The University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and the University of Alaska Fairbanks will be hosting the 7th Regional Island Sustainability Conference from April 11 to 15 at the Lotte Hotel Guam. The conference theme is “Islanded Communities” in reference to the dispersed and disconnected islands within the region.

The conference will feature several special speakers, including main keynote speaker, Tony de Brum, the former Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands who along with his legal team received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for their roles in bringing landmark lawsuits against nuclear-armed nations. 

Other keynote speakers include Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Dr. Scott Slovic, Professor and Chair of the University of Idaho’s English Department and one of the leading scholars in the field of “ecocriticism.”

Pre-Conference Workshops and activities will be held on April 11 and 12, with the main conference beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 13 and ending on April 14. De Brum will be the opening plenary speaker at 9 a.m. on April 13. Post Conference Activities on April 15 include an Aquifer tour and the Humatak Watershed Adventure.

"We are addressing the issues of sustainability faced by our island communities," UOG President Dr. Robert A. Underwood said. "UOG, through the Center for Island Sustainability, continues to work on these issues through research and collaboration.”

Underwood added, “This conference is a way that we can connect with students, community members, public servants and business leaders and get them thinking about and discussing sustainable practices.”

Registration for the conference and a full schedule are available online at www.uog.edu/cis2016. For more information, contact Elvie Tyler at (671) 971-6430 or Hazel Estrellado at (671) 735-2607 or email estrelladoh@triton.uog.edu.