CATIE’s Dr. Miley Gonzalez Visits DSU

DSU recently hosted a campus visit by Dr. Miley Gonzalez, the Deputy Director General of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) and also a former Under Secretary of Agriculture at the USDA.

Both DSU and CATIE have a signed memorandum of agreement for scientific collaboration, student faculty exchange and capacity building. Dr. Gonzalez’s Aug. 10 visit was to familiarize himself with DSU and its College of Agriculture and Related Sciences as well as to get a first-hand view of research facilities. He also met with DSU President Harry L. Williams and Provost Alton Thompson.

Within the framework of this agreement, DSU in partnership with Tuskegee University and Alabama A&M University have obtained a USDA Capacity Building Grant for students from all three universities to do study abroad programs at CATIE. It resulted in the first study-abroad experience in Costa Rica for DSU, as 16 of its students completed a rigorous program in the country from July 18 to Aug. 9.

Dr. Gonzalez expressed his appreciation for DSU’s relationship with CATIE and conveyed the importance of continuing this collaboration and developing other areas of interest by leveraging this study abroad model.  Additionally, he encouraged DSU to capitalize on the opportunities offered by CATIE’s network of regional sites to develop new and bigger projects in order to broaden the scope of international experiences for faculty and students.