Fresno State hosts drought summit

Fresno State is hosting a drought summit on Friday that brings together 20 participants to brainstorm a plan to tackle the drought, the university said.

The focus of the summit is for regional faculty, researchers and administrators to develop an action plan for managing water, drought and climate variability in the San Joaquin Valley, spokesman Tom Uribes said. The summit will convene at the Smittcamp Alumni House on campus, near Maple and Shaw avenues.

Representatives from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California State University, Bakersfield, and the University of California at Merced also will attend, Uribes said. A United Nations Development Program scholar and a sociologist from Durham University in England will participate remotely.

University provost Lynnette Zelezny, who has expertise in environmental psychology, convened the summit. She said the drought presents challenges so complex for the Valley that individual institutions and scholars must work together and take action.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Fresno State hosts drought summit."