The Texas A&M, TAMU-Q, American U Beirut MOU:
New Opportunities for Collaborative Research and Faculty Mobility
The next presentation in the Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Rabi Mohtar, the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, will be held on Monday, October 29, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. in the Frederick E. Giesecke Engineering Research Building (GERB) Third Floor Conference Room. The topic will be “The Texas A&M, TAMU-Q, American U Beirut MOU: New Opportunities for Collaborative Research and Faculty Mobility.”
Biography
Dr. Rabi Mohtar is the dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS) at the American University of Beirut.
Dr. Mohtar has published 120 peer-reviewed articles and has authored or co-authored 8 books and 30 book chapters. He has participated in or organized nearly 300 technical sessions, conferences, and workshops worldwide and has supervised more than 70 students (Ph.D. and M.Sc.), hosted more than 30 postdoctoral and visiting scholars, and worked in research and training in more than 15 countries.
He has received more than $14 million in funded research grants to address global resource challenges through the development of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus framework linking science to policy, the characterization of the soil-water medium using thermodynamic modeling; the efficacy of non-traditional water using physical-based methodologies; and applications for sustainable integrated water management, among others.
Dr. Mohtar coordinated the TAMU Water Energy Food Resource Nexus Initiative from 2015-2018. He was the 2015 Ven Te Chow Memorial Lecturer of the International Water Resources Association, a Distinguished Alumnus of the American University of Beirut (2013), the recipient of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Kishida International Award (2010), and was named a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers in 2018. He has also served on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils on Water Security and Climate Change (2009-2014) and is an advisor to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Momentum of Change, World Water Council, and the OCP Policy Center.
Abstract
Dr. Rabi Mohtar will provide an overview of the recently signed MOU between Texas A&M University, Texas A&M-Qatar, and the American University of Beirut. He will describe opportunities related to the MOU, particularly in the areas of research, field exchanges, and faculty mobility.
Professor Mohtar will present a new initiative, led by the American University of Beirut in the Middle East region, and which looks at the water-energy-food-health nexus (WEFRAH-AUB). Finally, Mohtar will present details of an opportunity, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, and involving a partnership with the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) and Earth University.
The project features institutionally-based workshops, faculty and student exchange, and learning networks expected to contribute to educational reform through a new participatory and service-learning model of integrated problem solving, entrepreneurship, environmental consciousness, ethical leadership and decision-making, and community and citizen engagement. The project will disseminate the Earth University model for universities in Latin America and North America.