The Ambassador of Italy, Sergio Barbanti, and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Neil Wigan, visited the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR) on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The two ambassadors were received by Professor Noam Weisbrod, the BIDR Director, and were given a Sede Boqer campus tour. This visit was part of the UK and Italy's preparation for the upcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) that the two countries will co-host.
in the photo left to right: The Ambassador of Italy, Sergio Barbanti and his wife Laetizia Maraini, Neil Wigan, British Ambassador and his wife, Yael Wigan
Prof. Weisbrod briefed the ambassadors on studies conducted at the BIDR on desertification, water scarcity, desert agriculture, renewable energy, ecosystem dynamics, dryland sustainability, and climate change. They also met with Prof. Shai Arnon from the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research and Prof. Naftali Lazarovitch from the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands. They described and demonstrated their research on microplastics transport in rivers and streams and vineyards in deserts, respectively.
Photographer: Shay Shmueli
