Smith Warner International is proud to announce that two of our engineers have been awarded the 2022 Coastal Hazards, Risks, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree scholarship. Moesha Henry and Clenmar Rowe will each spend four semesters studying at three European universities. The program, funded by the European Union, rotates among The University of Cantabria in Spain, IHE Delft (Water Education), and The University of Algarve in Portugal. The academic programme trains graduate students in ocean and atmospheric sciences, climate change theory and its interdependencies, associated risks of climate change, risk theory and applied statistics, coastal hazards, modelling, and protection, and climate adaptation. The programme “seeks to help meet the world’s needs for qualified expertise on coastal engineering and management, set to increase with climate change.” In training this generation of coastal and climate science leaders, “…graduates will be well into their careers in 2040-2050, when the harm to coastal areas caused by climate-change induced sea-level rise is expected to start having its highest impact.”
Scholarship recipient Moesha Henry, currently working as a Junior Project Engineer, says, “There’s more large-scale information (on climate change), but it doesn’t apply to smaller territories like Jamaica. Climate change has started to affect us, but it’s really our offspring and future generations that will feel the impact. We want them to have a good quality life.”
This division of the Erasmus Mundus scholarships bestows only 20 awards to students from all over the world. Scholarship recipient Coastal/Civil Engineer Clenmar Rowe explains, “It’s going to be a very eye-opening experience to meet people from different countries, different religions, different outlooks and to learn from people who are not just fresh out of school but have their own experiences and solutions to different problems.”
The awards cover study and living expenses plus travel to and from the different universities where the participants will study. Both Moesha and Clenmar say they’re looking forward to studying in Europe and learning about the different cultures. “For me, a big thing is travelling and enjoying different experiences. I really want to experience the food in different countries in Europe as best that I can,” Moesha adds. In between semesters, the students will have time to explore and flexibility to decide. Clenmar explains, “There’s a summer break or internship. And where we decide to do our master’s thesis during the last semester is based solely on our discretion. We can decide to go to any of these three universities. Wherever we fell in love we can go back there.”
Congratulations Moesha and Clenmar! We feel like proud parents – sad to see you go but excited for the big adventure ahead!
