International Institute welcomes biodiversity, conservation guest this week

An international researcher and principal investigator of a major biodiversity and natural resource project supported by the U.S. Agency on International Development will be a guest this week at Mississippi State.

Sponsored by the university's International Institute in collaboration with campus-based Global Center for Aquatic Food Security, Dang Thuy Binh is visiting Tuesday-Thursday [Sept. 23-25].

While on campus, she will lead a Thursday [the 25th] program that explains her biodiversity and conservation research as it relates to the USAID-funded Conservation Genetics for Biodiversity and Resource Management in the Changing Mekong Delta project she directs.

The 3 p.m. lecture in the Colvard Student Union's third-floor Fowlkes Auditorium is open to all.

Stephen Cottrell, director of the Office of International Engagement, said Binh's work is particularly significant in light of the fact that increasing biodiversity hotspots pose threats to global food security.

MSU is an active contributor to several Feed the Future initiatives. Over his time at MSU, President Mark E. Keenum strongly has encouraged researchers at the land-grant institution to help address serious global challenges of hunger and malnutrition.

Binh holds a 2001 master's degree in marine science from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and a 2010 doctorate from the University of Bergen, Norway. She currently is senior researcher at the Institute for Biotechnology and Environment at Nha Trang University.

"Dr. Dang has 15 years' experience working in molecular ecology applied to fisheries research," said Cottrell, who recently completed a nine-month Fulbright fellowship in Vietnam to teach American regional studies and cultural awareness measurement.

For more information, contact Cottrell at 662-325-8460 or wec3@msstate.edu.

Allison Matthews | Public Affairs


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