Montana State University Billings professors Susan Gilbertz, Ph.D., and Rodrigo Lobo, Ph.D., will be at the forefront of a three-day international sustainability research conference in Villa Nova de Gaia in Portugal, next week. MSU Billings is the only U.S. higher education institution participating in the conference.
The Multidimensional Sustainability Congress (conference) will take place at the Polytechnic Superior Institute of Gaia, where 58 higher education institutions from 15 countries will participate. The purpose of the conference is to update the international community on recent sustainability research themes and to foster multidimensional views of sustainability agendas.
Gilbertz, professor of geography, program chair for MSUB’s Environmental Studies program, and associate dean of the College of Business, is the conference keynote speaker due to her reputation, credibility, and research in the sustainability arena. She recently published a book on the Yellowstone River Valley, which highlights the economic, social, and environmental impacts of sustainability and the unforeseen threats.
Gilbertz was also the principal investigator for the Yellowstone Cultural Inventory project in 2006, 2012, and 2018. She oversaw hundreds of interviews with individuals living near the Yellowstone River. Many of those interviews are now archived with the Western Heritage Center in Billings, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C. She has also studied how local communities influence development along the upper Yellowstone, the Madison, and the Big Hole Rivers of Montana. Additionally, Gilbertz has researched the superfund cleanup at Milltown, and has studied water quality and community perceptions of risk to water resources in the Bakken area of Eastern Montana.
Lobo is a professor of management, teaching strategy and entrepreneurship at MSUB’s College of Business. He is a member of the conference scientific committee. This committee selects submissions for inclusion in the conference. All submissions are peer-reviewed and undergo an intense vetting process. Individuals from all backgrounds can submit research to the conference, including scholars, graduate students, faculty, governmental agencies, and policymakers. Lobo brings 30 years of senior-level international corporate and entrepreneurial experience from Accenture and Coastal Training Technologies, acquired by DuPont. He was also co-owner and Executive Director of Tecnodata Educacional, an independent educational publishing company, and Tese Technology, a geo-technologies company, both based in Brazil. Lobo has worked in more than 20 countries and has lived in Brazil, England, Spain, Argentina, and the United States. He is also the managing editor of the International Journal of Innovation Science, from Emerald Publishing, a British scientific journal, and spearheads student capstone projects where students work directly with the local business community to develop their business strategic plans. In addition, discussions are underway for Lobo and his students to potentially work with a major global engineering company to develop a plan to implement the new ISO 56002 innovation management standards in one of their subsidiaries.
For Gilbertz, Portugal is the fifteenth country where she has taught, conducted research, or presented professionally. Gilbertz shares that this conference will be a great way to develop new connections and partnerships. “When presenting at large international conferences, one’s work is suddenly positioned among other approaches, and it forces you to reimagine your own work from a fresh perspective. It lets you take a step back from your own work and see the larger picture.” Lobo adds the fact that MSU Billings has double representation and giving the keynote address at this conference is an important distinction for MSU Billings. “This is a door that just opened, and MSU Billings has the whole path ahead to explore. It is fantastic that MSU Billings has the type of open mindset to be involved in these important events and allows greater opportunities for our students and elevates the reputation of MSU Billings.”
Gilbertz mentions that Lobo is the one who made this opportunity happen. “When he came to MSU Billings, he brought his knowledge base with him and had the foresight to include us in this great opportunity,” she said. “We are lucky he decided to be part of MSU Billings.”
MSU Billings is currently in discussions with a few international higher education institutions to develop partnerships which would include additional student and faculty exchange and research opportunities. Lobo adds that Montana is perceived as an exotic place by the international community, with its national parks, the unique and beautiful landscapes and geography, etc., and they want to know more.
Learn more about MSUB’s College of Business programs and their international accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB).
Original source can be found here.
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