Manuel Suárez Lastra is appointed as general director of Science Dissemination of UNAM

The rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas, appointed Manuel Suárez Lastra as the new General Director of Science Dissemination (DGDC) of the highest educational institution.

Upon taking office, the coordinator of Scientific Research, Soledad Funes Argüello, assured that all of the DGDC’s activities focus on fostering vocations and promoting a critical vision of science that allows informed decisions to be made.

In the “Jorge Flores Valdés” auditorium of Universum, UNAM Science Museum, the official also urged the DGDC community to recognize their strengths in working as a team, and emphasized the need for closer ties between the entities. academic and other departments within the National University.

For his part, Suárez Lastra pointed out that the dissemination of science is a bridge to an informed and critical future, where science and education are pillars of sustainable and equitable development, and added that scientific dissemination is, in addition, a way in which the public university is accountable to the society that supports it and, therefore, is an obligation that cannot be minimized.

Likewise, he stated that, in these times of accelerated change and global challenges, scientific dissemination becomes an even more powerful tool. “It offers us the opportunity to inspire, educate, and empower new generations, fostering a culture of curiosity, respect for knowledge, and social responsibility. It is our responsibility to ensure that science is accessible, understandable and relevant to everyone.”

Manuel Suárez Lastra has a degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the Acatlán Faculty of Higher Studies. He has a master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He also has a doctorate in Geography from UNAM. He recently served as director of the UNAM Institute of Geography. Within his career in the dissemination of science, the organization of the Geópolis Festival stands out, an event focused on geography and earth sciences aimed at promoting scientific vocations in these areas, as well as the conduct of the series “Anthropocene in Mexico . Stories of evolution, biodiversity and climate change”, produced by TV UNAM and Claro Video.