September 3, 2003

South African Scholar To Give International HIV Colloquium
On Sept. 11, Professor Leickness Simbayi of the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa will present a lecture in the CHIP/ISI HIV International Colloquium Series. His talk, "The Nelson Mandela/HSRC Study of HIV/AIDS: South African National HIV/AIDS Prevalence, Behavioral Risk, and Mass Media Household Survey," will begin at 3 p.m., in the main colloquium room of the CHIP Research Center, 2006 Hillside Road.

Simbayi is a research director in charge of behavioral and social aspects of HIV/AIDS in the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa based in Cape Town. From 1998 to 1999, he served as principal investigator for a large national project on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that was commissioned by the Department of Health of South Africa.

In 2002, he served as project scientific director for the Nelson Mandela/ Human Sciences Research Council study of HIV/AIDS in South Africa funded by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. He has also served as co- principal investigator for HIV/AIDS projects funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Wisconsin Medical College, and Measure Evaluation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Simbayi's current research interests include STDs, HIV/AIDS, stress and burnout, substance abuse, and traditional healing. He is currently running research projects on voluntary counseling and testing, orphaned and vulnerable children, stigma, and substance abuse.

For more information, contact Zoe Strickler at: The Center for Health/HIV Intervention and Prevention, Storrs, CT 06269-1020, e-mail: strickle@uconnvm.uconn.edu, or call 860.486.5060 or 860.486.4529.

Wildlife Official To Speak On Colleges' Environmental Efforts
"Greening the Campus: How Universities are Improving Environmental Performance and Sustainability," will be the topic of a presentation by Julian Keniry, director of youth and campus programs of the National Wildlife Federation on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in the Dodd Center's Konover Auditorium, beginning at 4 p.m. The talk is part of this year's Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature and the Environment. Admission is free.

The National Wildlife Federation offers a Campus Ecology Recognition certificate when projects initiated on campuses meet tangible and measurable conservation goals.

Current projects on campuses across America range from an inventory of plants to making campus furniture from wood that is sustainably harvested from a university forest. Some students are studying ways to reduce campus emissions of "greenhouse gases," which contribute to global climate change. Other projects have effectively used plants and microorganisms to clean a building's wastewater and make biodiesel fuel for test vehicles on campus to increase awareness of energy alternatives.

Keniry, who is responsible for NWF's Campus Ecology and Internship program, has written a number of publications, serves on the Board of the Institute for Conservation Leadership, is a volunteer with the United Nations, and has served as a member of the "Greening of the White House" task force and as an advisor to the EPA.