A Bermudian scientist will lead a sustainability course on the island in May.

Justin McAlister, the director of environmental studies at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, said 14 students have signed up for the Sustainability and Small Islands class.

According to Dr McAlister, the new course will examine how islands such as Bermuda use and generate energy compared with the United States.

Dr McAlister was born and raised in Ohio, but his mother, Felicia McAlister (née Ruberry), was born in Bermuda. He has Bermudian status.

The group will arrive on the island on May 25 and will stay in the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences dormitories.

Dr McAlister, who always wanted to lead a course on the island, said: “This is some place new. Our students are excited, as many of them never left the United States before.”

The class will visit several places, including the Tynes Bay Incinerator, Belco, the National Museum of Bermuda and Nonsuch Island, during their three weeks in Bermuda.

Kelly Wolfe-Bellin, the director of biology laboratories at Holy Cross, will co-lead the course with Dr McAlister and is looking forward to her first trip to Bermuda.

Dr McAlister earned a master of science degree in biological and marine sciences from the University of South Carolina Columbia and a PhD in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.