Professor Louis F. Cassar, University of Malta's director of the Institute of Earth Systems, has been elected president of the Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes's Scientific Advisory Board, at the meeting of the governing board held recently in Bari. CIHEAM is the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.

The Scientific Advisory Board consists of a number of eminent scholars appointed for a period of four years by the Governing Board, selected from research and higher education institutions across the region. The Advisory Board guides the Governing Board on scientific and technical issues. Prior to his election as president, Prof. Cassar was already a member of this Board.

Malta is represented on the Governing Board by Professor Salvino Busuttil, who served as its president from 1998 to 2002. Dr Justin Zahra, director of Agriculture, is the Alternate Delegate.

 Professor Cassar is a landscape ecologist and environmental planner by training, with extensive Mediterranean-wide experience in aspects of environmental management, specifically biodiversity conservation.

Founded in 1962, CIHEAM is an intergovernmental organisation composed of 13 member states namely Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. It works to promote Mediterranean-wide cooperation in the fields of agriculture, food, fisheries and rural territories, through capacity development, research, diplomacy and political partnerships.