Capitol Hill — The School of Environmental Studies and Climate Change at the University of Liberia (UL) has launched a Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate Program in Climate Action.
The school has also dedicated a new National University Climate Action Laboratory (NUCAL) on the university's Capitol Hill Campus.
The ceremonies took place on Friday, November 8, 2024.
The school offers one Postgraduate diploma in Climate Action and three Postgraduate Certificates.
They include a Certificate in Scientific and Systems Thinking in Climate Action, a Certificate in Policy, Ethics, and Equity in Climate Action, and a Certificate in Practice and Action-Based Approaches in Climate Action, respectively.
The school is situated in the UL Graduate School Building on Capitol Hill and is accepting applications for admission.
Applicants are required to have a minimum qualification of a bachelor's degree and an official transcript demonstrating strong academic performance.
Applicants are also required to submit a written statement of interest and passion for climate action, and two letters of recommendation from professional and academic references.
The launch of the Postgraduate program and the dedication of the new National University Climate Action Laboratory are under the pilot project "Development and Launch of a Permanent MRV for Climate Action for Tertiary Education."
Delivering brief remarks at the ceremony, UL Acting President Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh thanked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NovaSphere for their support of the UL, especially in the direction of Climate Action.
Dr. Conteh reminded the participants that UL had been concerned with climate action long ago, but its focus was mostly on the environment, resources, and ecology.
He described them as the epistemology that was driven by many UL faculty then.
Dr. Conteh emphasized the postgraduate program and the NUCAL laboratory's importance to students interested in the study of climate action.
He expressed optimism that UL, through the Board of Trustees, will take all the necessary steps to support and sustain the program after being presented to them the same day.
EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmamuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo launched the program and cut the ribbon to the laboratory on behalf of the Government of Liberia.
Dr. Yarkpawolo underscored the importance of the EPA working with other institutions to protect the environment by enforcing environmental laws.
He said that effort led to the establishment of bachelor, postgraduate, and graduate programs at the UL to support the goals of providing quality tertiary education to Liberians.
"This is the EPA's way of supporting the UL in our capacity building with huge support coming from the people of and government of Canada," Dr. Yakpawolo acknowledged.
He assured the UL authorities of the EPA's continued collaboration and support to achieve the University's full mandate.
"Going forward, we expect this to continue and ... we are in touch with universities from Switzerland and other developing partners concerning the ideas of providing opportunities for knowledge sharing, students and faculty exchange programs which the UL is going to benefit," Dr. Yakpawolo assured.
The EPA boss pledged his agency's commitment to fostering more collaboration with the UL.
He further disclosed that the EPA is going to establish a national data center with support from the International Environmental Agency (IEA) in all parts of Liberia to enhance the process of gathering and reporting data locally and at the level of the IEA.
"These are all research academic programs that require us to continue to work with the UL so that [in] the end we will not have too many international consultants coming to Liberia," said Dr. Yarkpawolo.
Instead, he noted, more Liberian students and professionals will be going international to offer consultancy.
The two Co-Directors of MRV for Climate Action/NovaSpherer, Prof. Scott Muller and Prof. Lisa Marroquin expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the project by their Liberian counterparts.
In separate remarks, they expressed pleasure to partner with the EPA and the University of Liberia in this effort.
Prof. Muller said the launch of the postgraduate program and the dedication of the NUCAL laboratory are not donations.
However, he stated that it is a bilateral effort that is focused on implementation and collective action.
For her part, Prof. Morroquin thanked the EPA and the UL for showing immense interest in the project.
She pledged her expertise to support climate action in Liberia.
The House of Representatives Chairperson on Science and Technology, Hon. Sam P. Jallah, thanked NovaSphere, the EPA, and the UL on behalf of the National Legislature for launching the program.
He wants the Government of Liberia to give more support to Liberian students as a means of empowering them to excel.
Rep. Jallah particularly raised concern over the recent pronouncement of the launch of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Program initiated by the President of Liberia, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Sr., for 250 Liberian students.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"I will be too happy that the recruitment of those 250 persons that are going to be doing the STEM program will start from the University of Liberia," Rep. Jallah advised.
As head of the Committee on Science and Technology, he disclosed that most of his energies will be directed to support science and technology in Liberia.
Highlighting details of the curriculum, the Dean of the Thomas J. R. Faulkner College of Science and Technology at the University of Liberia and Pilot Lead of the Project, Dr. Charles Ansumana, said the programs are designed to bridge the skill gap that exists in attaining climate action goals in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the Evergreen Roadmap.
"So, we are very happy because we have achieved some of the objectives for which the curriculum was developed, including the development of an MRV for climate action curriculum, laboratory, and we are also on the verge of establishing an electronic library, e-library for students and faculty," Dr. Ansumana indicated.
The EPA and NovaSphere, a Canadian Corporation responsible for the project "Bilateral Support for Nationally Determined Contributions," are partnering with the University of Liberia.
