Events

Arlen Hastings participated in the 27th TWAS General Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda on November 14-17, 2016.

Members of the AMSEN and RISE-AFNNET nodes at the University of Nairobi attended a networking dinner with SIG Program Manager Sarah Rich at Mash Park Hotel in Nairobi on November 10, 2016.

RISE-AFNNET MSc graduate Dr. Johnson Nasimolo, PhD student at University of Nairobi and USDA Faculty Exchange Fellow at Michigan State University, visited and attended meetings at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, and University of Pennsylvania on October 25-28, 2016.

Sarah Rich, SABINA graduate Dr. Benjamin Kumwenda, and WIO-RISE graduate Ms. Sophie Randriamahefasoa spoke at Planet Earth Institute's #ScienceAfrica UnConference, held in London on September 14, 2016.

SIG held the final Carnegie-IAS RISE meeting on April 19-22, 2016 at the Hilton Nairobi, Kenya.

Sarah Rich participated in the Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Global Gathering in Dakar, Senegal from March 8-10, 2016. Four RISE students represented their countries and the program at this event; read more here.

RISE-AFNNET PhD graduate Dr. Faith Mabiki — currently Senior Lecturer at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania — and RISE-AFNNET SUA Node Coordinator Prof. Robinson Mdegela made presentations at Konnect2Africa's Pioneering STEM in Africa Summit, held at the Royal Society in London on December 3-4, 2015.

Arlen Hastings participated in the 26th TWAS General Meeting in Vienna, Austria from November 17-21, 2015.

Arlen Hastings and Sarah Rich created and spoke at New Perspectives: IAS and the Developing World, Simons Hall, Institute for Advanced Study, November 10, 2015. Phillip Griffiths also spoke at the event.

Arlen Hastings and Sarah Rich traveled to University of Michigan on September 15-16, 2015 for meetings with Dr. Nkem Khumbah, Executive Curator of the Next Einstein Forum (NEF).

Prof. Kiama Gitahi (RISE-AFNNET Node Coordinator, University of Nairobi) represented RISE at the launch of the Alliance for Accelerating Science in Africa (AESA) in Nairobi, Kenya on September 10, 2015.

Leila Dougan traveled to Kampala, Uganda from August 31–September 4, 2015 to conduct video interviews of RISE scientists based at Makerere University.

Arlen Hastings and Sarah Rich presented on RISE at the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit Expo on August 4 from 2:00-4:30 p.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC.

Alan Anderson travelled to Tanzania from July 4-14, 2015. He met with and interviewed RISE staff, students, and graduates based at the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS-UDSM) in Zanzibar, University of Dodoma, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Morogoro, and University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

Sarah Rich, AMSEN PhD student Gloria Hlongwane, SABINA PhD student Liberata Mwita, and AMSEN graduate Dr. John Mwero traveled to London to speak at the Planet Earth Institute #scienceAfrica UnConference on July 21, 2015: "Africa’s scientific independence: No more business as usual." Handouts from the RISE events: workshop & private, high-level sponsored lunch.

Arlen Hastings and Sarah Rich represented SIG at COREViP 2015, Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda, June 2-5, 2015.

RISE-SSAWRN graduates Drs. Moseki R. Motsholapheko and Paul K. Mensah were Duke University Spring 2015 Africa Initiative Visiting Scholars. They resided at Duke from March 22 to May 21, 2015. Drs. Motsholapheko and Mensah visited Princeton University, the Institute for Advanced Study, and Rutgers University from May 6-10.

Dr. Kétévi Assamagan of Brookhaven National Laboratory gave a talk at Princeton University on April 24, 2015 on the Biennial African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications.

Arlen Hastings and Sarah Rich presented on RISE at Working with Africa, Differently on Friday, April 10 at the Princeton Theological Seminary Library in Princeton, NJ. The forum showcased four area organizations (Friends of the Soko Fund, GAIA at Trinity, Science Initiative Group at IAS, and Princeton in Africa) that are taking creative approaches to promoting African economic, scientific and social development.

Freelance journalist Leila Dougan travelled to Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa from April 6-10, 2015 to conduct video interviews of RISE scientists based at University of the Witwatersrand and University of Pretoria.

Sarah Rich and Arlen Hastings presented on RISE at the 2015 Conference of the National Society of Black Physicists, "Re-Visioning the Future of Scientific Leadership," which was held at the Hilton Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD on February 25-28, 2015.

RISE-AFNNET PhD student Joelia Nasaka (Visiting Researcher at Mississippi State University, September–December 2014) visited the Institute for Advanced Study (SIG HQ), Princeton University, and Rutgers University from November 18-21.

Program Associate Sarah Rich and RISE-AFNNET PhD student Joelia Nasaka presented on RISE at Princeton University Program in African Studies Indaba Breakfast Series on November 19. Sarah's presentation can be found here and Joelia's here.

SIG worked closely with the African Development Bank to plan the 2nd Africa STI Forum, which took place 14-17 October 2014 in Rabat, Morocco. SIG Chairman Phillip Griffiths, SIG Board Member Mohamed Hassan, RISE-AMSEN Academic Director Lesley Cornish, RISE-AFNNET University of Nairobi Node Coordinator Kiama Gitahi, RISE-SABINA PhD graduate Justin Omolo, AMMSI North Africa Regional Coordinator Nouzha El Yacoubi, SIG Executive Director Arlen Hastings, and SIG Program Associate Sarah Rich attended and spoke at the Forum on behalf of SIG/RISE. SIG celebrated its new partnership with the AfDB at the Pre-Forum on 14 October.

RISE-SABINA PhD student Pelly Malebe represented RISE at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics 50th Anniversary Conference, 6-9 October 2014.

Sarah Rich made a networking trip to the London area at the end of September 2014 to meet with current partners: Planet Earth Institute (PEI) and SciDev.Net, and potential future partners: the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading and the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich.

From September 8-16, 2014, SIG Editorial Consultant Alan Anderson and Sarah Rich met with, interviewed, and filmed RISE (AMSEN, SABINA, and SSAWRN) node leaders, staff, and students at the Okavango Research Institute in Maun, Botswana, the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa.

SIG attended the UN event: "Contributions of North-South, South-South, Triangular Cooperation, and ICT for Development to the Implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda," May 21-22.

Inaugural RISE PhD graduate and current Duke Africa Initiative Visiting Scholar, Justin Omolo, visited the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University from May 8-10. Sarah Rich and Justin Omolo also met with James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, at his New York City residence.