Member institutions presented updates of ongoing programs which provide scientists and students with opportunities to play a vital role in the Middle East peace process by virtue of their collaboration. In a rich exchange of information, IALC promotes the sharing of scientific expertise and exploration. IALC research programs have educated scientists from the United States, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and other arid regions about critical land management issues. Many Middle Eastern nations have more than 2000 years of history in managing water shortages and maintaining fragile natural resources. Students are able to benefit and contribute through their participation in the IALC Peace Fellowship Program.
Select students live and work with scientists in countries outside their homeland.
Peace Fellowship participants gain a greater understanding of the importance of globalization as they work in new areas of the world. They also share their new knowledge with colleagues in their home institutions. Desertification and its consequences cross political boundaries. IALC ensures that solutions to many problems, such as water shortages, are explored and developed despite ongoing political conflict in the Middle East. Scientists from the Water Resources Center of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Yarmouk University in Jordan, and the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel are collaborating to solve the water crisis in Jordan.