Seven dignitaries from five African institutes attended a workshop last month at U.Va. to develop a comprehensive plan for research and education collaborations with U.Va.'s Global Environmental Change Program in the Department of Environmental Sciences. The project is an outgrowth of the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative, an international effort initiated by U.Va. to study land-atmosphere interactions in southern Africa. The University has been conducting research in Africa for many years; the workshop helped participating institutions strengthen their bonds and discuss ways to seek new funding sources together.

Participants at the workshop (pictured from left to right) included: U.Va. assistant professor Bob Swap; Dean of Sciences Francesco Viera, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique; professor Harold Annegarn, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Gene Block, U.Va. vice president for research and public service; Hank Shugart, W.W. Corcoran Professor of Environmental Sciences and director of U.Va.'s Global Environmental Change Program; professor Bane Marjanovic, University of the Witwatersrand; Jeffrey Plank, U.Va. assistant vice president for research; Lars Ramberg, director of the Okavango Research Center, Maun, Botswana; Steven Macko, U.Va. professor of environmental sciences; and professor Pauline Opha Dube, University of Botswana.

Others who also participated but do not appear here were Melvyn P. Leffler, U.Va. dean of Arts & Sciences; William Quandt, U.Va. vice provost for international affairs; several other members of the Department of Environmental Sciences; Dean of Environmental Sciences Omara-Ojunga, University of Venda, South Africa; and Makinde, dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Venda.