A climate change expert says that it is one of the most complex problems to solve and that "diversity is the way to do it"

Bring together experts and form interdisciplinary teams; Highlight the importance of education as a training tool; Do things "step by step" and to find people who, "more than shout that change is needed, improve the way in which the focus shift on the problem is implemented".

These are some of the definitions that gave him exclusively to Infobae Robert Pomeroy, an American chemist specializing in biofuels and climate change who he was in Argentina training teachers in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires.

For this man, who teaches at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), the key is to: "take innovations out of the laboratory and share them with society".

In addition, he emphasizes the value of education and repeats a criticism of the American university system: "It is essential to educate students to understand what is happening: More and more people have less access to education in the United States. Good training is the key to everything. I have had many opportunities in my life that have allowed me to educate, today young people have to go into debt to study. and they are worried and worried because they owe money, they waste time and they do not know if tomorrow they will be able to get a good job to find him and make their career, "he said. Explain.

"It may be that in 15 or 20 years, what they do today is no longer the same as in the future, educated people can change and retrain," he said. he added, as he prepares for a new conference at the Leloir Institute, the conference's headquarters. experience with teachers organized by the Amgem Foundation and the Institute of the Americas.

Pomeroy has specialized in recent years in the development of biofuels from microalgae that breed in extreme environments,like water that no one would consume and uninhabitable land. "You can not say that it's competing with food, but it's my contribution, maybe it's a bit slow for the changes needed, nobody will buy a fuel that costs twice as much as traditional fuel. We have to build bridges to make this possible, "he said.

Pomeroy says his greatest legacy is training and his work with students: "I decided that the university would be my social project. So I teach biodiesel to guys every week. I'm trying to learn it well so that they can teach it. Next week, for example, they will have an exchange with hundreds and hundreds of people. This knowledge is multiplied ", explains the scientist.

It refers to the annual meeting taking place at Petco Park, a huge baseball stadium in San Diego that serves as a theater for children's science projects. "Some 25,000 people come together and enjoy what kids show they've learned, boys do it, we turn students into teachers," proudly recounts the training given to students from 14 to 18 years old. years.

Then, the most relevant fragments of the interview that Pomeroy gave to Infobae.

How is climate change treated?

– I think it is very difficult to solve the problem in this world and that problems of this type must be solved by people with very different perspectives. I think it's thanks to the diversity that we can get there. When I talk about diversity, I'm not talking only about ethnic difference, I'm talking about diversity in the chemistry department, in the physics department. What I like about UCSD, is that they really believe in innovation and research, that they encourage and invest it. For example, I have participated in several different initiatives with oceanographers, engineers and mathematicians, biologists, all as part of a large team tasked with solving problems. I think that's the great contribution of science.

– I think heavy rock moves every day a little. It's not about doing what needs to be done, but about what we can do. I am very privileged and I can choose. I can live near the university, my carbon footprint is half of the majority. People waste a lot of time on public transport or by car, but this is due to poor planning of cities. People do not change their behavior and habits at a very drastic rate. I work for these changes to become reality; Things must not only be designed as needed, but also be used.

– Do we have time to do it?

-I think the only way forward is one step at a time, maybe my contribution is a bit slow but I still wonder how we eat an elephant and the answer is a mouthful at a time You do not can not swallow an entire elephant. There are initiatives that have something very ambitious and that sometimes seem to want to swallow the elephant. Not only must I convince the public that he must change something, but I must show him how to do it.