Speakers during the Caribbean Clean Energy Technology Symposium in St. Thomas March 25 included Dr. David Ince, an instructor at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Dr. Ruth Potopsingh, associate vice president of sustainable technology at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK

When United States President Barack Obama visited Jamaica last week for a conference with Caricom states, he urged the region to “act now” to combat climate change and the rising costs of fossil fuels by transitioning to green energy.

 

Speakers during the Caribbean Clean Energy Technology Symposium in St. Thomas March 25 included Dr. David Ince, an instructor at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Dr. Ruth Potopsingh, associate vice president of sustainable technology at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK
Some leaders have been brainstorming ways to do just that.

Two weeks earlier, a group of stakeholders from around the Caribbean met at the Caribbean Clean Energy Technology Symposium in St. Thomas.

Attendees, who included representatives from the Virgin Islands, said they face many challenges transitioning to green energy, but one of the most serious is finding, training and retaining the workers the budding industry needs.

Though steps have been taken to provide the requisite education in the region, attendees said much more needs to be done.

The issue can’t be solved by educators alone, said Karissa Poszywak, state science, technology, engineering, math director for the United States VI Education Department.

“We need to know what people in businesses are doing so that we can make connections to [educational] standards,” Ms. Poszywak said during the March 25 symposium.

Especially in small island communities, she argued, “strategic alliances” are vital to ensuring that students meet mentors, gain hands-on experience, and finish their secondary education with the critical thinking skills and basic science, technology, engineering and math understanding they’ll need to participate in the renewable energy workforce.

See the April 16, 2015 edition for full coverage.

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