Bibhya Sharma was born on November 29, 1970 in Fiji and he received his Masters and Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is currently a Professor of Applied Mathematics and Head of School of Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Physics at USP. He also served as Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching within the ex-Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment at USP since 2010- 2019. He is a researcher who has led both International and Pacific-based projects, and is a member of a number of professional mathematics societies and unions. Bibhya has published more than 150 articles and book chapters in the fields of Pacific science education, TLPs of higher education especially dealing with ICT, assistive technologies, RTI work in the Pacific, robot navigation and stability, and biologically inspired processes. He champions adaptive works, innovations and targeted interventions for higher education and sustainable economies.
University of the South Pacific’s Battle Against Bizarre Opponents in the Pacific
The impacts and seriousness of climate change currently stand all-time high globally and has the most severe impact in the Pacific. The recognition has brought numerous interventions and policies across the Pacific in all sectors and levels of governance. From raising awareness to sustainable actions and environmental management, there are many initiatives and innovative measures taken in the recent past and planned for the near future in collaboration with internal and external societies, institutions, and organizations. The higher education institutes in the Pacific are at the forefront of many interventions that in general involve innovative awareness to a wider segment of the societies which can include but not limited to activities such as focused competitions, hackathons, gamified and interactive resources and tools. In addition, there are high level policy meetings with academics, NGOs and government officials. The other major intervention comes in the shape of research studies, projects, pilots and prototypes many of which are funded externally and staged in collaboration with other organizations and institutions.
The presentation picks on the latter and highlights the major responses to climate change by the University of the South Pacific, one of the only two regional universities in the world. Through active participation in advocacy, community engagement, and ongoing strategic planning, USP aims to address the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change and leverage opportunities for positive change in Pacific communities. Major projects or outcomes related to USP’s climate change response are detailed with a focus on successful adaptation strategies and scalability through existing and new partnerships and collaborations. Then there are many other research and projects in action on a smaller scale but carry larger impacts for the region. These are also open for further collaboration and scaling.
The message from USP is clear, it stands tall to play a leading role in combating the effects of climate change, facilitating reversal of adverse effects, and empowering the new generations to understand climate change and net benefit of fundamental interventions, take an active part in advocating and raising awareness in their communities, and continue to find strategies to make our communities resilient to this well-known adversary which we call climate change.
