Guyana Research Park Development Project

A research project to design a site plan for a research park on the coast of Guyana. The park will support the study of local natural resources, ecosystems, and the impacts of climate change, and create educational opportunities to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in Guyana.

Undergraduate capstone by Kristophe Zephyrin

Executive Summary

The goal of this project was to design a site plan for a research park near the East Demerara Water Conservancy in Guyana. The park will support the study of local natural resources, ecosystems, the impacts of climate change, and create educational opportunities to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in Guyana. Postcolonial Guyana has faced and continues to face many challenges around economic development, maintaining effective flood infrastructure, and harnessing local leadership. With the added threat of climate change, communities are faced with the additional challenge of adapting development, infrastructure, and leadership in rapidly changing environments. Using semi-structured interviews with local experts and community members, including members of my family, I have identified four main problems that the proposed research park could help to address.

Problems & Objectives

First, STEM graduates in Guyana often leave to pursue careers in the Global North, particularly the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (2019. Ministry of Finance). This leaves communities with fewer people to aid in the development of the country. Second, flooding in urban and residential coastal areas has increased due to poor maintenance of canals that are meant to move water away from these areas. There is also an outdated and inefficient flood water pump infrastructure that requires more frequent maintenance(DRR team Guyana 2016).The third critical issue that the research park aims to address is the need to increase high quality STEM education for all types of learners. This would help to create the intellectual foundation needed for the next generation of scientists and engineers in Guyana, including those who can contribute to community-led development. The fourth and final critical issue that the center aims to address is lack of local 1) knowledge, such as expertise in hydrology, sustainable design, and appropriate research methodology; 2) data, such as ecosystem data -for example, how does sugarcane farming impact the local ecosystem?; and 3) tools, such as indoor and outdoor laboratories, and potentially a lack of research equipment (Ministry of Finance, 2019).The lack of these resources is critically linked to the first three problems and having such resources could help to retain STEM graduates, provide critical knowledge needed to address flood management, and create opportunities for high impact STEM education. To design this park, I focused on four objectives that would allow for an effective design in this unique remote coastal environment. The first objective was to develop an understanding of the roles of engineers and scientists in Guyana, and how they interact with the community. By examining the role of professional and academic engineers and scientists, my goal was to understand the context where these people work, and the opportunities that are currently available in Guyana. The second objective was to investigate existing research parks around the world to understand how these spaces operate and develop the best usage for the land available. By researching parks from around the world, my goal was to understand steps that each park took during the beginning stages and implementation process, as well as the history, usage, and any contestation or conflict associated with these of research parks. I applied this knowledge to the site area selected in Guyana to create a usable park for the community and to help identify potential sources of conflict. The third objective was to understand the current conditions of the site and its current uses. The last objective was to develop plans for the site to aid future development of the site. At the completion of this research project, the site plan will be evaluated by local community groups, organizations, and stakeholders to get feedback from the key constituencies who provided input in earlier phases of the project.

Methods

To collect data, I used both primary and secondary sources, including semi-structured interviews, maps, GIS data, academic scholarship, and governmental and non-governmental organization reports focused on other local infrastructure development projects. I conducted interviews with 4 number of people in the areas of education, research, engineering in Guyana, and site conditions. Each interview candidate was asked a set of questions depending on their background to make sure the information given was deeper than what could be found through an internet search. To analyze data, interviews were transcribed, and themes were developed to aid in creating deliverables for the next steps in development. Themes included: education; science, technology, engineering and math culture; research, and a miscellaneous category for themes that arose through discussions. Some of the specific infrastructure development reports that influenced research were: the DRR-Team Mission Report, which documented the Dutch government’s research into the drainage infrastructure in Georgetown, and the surrounding area; Managing Flood Risk in Guyana-The Conservancy Adaptation Project, a study meant to “reduce the likelihood of catastrophic flooding along Guyana’s low lying coastal areas”; and the Water Resources Assessment of Guyana by the US Army Corps of Engineers. I preformed research on five different parks that aim to achieve similar goals of my proposed development. The parks I researched were the Houston Arboretum, Tampines Eco green, Jurong Lake Gardens, Iguaçu National Park, and Kruger National Park. Each of these parks aim to educate the public about their natural environment in different ways. To analyze the research park data, I compared them thematically using a chart tabulated for effective comparisons.

Findings & Results

From my research I found that multi-use, modular amenities (chapter 4.2.1) are effective during the beginning stages of developing a research park. With this information I created a custom list of amenities for the specific site that aid in achieving its goal of developing a park will support the study of local natural resources, ecosystems, the impacts of climate change, and create educational opportunities to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in Guyana. To make sure that the park can be used to add to and enhance high impact STEM education opportunities for students of multiple age groups, I developed an educational plan that lists out relevant guidelines for educational activities at the park, as well as a short list of example activities. Lastly, I developed a conceptual site plan that maps out the different amenities for the site, as well as existing conditions that would affect development on the site. These deliverables will be evaluated by different stakeholders of the research park. Long term, my goal is for these site plans to be further developed via academic research projects with students and faculty from the University of Guyana. Then, the students, faculty, community members, NGOs, and STEM professionals will provide input and expertise and identify funding sources for these research projects in order to physically develop a research park that can accomplish the objectives identified through this Master Qualifying Project

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This project was developed with advice from Dr. Dawn Fox from the University of Guyana, Prof Elizabeth Stoddard, and Prof Susan LePage.