Announcing Fellows Publication Launch and Panel Discussion on Climate Change Adaptation at the University of Rhode Island

The Fellows Program is excited to host a panel discussion and publication launch for a new edition of the GFDD publication series, Research and Ideas, on Thursday October 29, 2015, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston, Rhode Island. The publication, titled: Climate Change in the Dominican Republic: Coastal Resources and Communities, is co-authored by 2014 GFDD Fellows, Ms. Hilary Lohmann and Mr. Mat
Rosa, post graduate alumni in Marine Affairs at URI, who will be presenting on the panel.

The studies in the publication present an analysis of the adaptive capacity of individuals involved in various sectors of employment in three Dominican coastal communities, as well as the status of governance factors driving climate change adaptation planning for coastal resources in Santo Domingo.

The panel of experts present at the event will include Marc Jourdan, GFDD UN Representative, Mat Rosa and Hilary Lohmann, GFDD Research Fellows and co-authors of the publication, and Donald Robadue, Senior Coastal Manager of the Coastal Resources Center at URI.

About Mr. Mat Rosa
Mat Rosa is a social
scientist and entrepreneur from Rhode Island, with over a decade of experience in international development and natural resource governance throughout the U.S., Latin America, Caribbean and Southeast Asia. He participated in the Fellows Program from January to April of 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Politics from St. Anselm College, an MA in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island (URI), and has completed a Masters (MA) of Marine Affairs at URI.

About Ms. Hilary Lohmann
Hilary Lohmann’s love for adventure, travel and the environment led her to the field of international development. Hilary has an MA in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island and a BA in Animal Behavior and Spanish from Bucknell University. She has spent years working abroad, with dynamic experiences ranging from coastal resources conservation in Belize to teaching in Vietnam and anti-poaching efforts in
Zambia. These experiences cultivated a passion for humanitarian conservation. In the face of climate change and dwindling resource availability, Hilary’s work facilitates a more symbiotic and resilient relationship between the natural environment and the people who depend on it.

About Mr. Donald Robadue, PhD
Don joined CRC in 1977. His expertise is in policy analysis, strategy development, the design and management of local and
state-level coastal resources management programs in the United States and developing countries and national programs in developing countries. He currently works in Tanzania as a coastal planner, co-authored the new Coastal Climate Change Adaptation Guidebook, and is serving as an information specialist for the USAID-funded global BALANCED Project, which advocates an integrated approach to issues concerning population, health, and environment. Don helped develop Rhode Island’s
Marine Resources Development Plan and is conducting a GIS-based inventory of its economic waterfront. He was senior technical adviser to the USAID Mexico Conservation of Critical Ecosystems program and the Ecuador Coastal Resources Management program. Don is a senior trainer in CRC training courses in English and Spanish. He has a master’s degree in community planning, a bachelor’s in sociology and a PhD in information science.

About the
Fellows Program
The Fellows Program, an extension of the internship and academic exchange program InteRDom, developed in 2009 to respond to the desire of GFDD and Funglode to create a community of scholars that contributes to the Foundations’ growing body of research on matters of international concern that directly impact the Dominican Republic. The program complements the overall mission of GFDD and Funglode to promote academic exchange, generate
scholarship, and influence the creation of public policy related to economic and social development both at the national and international levels.

Through the Fellows Program, GFDD and Funglode seek to generate scholarship on issues at the forefront of the United Nations’ agenda in order to give voice to national and regional concerns and offer viable solutions to domestic and international challenges.

Date: Thursday,
October 29, 2015
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Location: Galanti Lounge, 3rd Floor of the University Library,
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881

Free event. Light refreshments will be provided.