UOG's New Masters Degree Focuses on Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
UOG's New Masters Degree Focuses on Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
UOG's New Masters Degree Focuses on Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
2/19/2018
The University of Guam announces a new graduate program for Sustainable Agriculture,
Food, and Natural Resources (SAFNR) starting in Fall/Fanu’uchanan 2017. The new graduate
program offers a master’s degree in Food & Nutrition or Sustainable Agriculture &
Natural Resources.
Additionally, working professionals can obtain a graduate certificate in one of five
areas: Island Sustainability, International Agriculture, Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Tropical Horticulture, or Food and Nutrition. All tracks and certificates focus on
various aspects, appropriate to the Western Pacific Region, of food systems and sustainability
for community health and resource conservation.
The SAFNR Program was developed in response to community stakeholders’ desires. UOG's
College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS) conducted a series of surveys and listening
sessions with community partners, UOG students, and alumni from 2010 to 2016. Stakeholders
expressed a desire for advanced training in island and community sustainability with
a focus on local and regional issues. CNAS faculty responded.
The SAFNR Program's mission is “to develop leaders and professionals to create and
promote healthy living, sustainable agriculture production, and natural resource management
by addressing challenges of food systems, nutrition, human health, energy security,
and climate change.”
Program vice-chair Dr. Andrea L. Blas states, “We have a diverse faculty with funded
grant projects ranging from cardio-metabolic disease among Pacific Islanders due to
obesity to system development for livestock feed production from restaurant waste
in order to reduce the amount of trash sent to Guam’s sole landfill.”
SAFNR students can take courses in Micronesian Studies, Community Health, Agriculture,
and Environmental Science. Brand new courses specifically for SAFNR include: Agro-ecology
for Island Sustainability, Sustainable Animal Production Systems, Plant Nutrition
and Soil Fertility, Advances in Sustainable Aquaculture, Advanced Food Safety, and
Nutritional Epidemiology. And additional courses are in development from faculty
with specialties in Obesity Prevention, Plant Protection, and Pacific Islands Climate
Science.
Interested individuals should contact SAFNR program chair, Dr. Mohammad H. Golabi,
at golabi@triton.uog.edu or vice-chair, Dr. Andrea L. Blas, at ablas@triton.uog.edu
for more information. The SAFNR Admissions Committee is accepting applications for
candidates to the program. Current UOG graduate students can enroll in SAFNR courses
starting this fall. All other interested applicants should apply first to UOG Graduate
School. (See the UOG Graduate Bulletin for application requirements.)
To learn more about UOG College of Natural and Applied Sciences, see cnas-re.uog.edu.