a Writers Group that meets regularly at the University Centre.
  • The Board for Graduate Studies and Research nominated a delegation of five to represent the University at a three-day conference on the future of the banana industry, June 8-10.
  • Cleve Scott was awarded a Ph.D. in History (Cave Hill) with a thesis on "The Politics of Crown Colony Government: Land, Labour and Politics in a Colonial State, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 1883 to 1937". 
  • The Seismic Research Unit and the Soufriere Monitoring Unit mounted a joint display on earthquakes and volcanoes in December, at the National Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition.  Dr R. Robertson investigated the incidence of mass movement at Dauphine in the south of the island and set up a monitoring network.
  • Professor O'Garro (Biological and Chemical Science, Cave Hill) is conducting research on two important diseases of papaya.  He has also been asked to assist with the regeneration of the arrowroot industry.
  • CERMES contributed to work on coral reef monitoring and water quality analyses for the VINLEC Lowman's Bay Fuel Offloading Facility.
  • Two members of CERMES were among the authors of a report, Coastal resources and livelihoods in the Grenadine Islands: Facilitating change in self-organising systems' in Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 55: 56-67 (2004).
  • The School for Clinical Medicine and Research (Barbados) colloborated with the St Vincent & The Grenadines Medical Association in hosting the 2nd Annual Arnott Cato Symposium on Saturday, October 18, 2003.

Turks and Caicos:

  • Two members of CERMES were among the authors of a report, 'A preliminary investigation of the impacts of legislative status, management and ecological condition of marine protected areas on the socio-economic status of stakeholders in Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands' in Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 55: 19-35 (2004).

Regional activities

  • Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Cave Hill

CERMES is implementing, co-ordinating or collaborating in a number of regional projects, involving a considerable amount of fieldwork, workshops, participatory planning, consultations and training throughout the Caribbean as follows:

  • Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project of UNESCO IOCARIBE, Cartagena, Colombia, funded by the GEF. A CERMES staff member is the Regional Project Co-ordinator.
  • Sustainable Integrated Development and Biodiversity Conservation in the Grenadine Islands – Funded by the Lighthouse Foundation, Phase 1 developed a participatory co-management framework for integrated sustainable development in the St Vincent and Grenada Grenadines and a proposal for implementation (Phase 2), after a series of participatory planning workshops. A CERMES staff member was the Project Leader for Phase 1 and CERMES will be the project implementer for Phase 2.
  • Marine Ecosystem Component, White Water to Blue Water Programme a US led WSSD-based initiative to promote ocean and coastal management in the Wider Caribbean. A CERMES staff member is the Co-Chair.
  • Caribbean Component of the UNESCO IOC Global Ocean Observing System (IOCARIBE GOOS). A CERMES staff member is a Steering Committee Member.
  • The Caribbean Sea Ecosystem Assessment Project (CARSEA) - a sub-global assessment of the Global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) programme. CERMES staff members act as Steering Committee Member and as Participants.
  • Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI). CERMES staff members serve on the Board of Directors.
  • Socio-economic Monitoring for Caribbean Coastal Management Project (SocMon) funded by NOAA, USA. CERMES is the project implementer. The project has developed socio-economic monitoring guidelines for coastal management programmes in the Caribbean, building on existing socio-economic monitoring practices in the region. It has conducted a training workshop for coastal managers from across the region in how to develop and implement socio-economic monitoring programmes based on these guidelines and is now assisting in the establishment of Caribbean socio-economic monitoring programmes through serving as a focal point for information sharing among participants to ensure sustainability.
  • Reforming Governance: Coastal Resources Co-management in Central America and the Caribbean (CORECOMP). CERMES is the project implementer. Field sites include Barbados, Nicaragua and Belize. The project has set up and is monitoring several co-management pilot initiatives with NGOs. Several capacity building and training workshops have also been held in the pilot sites.
  • Caribbean Coastal Co-management Guidelines Project (R1834) funded by DFID, CERMES is the project implementer with field study sites in Barbados, Grenada and Belize.

 

2002 - 2003

N.B. Some data given here for CERMES research may refer to work undertaken at a somewhat earlier period for which a degree has been awarded in the 2002-3 academic year.

Andrea Henry was awarded an M.Phil. in Biochemistry (Mona) with a thesis on "Diversity Among Populations of Xanthomonas Campestris PV. Vesicatoria From Five Eastern Caribbean Islands with Respect to Secretion of Extra-Cellular Enzymes, Polysaccharide Production and Pathogenicity". 

Anguilla:

  • Professor R. Brathwaite (FANS, St Augustine) has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture on a project: "Sustained Development of the Agricultural Sector by training of farmers, youth and women in vegetable production", funded by the UNDP.  Unfortunately this project has been hindered by adverse weather conditions.
  • One of Professor Brathwaite's students is working on an MSc project in sorghum production in Anguilla.

Antigua:
  • A CERMES student is researching water quality on hotel beaches.The Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at Cave Hill is coordinating an IACD/OAS project on Saline Intrusion into Coastal Aquifers focussed on Antigua,  Barbados and Jamaica.  Phase 1 of the project was conducted in 2002/2003 and the second Phase is about to start in 2003/2004. An Antiguan is expected to register for a postgraduate program based on this project.Between August 19th-23rd, 2002 the Seismic Research Unit conducted a public education campaign aimed at heightening the awareness of geologic hazards in Antigua.  This campaign was part of a sub-regional public education project that was funded by the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA).  Activities included a student lecture, radio and television interviews, meetings with special interest groups and a travelling exhibition entitled 'Our Moving Earth' which was mounted at the National Office of Disaster Services in St. John's.  The campaign was a collaborative effort between the Seismic Research Unit and the National Office of Disaster Services in Antigua.Dr St Clair Barker (FANS, St Augustine) is working with the Extension Division of the Ministry of Agriculture to upgrade its extension services through testing various training delivery strategies.  Another project involves a group of female farmers in ways of enhancing income generation.
  • Arlene Singh-Dattoo was awarded a Ph.D. in English (St Augustine) with a thesis on  "Aspects of Postcoloniality in Selected Works of V.S. Naipaul, Michael Ondaatje, Joy Kogawa, Chinua Achebe and Jamaica Kincaid".
  • Ian Boxill (Sociology and Social Work, Mona) published an article with Osbert Federick, "Old Road, New road, Community Protests and Development in Antigua" in Alberto Periera, Ian Boxill and Johannes Maerk (eds), Tourism and Change in the Caribbean and Latin America (Mexico City: Plaza y Valdez, 2002).

The Bahamas:

  • The Central Executive Committee of the UWI Alumni Association held its annual meeting on April 1st at the Nassau Beach Hotel.  It included representatives from alumni groups in the region as well as from the US, Canada and the UK.

Belize:

  • A CERMES student is working on an economic evaluation of the Barrier Reef.
  • The UWI Press will be represented at CSA May 26-31 and will be announcing an exclusive distribution arrangement with Cubola Publications.
  • A Coastal Resources Co-Management pilot project will be launched as part of a two-year Project run by CERMES, Cave Hill; a related project will focus on a case study of co-management.
  • Anthony Cummings was awarded an M.Sc. in Natural Resource Management (Cave Hill) with a thesis on "An Assessment of the Ecological Impacts of Two Successfully Implemented Marine Protected Areas in Belize".
  • Dr Ian Boxill (Sociology and Social Work, Mona) is working on a living standards survey.  He also published "Towards an Alternative Tourism for Belize", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 15, no. 3, 2003. And with Philip Castillo, "Socio-impact of tourism in Dangriga and Hopkins, Belize" in Alberto Periera, Ian Boxill and Johannes Maerk (eds), Tourism, Development and Natural Resources in the Caribbean (Mexico City: Plaza y Valdez, 2002).

British Virgin Islands:

  • A CERMES Student is investigating the sports fishing industry; another is looking at  indigenous fishing knowledge and its relevance to resource management.
  • The Technical Advisory Committee, which advises the University Grants Committee on funding the University, met here on 13-14th February.

The Cayman Islands

  •  

Dominica:

  • A CERMES student is investigating the potential for re-visitation tourism.
  • The Centre for Gender and Development at Cave Hill reports that it is currently engaged in Phase II of the Research Project "Caribbean Women Catalysts For Change" with Dame Eugenia Charles in Dominica.
    A research team of colleagues from the Faculty of Law, Humanities, Social Sciences, and some external senior members of the NGO community are currently researching different areas of Dame Eugenia's administration to contribute a chapter to an edited volume.
    They are also classifying and sorting Dame Eugenia's papers towards adding them to the Specialist Collection being built on outstanding Caribbean women at the Cave Hill Library.
    When the research is complete it is expected that colleagues will return to Dominica and present their findings as lectures or seminars.
  • See under St Lucia for a project developed by the Women and Development Unit (WAND) on disaster management that has been completed in two areas of Dominica.
  • A paper was given at the 16th Caribbean Geological conference, the abstract is Jackson, Trevor A., Scott, Peter W. & Butcher, Alan R. 2002. The petrology and industrial mineral potential of  pumice from St Lucia and Dominica. Abstracts, 16th Caribbean Geological Conference, Barbados, June 16-21, 2002, 12.
  • J. Lashley (Economics, Cave Hill) published (with K. Lord),  Microfinance in the Caribbean: Experiences and Best Practice. Washington, D.C.:  IADB, based on research in Dominica and Barbados.

Grenada:

  • A CERMES student conducted an internship with the Coastal and Marine Management Programme.
  • Dr Eugene Ramcharan (CERMES, Cave Hill) continued research on mid- to late holocene sea level rise in the Caribbean, using data from Lake Antoine.
  • CERMES is conducting a case study of coastal resources co-management.
  • Dr Lennox Honychurch (Staff Tutor, Dominica) participated in activities during Heritage Week.
  • The Seismic Research Unit undertook further research on Kick-'em-Jenny with a team from NOAA and the University of Rhode Island from March 12-23rd.  A daily log was published on the SRU website.  During the cruise scientists discovered three volcanic craters and two cones near the Kick 'em Jenny submarine volcano.  The scientists were unable to confirm that these craters were in fact separate 'live' volcanoes and further investigations will have to be conducted to determine whether these are separate volcanoes or part of the Kick 'em Jenny volcano.  One of the previously-unrecognised volcanoes has tentatively been named "Kick 'em Jack".  This research cruise was the most detailed study ever to be conducted on the Kick 'em Jenny volcano. Besides the SRU site, there is information also at NOAA.
  • On Monday 17th March, the Literacy Survey of Eastern Caribbean Primary school Students gets underway in Grenada (see under St Lucia for more details of this Project).
  • Dr Adrian Fraser (Resident Tutor in St Vincent) is giving the annual Julian Fedon Memorial Lecture on April 28 and 29 (in Grenville).
  • Professor Trevor Jackson (Geology, Mona) is researching the mineralogy of the volcaniclastic turbidites of the Grand Bay Formation, Carriacou.  A joint paper was published: Donovan, S.K., Pickerill, R,. Portell, R, Jackson, T.A., & Harper, D.A.T. 2003. The Miocene palaeobathymetry and palaeoenvironments of Carriacou, the Grenadines, Lesser Antilles. Lethaia, 36 (3), 255-272.

Montserrat:

  • A Country Conference was held here November 13-14.   Papers are now available on this site.

St Kitts and Nevis:

  • A CERMES student is working on the socio-economic impact of tourism on Nevis.
  • As part of a series of public lectures that started with the Prime Minister speaking on HIV/AIDS and has included the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines on problems of small states, Dr Glen Richards (History, Mona) spoke on the evolution of the constitution (March 25 & 27) and Professor Albert Fiadjoe (Law, Cave Hill) will lecture on Managing our Constitutions – How well have we fared? (May 29)
  • Between February 3rd-7th, 2003 the Seismic Research Unit conducted a public education campaign aimed at heightening the awareness of geologic hazards in St. Kitts-Nevis.  This campaign was a follow-up activity to a sub-regional public education project that was funded by the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA).  Activities were held on both islands, including student lectures, radio and television interviews, meetings with special interest groups and a travelling exhibition entitled 'Our Moving Earth' which was mounted at the Government Headquarters in Basseterre. The campaign was a collaborative effort between the Seismic
    Research Unit and the National Emergency Management Agency in St Kitts-Nevis.
  • The Board met here May 16.  The print version of the proceedings of the first Country Conference (S. Augier and O. Edgecombe-Howell (eds.) Beyond Walls.   Multi-disciplinary Perspectives, Volume 1: St Kitts & Nevis, School of Continuing Studies, UWI, St Augustine) was launched in the evening.
  • Dr St Clair Barker (FANS, St Augustine) has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture to evaluate the extension service; a three-day workshop was conducted which recommended various ways of providing extension services.
  • Professor R. Brathwaite (FANS, St Augustine) conducted a two-week training course on Pesticide Management, financed by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
  • July 4-6 2003, the Resident Tutor, UWI School of Continuing Studies, St Kitts, organized a workshop for primary and secondary level teachers on Constitutional Development in St. Kitts and Nevis. Professor Neville Duncan (SALISES, Mona) and Dr Jessica Byron (Government, Mona) both participated in this workshop and delivered sessions, Prof. Duncan on Local Government issues, Dr Byron on International Relations Issues arising from Constitutional Developments in St Kitts and Nevis.

St Lucia:

  • The Women and Development Unit (WAND, part of the SCS, Barbados) continues to work with the La Pointe Development Committee, particularly in the improvement of the quality of early childhood education provided through the La Pointe Preschool. This academic year, greater emphasis was placed on providing this quality education through the development of improved curriculum and further training for the teachers. In October, 2002, a training workshop was conducted with the preschool teachers, examining specifically the cognitive development of children and developing curriculum to aid this development. In April, another training workshop will be conducted for teachers of the preschool and other teachers in the community, as well as with parents within the community. This workshop will focus on the social and emotional development, as well as the cognitive development of children in the age group, 3-5 years. Parents will also be exposed to this information and will be given the opportunity to discuss any difficulties or challenges that they are experiencing with their children in this area.
  • WAND is also involved in a research project on the Assessment of Vulnerability at the Community Level, focusing on low income women’s groups in St. Lucia and Dominica. This pilot project was conceptualized to develop an action research model to train and utilize ‘grassroots’ women to conduct primary research on women’s vulnerability and resilience to natural, technological and social disasters. In St. Lucia, Phase I of the project was completed and it produced Community Vulnerability Profiles of six rural communities: Aux Lyon, Dennery, Grand Riviere, La Caye, La Pointe and Praslin/Mamiku. This phase also saw the publication of Working with Women at Risk: Practical Guidelines for Communities Assessing Disaster Risk. These documents are useful tools for women’s groups, community members, community-based organizations and disaster/emergency managers in understanding local vulnerabilities and capacities. Phase II of the project was recently completed in Dominica in two communities, rural Carib Territory and urban Canefield.  WAND collaborated with the International Hurricane Centre/Florida International University, U.S.A., Facultad Lationamericana de Ciencas Sociales, Republica Dominicana and an independent scholar, Metropolitan State College, Denver, USA, on this research project.
  • A CERMES student conducted an internship with the OECS, Natural Resources Management Unit.
  • A CERMES student is researching the production and consumption of charcoal and firewood; another is looking at the influence of land use on water quality in the Choc watershed; another is studying the application of ultrasonic telemetry to investigate fish; another is assessing the basin of the Mankote Mangrove; another is looking at fish larvae within the Soufriere Marine Management Area.
  • A Project, a literacy survey of primary school students in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados, organised by the Department of Language, Literature and Linguistics at Cave Hill, continues this year in St Lucia, having completed work in St Vincent and Dominica.  The Objectives of this Project are:
    1. To select a sample of schools from three categories (Good; Mediocre; Weak) in the Windward Islands and Barbados for the purpose of determining reading levels of students and diagnosing weaknesses.
    2. To test students on a range of measures, using standardized tests that are culturally appropriate to the population and sample.
    3. To train a small cadre of teachers from each territory in the sample to administer the tests and to develop proficiency in taking reading records in testing and non-testing situations.
    4. To survey the methods that are used to teach reading in the various territories
    5. To prepare detailed reports indicating school and student profiles for the Ministries of Education of the respective islands.
    6. To compare performances across the respective ranges and schools in the sample.
    7. To recommend strategies for improving the areas of weakness that are indicated in the results.
  • On May 14-16 there was a series of round tables associated with the launch of a new collection of essays edited by Cynthia Barrow-Giles and Don Marshall (Cave Hill), Living at the Borderlines: Issues in Caribbean Sovereignty and Development.  Staff from Cave Hill and Mona participated in these discussions in addition to local scholars and representatives of NGOs and other organisations.
  • Gilbertha Louis was awarded an M.Ed. (Cave Hill) with a research paper on "A Descriptive Study of St Lucian Students' Knowledge of Meta-Cognitive Strategies".

St Vincent:

  • The SCS Centre hosted an annual Independence Day lecture given by Lloyd Best from Trinidad on October 27.
  • The Centre collaborated with the Magistrates' Office and the Ministry of Legal Affairs in hosting a Para-Legal seminar on February 24 and 25.
  • An Oral History workshop geared to secondary school students was held in collaboration with the History and Archaeological Society on March 24.
  • Dr. Michael Leigh, Deputy Director General in the European Commission's Directorate General for External Relations delivered a lecture at the University Centre on the future of the European Union. This activity was undertaken with the assistance of the Rotary Club
  • The Women and Development Unit (SCS, Barbados) continues with its community outreach initiative in the rural village of Fancy, through the Fancy Community Help Group. The Group, with financial and technical assistance from WAND, has been engaged in a number of non-formal training activities, as well as two major income generating projects: pig rearing and a sewing project, where the women make and sell draperies and other household linens, such as cushions, sheets and pillow cases. For this year, the Group has identified specific plans for implementation:
    • A small loan scheme
    • An AIDS education programme for members and young people
    • Agriculture related income earning projects

    With the assistance of WAND, the Group will engage in a number of non-formal training activities.

  • Professor Betty Jane Punnett (Management Studies, Cave Hill) did some workshops for the Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies on "Effective Delegation" in early May. Two of her research projects involve respondents in St Vincent - culture and management, and successful professional women.
  • A CERMES student engaged in an internship with the Coast and Marine Management Programme.
  • Various members of FANS at St Augustine are conducting research in St Vincent: Dr St Clair Barker on the impact of land reform on its beneficiaries and on problems related to dasheen as a replacement crop for bananas; Professor Brathwaite, Dave  Hulton and Wendy-Anne Isaac on managment of pests and the uses of pesticides, on non-chemical management of Commelina (watergrass) and on the management of nematodes in banana; Dr L. Wickham on post-harvest technology and processing of cassava.
  • Professor Trevor Jackson (Geology, Mona) is researching the Volcanic petrology of pre-Soufrière rocks.  He supervised R.E.A. Robertson who was awarded the PhD degree in Geology for his dissertation on "The Volcanic Geology of the Pre-Soufrière Rocks on St Vincent, West Indies."  Together they published a field guide to St Vincent, Robertson, R.E.A. & Jackson, T.A. 2002. Field guide to St Vincent. 16th Caribbean Geological Conference, Barbados, June 16-21, 2002, 117-142.
  • A paper was presented at a conference in Japan, the abstract is Robertson, R.E.A., Jackson, T.A. & Scott, P, 2003. High MgO basalts of St Vincent, West Indies. International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy, Sapporo, Japan, June 30th-July 11th, 2003.  
  • A Country Conference was held here May 22-23.  Papers are available here.
  • Bronty Liverpool-Williams was awarded the M.Phil. in History (St Augustine) with a thesis on  "A Historical Study of women in Twentieth Century St Vincent and the Grenadines". 

Turks and Caicos:

  •  

Entities associated with UWI that have particular responsibilities for the NCCS:

The following entities, either part of UWI or closely related to it, have responsibilities that involve them directly in many of the NCCs.   Please refer to their reports for details of this activity:

  • CARDI
  • Centre for Marine Sciences, Mona:  Part of the CMS is the Caribbean Coastal Data Centre (CCDC), which was appointed as the coordinator for the Northern Caribbean and Atlantic Node of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). The countries that fall under this node include the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The CCDC also maintains the Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) databases that involve more than 20 countries.
  • Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Cave Hill: this Unit offers two postgraduate programmes (Natural Resource Management and Solar Energy).  Students conduct research and internships throughout the region, including Guyana, Suriname, and Haiti.  Outreach projects and other research frequently involve a number of countries. 
    • CERMES hosted the CFU/FAO Fisheries Statistics and Data Management workshop, March 10-22, at Cave Hill, which 25 representatives of Fisheries Departments in 18 CARIFORUM countries attended.
    • It hosted a regional training workshop, July 6-12, on socio-economic data collection and monitoring for coastal zone management. 
    • Some material on an evaluation of Caribbean Marine Protected Environments (with examples from Belize and the Turks and Caicos Islands, among others) is available at www.mragltd.com/e-LandWater.htm under R7679.
  • The Office of Administration and Special Initiatives has particular interest in fostering the development of alumni associations in the NCCs.  During 2002-3 the Grenada Chapter proposed at the UWI Alumni Association's Central Executive Committee (CEC) in April, the formation of a sub-chapter in Carriacou.  The CEC approved the proposal and plans are being made to form the chapter. The historical import of this is the fact that it will set an exciting precedent for places like Tobago, Barbuda, Nevis and other states where there are a number of islands.  The Chapter in Dominica is also active. They are planning their second annual lunch for early May and hoping to make a contribution (books) to the library
    at the School of Continuing Studies.
  • Seismic Research Unit.  In July 2003 the Caribbean Development Bank approved a grant for the production of a Volcanic Hazard Atlas for the Lesser Antilles. The Atlas is an official project of the IAVCEI Commission for the Mitigation of Volcanic Disasters and it provides a summary of the current state of knowledge pertaining to the hazards of each active and potentially active volcano in the volcanic islands of the Lesser Antilles. This Atlas will be the first of its kind in the world. For more information on the Atlas visit the Seismic Research Unit's website at http://www.uwiseismic.com/SRU_Site01/About/PROJECTS/proj_atlas.html

 

 

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Updated: 17th April, 2008.

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