Leader to discuss climate change in Caribbean country

The leader of a sustainable initiative in the Caribbean country of St. Vincent and The Grenadines will give a lecture at Grand Valley State University on Monday, October 20.  

Stina Herberg, headmaster at the Richmond Vale Academy in St. Vincent, is part of a group that is working to make St. Vincent and The Grenadines the world’s first climate compliant nation through awareness of global warming and climate change. The lecture is in recognition of National Sustainability Day, which takes place October 22.

Herberg’s lecture, “Lessons from the St. Vincent Climate Compliance Conference,” will take place from noon-1 p.m. at the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale Campus.

Erik Nordman, associate professor of biology, said he met Herberg through the Pan American Development Foundation, where he is working to write curriculum in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in St. Vincent and The Grenadines. 

“This island nation is prone to natural disasters, like flooding, storm surges and sea level rises, which will be exacerbated by climate change,” Nordman said. “Herberg, her staff and students are working to promote climate-smart agriculture and other livelihoods to raise the resilience of Vincentian farmers by increasing food security while still linking them to the global economy.”

The event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Office of Sustainability Practices, Biology Department, Environmental Studies, and Geography and Planning.

For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/sustainability .