Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh joined us on Saturday, September 9 to discuss “Building sustainable human and natural communities in Palestine and globally.”

Founder and volunteer director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) at Bethlehem University, Mazin Qumsiyeh was born in the Shepherds’ Field near Bethlehem to a Christian family. He previously taught at several U.S. universities including Tennessee, Duke and Yale. He has published over 170 scientific papers, over 30 book chapters, hundreds of articles, and several books (including “Sharing the Land of Canaan” and “Popular Resistance in Palestine”) on topics ranging from cultural heritage to human rights to biodiversity conservation to cancer.

He oversaw a number of projects ranging from formulating the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to empowerment projects with farmers, women, and children that benefitted tens of thousands. He is laureate of the Paul K. Feyerabend Foundation award, the Takreem award among others. Learn more about his work and support his activities at: http://qumsiyeh.org and http://palestinenature.org/.

Qumsiyeh and his team believe in value of diversity (human diversity and biological diversity). The motto of the institution he founded is RESPECT: self respect (empowerment), respect for others (different religions, ethnicities, backgrounds etc), and respect for nature.