UB’s 2nd Annual Research Conference

While the UB campus in Belmopan was abuzz with environmentalists, in the city the university was holding the second annual Research Conference on the investigative work of the faculty and students. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports from the Radisson.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Student researchers from the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences at the University of Belize gathered this morning at the Radisson where presentations were being made on a range of topics including the effect of crime on small businesses in Belize City, as well as the quality of service provided by the Accident & Emergency Department at the K.H.M.H.  The Second Annual Research Conference was a showcase of investigative work done throughout the academic year.  Student researcher Rasine Gillett outlined the importance of the exercise.

Rasine Gillett, Student Researcher, UB

Rasine Gillett

“This initiative and event is very important to UB students because of course if you are going to pursue further education, you’re going to need a research background. So learning from this and seeing others present and seeing the material they do, they can encourage you to want to continue research and also it gives us basically encouragement and gives us what else can we do so we can get better insights into the topics and of course discover new topics to research.”

According to Dr. John Morris, the keynote speaker at the gathering who spoke about the role and importance of research for development, the idea of fact-finding has not been emphasized adequately in the education system.

John Morris

Dr. John Morris, Keynote Speaker

“In this country, we have a very, very low or we are very poor when it comes to scientific analysis, we are very poor when it comes to understand the basic underlying realities of our lives—both in the physical and the social aspects. And so to see these students and the university engaged in developing research, it is great.”

Isani Cayetano

“In terms of what you’ve seen so far, what would you be most impressed with?”

Dr. John Morris

“Well I am impressed by the quality of the research that the students have conducted; I commend the teachers. I would like to emphasize however that research just for the sake of research si not all. We need to understand that when this type of work is done, what do we do with the results? Do we put them in shelves and let them linger there in the dust or do we take the results and apply them to the development needs of this country.”

Among other topics discussed is investment in BTL and whether or not purchasing shares in the government owned telephone company is a safe investment.  University provost Dr. Ismael Hoare says that the platform allows students to learn more and present on issues that affect our society.

Ismael Hoare

Dr. Ismael Hoare, Provost, UB

“It’s extremely important in that it allows for a public forum and a public place for us to be able to demonstrate the caliber and the quality of work that our students are capable of producing and to move away from the emotional discourse and to one that is founded on facts and studies and logical conclusions that are drawn from evidence in our studying in this case in the research that is conducted by our students. It is extremely important that we start somewhere and this is a prime example of how we are essentially grooming our students to embrace the culture of research and utilize that in their area of expertise.”

The conference concluded this afternoon with certificates being presented to participants. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.