Sustainability Science Discussion Forums

What makes Sustainability Science Unique?

Sarah Banas — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:07:18 GMT

At the 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs in Chicago, one of the discussion threads included what differentiates sustainability science from established fields such as, say environmental science or industrial ecology. Comments included:

SS is about the methodology of thinking rather than didactic rote.
SS is based on content drawn from real situations in which choices are constrained.
SS looks at history of UN development conventions [Brundtland, Rio, Status of Women] and provides a framework for connecting them all.
Suggestions for litmus test for determining whether a course is/is not SS:
- SS focuses on both environment and development (not limited to developing countries)
- SS focuses on human-environment interactions
- SS includes moving knowledge into action
Many in SS focus too much on environment, not enough on economy; SS includes rethinking what economy is
SS must consider both global scale and human scale, not just one or the other.

What do you think?

Institutional Structures Supporting Sustainability Science Scholarship

Sarah Banas — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:49:28 GMT

A common challenge for university-based sustainability science programs is amply rewarding faculty for their work. The traditional publication-focused tenure structure often does not value working across departments or building partnerships with community organizations or NGOs. This space is dedicated to identifying strategies to reward faculty for this interdisciplinary teaching and research.

Some of the strategies identified at the 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs in Chicago included:

Writing interdisciplinary teaching into new faculty positions (often part of sustainability strategy)
Offering small grants for course development

Please share strategies that have worked at your institution.

Teaching Sustainability Science

Sarah Banas — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:39:36 GMT

Complimenting an earlier thread on what should be taught in a course / program on sustainability science, we'd also like your thoughts on how sustainability science might best be taught. At the 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs in Chicago, participants described courses that included:

interaction with practitioners and/or industry as a means of moving knowledge into action
case studies / inquiry-based learning
using capstone projects as a means of incorporating learnings in to a real-world problem
use of team teaching to incorporate various perspectives (ie. social and natural science)

What have you found to be effective means for teaching sustainability science?

Core Competencies for Sustainability Science

Sarah Banas — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:28:42 GMT

At the 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs in Chicago, participants noted the challenges of establishing curriculum for sustainability science without first establishing some commonly agreed upon core competencies for the field. These core competences might be the "oral exam questions" put before a would-be grad in this field and might include important theories, key literature, etc.

This discussion space will serve as the collection point for the community's thoughts on core competencies.

National Sustainable Design Expo, April 18 - 20, 2009

Sarah Banas — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:46:56 GMT

On April 18 – 20, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host one of the most exciting sustainability events of the year: the National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Expo hosts exhibitors who will display their sustainable programs or technologies and EPA’s 5th Annual P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) Award student design competition. More than 250 college and university students, and their faculty advisors from around the country, will exhibit their designs for a sustainable tomorrow and compete for the prestigious EPA P3 Award. You’ll see novel approaches to green design and buildings, innovative ideas for alternative energy and materials, new technologies for clean drinking water, and more.

The event is free and open to the public. The National Sustainable Design Expo featuring EPA’s P3 Award will take place near the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. between 3rd and 4th streets, NW. The event will be open on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Sunday, April 19, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Monday, April 20, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information about the Expo and the P3 Award competition, visit: www.epa.gov/P3 or contact Cynthia Nolt-Helms, EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research, at nolt-helms.cynthia@epa.gov or (202) 343-9693.

Your feedback welcome!

Sarah Banas — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:53:51 GMT

Attached are the discussion notes from "Setting Frameworks for Organizational Learning Toward Sustainability." What comments do you find most helpful? Do you see any cross-cutting themes that might be the beginnings of a "how-to" manual on creating living laboratories for sustainability?

Session 3:   Setting Frameworks for Organizational Learning Toward Sustainability (Didac Balas-Ferrer)
1.    How do we create the diverse and strong networks that underpin Living Laboratory initiatives?
Additional notes from table discussion
§    Inventory your initiatives
§    Undergo a visioning process
§    Partnerships emphasize collaboration – shared power & voice, dynamic, open education model
§    Create opportunities for networking (workshops, etc)
§    Think outside the box to identify and include stakeholders (beyond students, faculty, staff) such as community, business, etc
§    Build relationships with industry
§    Create communications systems or online networking courses
§    Create opportunities for real-world applied learning
§    Marketing successes to inform community, expand program—need visible, tangible results
§    Create incentives/reward programs
§    Engage community partners
§    Best practice exchange and access to institutional leadership to share
§    Foster student/alumni relations; build shared culture & identity / tactile experience
§    Web 2.0 – effective or fad?
§    Keep face to face meetings
§    Peer to Peer communication
§    Different departments have different cultures / languages
§    Ensure that diverse networks talk to and enhance each other
§    Constructivist approach--build from each person’s starting place
§    Have realist’s short-term goals even with visionary’s long-term goals

2.    How can we multiply the individual and institutional learning within these networks through feed-back loops of information?
Additional notes from table discussion
§    Exercise in a class (ie individual waste flow) scaled up (to institutional waste flow)
§    Student competition between dorms on electricity usage w/ elec. Meters
§    Networks have a life of their own
§    Send information back into the system
§    Don’t duplicate; look for collaboration
§    Website to share project ideas or a person to collect and design projects, with feedback by experts. Need:
o    Technical support
o    Faculty to faculty meetings to facilitate in a safe environment
§    Mutual learning requires that faculty shows more regard for staff’s knowledge and expertise
§    Dashboards for communication not just technical but social
§    How do you educate people who have no control over environment in much of their life (ex. NYC infrastructure)
§    Make the invisible visible
§    Strengthen social networks, not just tech / sci

3.    What is the added-value of involving students?
Additional notes from table discussion
§    Student retention; seeing students as seeding legacy
§    Integrating student knowledge into current practices / learning (“new blood” in institution
§    Experiential learning, inclusive teaching
4.    How do we get the institutional recognition of the value of these initiatives beyond quantitative results by considering the quality & innovation aspects?
Additional notes from table discussion
§    Being well-versed in sustainability issues will be a job skill for students
§    “What future generations are we leaving to the world?”
§    Tie LL into research impact, cost-saving goals of institution
§    Bring recognition to the institution; win sustainability contests
§    Outside validation (ie sustainability report card)

Your feedback welcome!

Sarah Banas — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:47:01 GMT

Attached are the discussion notes from "Engaging Appropriate Actors: Administration, Faculty, and Operations Staff and the Ideas that Unite Them." What comments do you find most helpful? Do you see any cross-cutting themes that might be the beginnings of a "how-to" manual on creating living laboratories for sustainability?

Session 1 Discussion Notes (in response to the following questions)
1.    What obstacles have you encountered when trying to engage Administration, Faculty, and Operations Staff in sustainability initiatives? Who is the most responsive? Who is the least responsive? How have you overcome the obstacles?
§    Operations staff approaching problems through “business as usual”. This was overcome by sending operations staff to the Ball State Conference.
§    Reluctance to idea of sustainability
§    Staff/faculty must do this “off the side of their desk”—not funded for LL work
§    Funding (for staff time and projects)
§    Cross-institutional communication that is required for LL is lacking
§    Troubles identifying goal of LL
§    Difficulty finding appropriate leadership (from existing administrators or “from the ranks”)
§    Tying in smaller efforts into a coordinated LL
§    Scaling up to make the whole campus a LL
§    Identifying barriers
§    The time necessary to create a movement
§    Disagreement over the definition of sustainability
§    State policy (ie purchasing policy) contradicting sustainability
§    Faculty ignorance about sustainability
§    Lack of reward system for interdisciplinary work
§    Media focusing on higher costs of sustainability, rather than savings potential
§    Continuity of funding and human resources
Additional notes from table discussion:
§    Overcoming silos/traditional campus boundaries
§    How to unify commitments from divergent groups
§    Conservative / resistant senior leadership. Overcome by developing community & student support, a diverse/expansive stakeholder group, continual engagement, permanent commitment & participation of deans and other leaders

2.    If you wanted to create a living laboratory for sustainability at your institution who would be most important? Administration, faculty, students or operations staff and why?
§    Students are a very important stakeholder—maybe the most important stakeholder—and shouldn’t be forgotten. They are the university’s opportunity to spread sustainability concepts beyond campus (as alumni)
§    Students may be an avenue for change—they have the ears of leadership
§    Vice President/Provost of operations and finance—provide link to broader planning objectives and lead facilities
§    All groups are equally important—everyone needs to “get it” for a LL to be successful
§    External community/city
§    The initiation to start a LL can come from anywhere, but all stakeholders must be engaged in finding the work.
§    Don’t forget to include trustees, board of advisors, alumni, voters (for public inst.)
Additional notes from table discussion:
§    Leadership at bottom and at top
§    Custodial staff often overlooked

3.    To bring about change and initiate new efforts (e.g., create living laboratories for sustainability) we need leaders. What skills/attributes are essential to be an effective change agent -- for sustainability?
§    Admin/higher-ups need to have patience and willingness to empower. Need to think big-picture/systematically, and be able to speak to all stakeholders
§    A true/deep commitment to sustainability to withstand obstacles that are bound to come up.
§    Facilitation skills, as stakeholder engagement often takes charettes, teach-ins
§    Leadership that nurtures
§    Must serve as bridge (between academics and operations, university and external stakeholders, etc)
§    Must be visionary, great at networking, strong communication skills, and perseverant
Additional notes from table discussion:
§    A doer
§    Politically astute

Your feedback welcome

Sarah Banas — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:46:14 GMT

Attached are the discussion notes from "Bridging Cultures: Reconciling Student Timescales and Needs with Campus Operations Plans ." What comments do you find most helpful? Do you see any cross-cutting themes that might be the beginnings of a "how-to" manual on creating living laboratories for sustainability?

Session 2 Discussion Notes (in response to the following questions)

   1. What are the key priorities of your individual organization - that set of values at the core of your "culture"? What are the priorities of your students? Is their compatibility?

    * Every silo has it’s own core values, but there is often no uniting principle
    * Students are there to learn and willing to adjust
    * Look at how to get value out of the process, rather than the project/product
    * Students want university to be value driven
    * Usually there is a lack of university priority on sustainability. When university expects little, they get little in return.
    * Students are most motivated when they see the relevance of what they are learning.
    * Campus priorities are found in documents.
    * Often cost effectiveness is important.
    * Sustainability can succeed to the extent that it is a bridge between cost effectiveness and “doing the right thing”
    * Education and scholarship is important to the university, as is engagement with the community; LL can help connect these priorities
    * Students focused on getting a degree

Additional notes from table discussion:

§         University: funding and image/marketing

§         Students: sustainability is expected

§         Energy conservation, use of alternative sources

§         Students: doing the “right thing”

§         Some compatibility between institution and students, but requires restructuring; limited by faculty and student time

o       Use core curriculum (freshman req., gen ed courses)

o       Create sustainability service / learning communities

o       Capstone project: research and apply sustainability

o       Remind student of key sustainability principles embedded in school’s mission

o       Engage students with community / larger world

   2. Do your faculty/staff "trust" your student's capabilities to deliver? Do you have some bridges to rebuild from past experiences? What can you do to help build credibility on all sides of the fence?

    * There is institutional trust, except perhaps in operations.
    * Brokers are key to catalyzing discussions between groups
    * Where there is trust, students outperform expectations, but mentoring is key.
    * The expectations of faculty/staff provide guidance to students—they will rise to the occasion.
    * Students expect quick and decisive action once they’ve made recommendation/completed project.
    * While there is usually lots of trust, where there is not, it is because of faculty. Faculty need to be retooled to facilitate not lecture.
    * Must look at students as future alumni with tentacles into community.

Additional notes from table discussion:

§         There are often false perceptions about “the other”

§         Faculty set the bar too low

§         Expand education to include life skills, mentorship, etc

§         Given the right level of guidance, student are able to deliver

§         When students can understand how & that they can do & how it would impact the real world, then students hold themselves accountable.

§         www.playagreaterpart.org

   3. How do you adjust the big picture and long-term goals, to create compact projects with solid end dates that fit into the student's "institutional schedule" while maintaining continuity?

    * Required building a community rather than viewing education as a consumable
    * Provide academic credit for projects
    * Break large project into smaller ones
    * Incorporating LL into existing courses or gen ed

Additional notes from table discussion:

§         Support student projects

§         Related departments: bring them together to tie understanding

§         Provide students with “sound bite” projects

§         Colloquium helping students / faculty find research funding

§         Get alumni involved in student projects

o       Fund internships or individual projects to build momentum

o       Engage industry organizations

Vegetarian meat from Nestle, Unilever & Co soon?

Gerda_Fischbach — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:54:40 GMT

Some of the most remarkable existing global brands of vegetarian meat are listed at http://www.futurefood.org/tofu/index_en.php , these products could be a tasty inspiration for the global players in the food-industry for new innovations, but with optimised price and marketing. The global food-crisis, ecological factors, animal welfare and human health issues challenge us to find alternatives to animal products to be able to feed people in the future. The page covers tvp, tofu, seitan, tempeh and quorn-products, but also products like “Meatless”, which can be used on its own or used to improve meat-products (health, price) and reduce the meat-content without losing texture, taste and mouthfeel of the product. Success-criteria for new brands of vegetarian meat can be found at http://www.futurefood.org/yourbenefits/index_en.php Do you know of any activities of global players in the food-industry working on vegetarian meat? Any contacts for us at Nestle, Unilever, Mars/Masterfoods, Kraft, … ? Which strategy do you suggest to get the ideas and information through to the decision-makers?

Environmental Pollution and Public Health (EPPH2009) Call for Paper lw

liaowei2888 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:38:02 GMT

Environmental Pollution and Public Health (EPPH 2009),
             Special Track within iCBBE2009
                     Call for Papers
                http://www.icbbe.org/epph
            Beijing, China, June 11-13, 2009
==================================================================
This special track EPPH is part of the third international conference
on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (iCBBE2009). EPPH2009
focuses on the relationship between environmental pollutions and human
health problems. The conference is sponsored by IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), Beijing Institute of Technology
and Wuhan University, The conference proceedings will be published by
IEEE, all the papers accepted will be included in the IEEE Xplore and
indexed by EI. For more information please contact: epph@icbbe.org

Environmental Pollution and Public Health (EPPH2009) Call for Paper WS

wanshun1818 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:57:03 GMT

===========================================================================
     Environmental Pollution and Public Health (EPPH 2009),
                  Special Track within iCBBE2009
                           Call for Papers
                      http://www.icbbe.org/epph
                  Beijing, China, June 11-13, 2009
======================================================================
This special track EPPH is part of the third international conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (iCBBE2009). EPPH2009 focuses on the relationship between environmental pollutions and human health problems. The conference is sponsored by IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), Beijing Institute of Technology and Wuhan University, The conference proceedings will be published by IEEE, all the papers accepted will be included in the IEEE Xplore and indexed by EI. For more information please contact: epph@icbbe.org

Detail Opportunity at Consortium for Science Policy Outcomes in Washington, DC

Alexandra Ritchie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:04:36 GMT

This was advertised on the Presidential Management Fellows listserve as a PMF rotational assignment opportunity, but this office might be open to taking on a non-PMF for a detail assignment. It seems perfectly suited for the NELS community (especially those in AAAS). The website also provides some fascinating topics for conversation in this Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development Forum.

Please read the announcement below for details.

Contact: Claudia Nierenberg
Deputy Director, CSPO-DC
(202- 446-0397)
Claudia.Nierenberg@asu.edu

Arizona State University in Washington, DC.
Consortium for Science Policy Outcomes
1701 K Street
Washington, DC

Time Frame: Negotiable, but can be immediately
Duration: 3-6 months
Position: Research Associate

Office Description:

The Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes is an intellectual network aimed at
enhancing the contribution of science and technology to society's pursuit of equality,
justice, freedom, and overall quality of life. The Consortium creates knowledge and
methods, cultivates public discourse, and fosters policies to help decision makers and
institutions grapple with the immense power and importance of science and technology as
society charts a course for the future. (www.cspo.org)

Rotation Opportunity:

The new Washington, DC office will be expanding and applying the expertise of the
Consortium in the context of evolving national level science policy. CSPO will undertake
activities designed to stimulate actionable ideas for public and private investments in
research, technology innovation, and outreach essential to evolving challenges to human
well-being. Themes include sustainability, technological choices and pathways (including
energy innovation systems), and health and environmental research investments and
social choice.

A PMF would have the opportunity to participate directly in the planning and
implementation of forums, discussions, white papers, and outreach efforts. Candidates
with diverse educational and professional backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Interest
in the capacity of science and technology –together with inspiration and motivation – to be
powerful forces driving social change is most essential. Candidates need also to have
superior written and oral communication skills.

Science & Society: Global Challenges Discussion Series at AAAS

Sarah Banas — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:31:39 GMT

We Invite You to a Discussion Series
Science & Society: Global Challenges

No powerpoint. No notes.

Just candid conversations with leading scientists, economists, and politicians hosted by award-winning NPR reporters Richard Harris, David Kestenbaum, and Joe Palca.

Please note that you must RSVP for each discussion separately.

September 29: Sustainably Delivering Energy to the Developing World
Experts: Mark Little, Senior Vice President, General Electric
Host: David Kestenbaum
Please RSVP online

October 6: Merging Climate and Transportation Policy
Experts: Greg Cohen, President, American Highway Users Alliance; Joshua Schank, Director of Transportation Research, Bipartisan Policy Center; and Andy Darrell, Vice President, Environmental Defense Fund
Host: Joe Palca
Please RSVP online

October 20: Containing the Spread of WMDs
Experts: Robert Gallucci, Dean, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Richard Wagner, Senior Staff, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Host: David Kestenbaum
Please RSVP online

October 27: Solving the Malaria Epidemic
Experts: Steven Phillips, Medical Director, ExxonMobil; Ripley Ballou, Deputy Director, Infectious Diseases, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Paul Roepe, Department of Chemistry, Georgetown University
Host: Richard Harris
Please RSVP online

Website for the series: http://cstsp.aaas.org/content.html?contentid=1773

Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Georgetown University Program on Science in the Public Interest and the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation .

Sustainability Summit 09 Conference and Exhibition Showcase in Santa Clara, CA

Alexandra Ritchie — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:51:21 GMT

You can submit your presentation ideas as an abstract/proposal by October 31, 2008 for the Sustainability Summit 09 which will be held July 14-15, 2009 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

The following text is taken directly from the website and I have also included the link to the registration page.

http://sustainabilitysummit2009.com/speakerapplication.php

Presentation Opportunities

Sustainability Summit '09 Conference and Exhibition Showcase will bring together corporate visionaries, policy makers, environmental advocacy groups and leading experts to discuss financially viable practices and strategies that address and mitigate corporate impact on the long-term health of the earth.

A significant aspect of this leading-edge conference will be its use of telepresence technology to facilitate interaction and participation between live presenters and delegates from around the globe. We are inviting industry leaders, researchers, engineers, scientists, architects, economists, consultants, and policy-makers to participate in this exciting event.

Sustainability Summit '09 will include keynotes, plenary sessions, roundtables and panel discussions and will comprise four tracks:
• Carbon Reduction: Trading and offsetting strategies, efficiencies, alternate energy resources, and behavioral modification
• Infrastructure and Real Estate: Smart/green/capacity building, enterprise planning, recycling, and supply-chain management
• Transportation: Alternative fuels, travel reduction strategies, intermodal transport, mechanical efficiencies, and sustainable value chains
• Information Technology: Collaborative technologies, virtualization of resources, Eco-Patent Commons, energy efficiency equipment and strategies, and telecommuting paradigms

Corporate, academic, nonprofit, and political entities and organizations are encouraged to share and present new ideas, technologies, strategies, practical outcomes, research and case studies in line with conference themes by submitting session abstract proposals by October 31, 2008.

September 29, 2008 - Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Sarah Banas — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:26:09 GMT

The National Academies is pleased to announce an upcoming public discussion of a new report of potential interest to your organization.

Event: Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

When: Monday, September 29, 9:15a.m.-12:00 noon

Where: National Academy of Sciences (Lecture Room)

2100 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20037

Background: Increased agricultural productivity is a major stepping stone on the path out of poverty, but farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia face tremendous challenges improving production. The National Research Council report Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (2008) identifies 60 emerging innovations in science and technology that have the potential to improve agricultural productivity in these two regions. This study was requested by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Eighteen technologies are recommended for immediate development and further exploration. At this event, members of the study committee will highlight four of the recommended technologies and engage respondents and members of the public in a discussion of the prospects for their development. Please see the attached report brief and program agenda for further information.

Details and Registration: http://www.nationalacademies.org/ag_technologies/.

Submit abstract by Sept. 30 for National Association for Environmental Professionals (NAEP) conference: "Making Sustainability Happen: Goals, Practices, and Challenges"

Alexandra Ritchie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:33:15 GMT

The deadline is fast approaching, but if you have a paper and presentation on some unique aspect of sustainability then submit to the NAEP by Sept. 30 for the NAEP's 34th Annual Conference, titled "Making Sustainability Happen: Goals, Practices, and Challenges."

You will be notified in November whether your abstract/paper or presentation topic has been accepted for the conference which will be held May 3-6, 2009 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Here's the link: http://www.naep.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=2009_Conference1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2279

Engineers Forum on Sustainability

Sarah Banas — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:19:36 GMT

The next meeting of the Engineers Forum on Sustainability will be held on Friday, September 26, 2008 at:

National Academy of Sciences
Lecture Room
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

There is no fee to attend this meeting, and refreshments will be provided.

The current issue of the Engineers Forum Newsletter is now available at the following link: http://www.asce-susdev.org/programs/documents/EFSAug08.pdf

If you'd like more details or would like to attend, please let me know.

Sarah Banas
AAAS
sbanas@aaas.org
202-326-6492

Food Preservatives

janelee — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:11:40 GMT

Most foods contain enzymes or natural chemicals, such as acids or alcohols, that cause them to begin to lose desirable characteristics almost immediately after harvest or preparation. In addition, a host of environmental factors, such as heat and the presence of microorganisms, acts to change foodstuffs in ways that may harm the food product. Food preservation traditionally has three goals: the preservation of nutritional characteristics, the preservation of appearance, and a prolongation of the time that the food can be stored. Traditional methods of preservation usually aim to exclude air, moisture, and microorganisms, or to provide environments in which organisms that might cause spoilage cannot survive.

Ancient peoples are known to have had dried fruits, vegetables, and meats. The pemmican of Native Americans and the jerky consumed by present-day campers and hikers are both prepared by drying. The drying process can include smoking, which may actually add antibacterial agents. The processes of dehydration and freeze-drying, used today to produce such foods as powdered coffee and soup, are variations of drying.

Among the earliest preservatives were sugar and salt (NaCl), which produced food environments of high osmotic pressure that denied bacteria the aqueous surroundings they needed to live and reproduce. Jams and jellies are preserved as solutions of high sugar content, and many meats (e.g., hams) and fish are still preserved by salting. Unlike other microorganisms, molds can often withstand the effects of high salt or sugar concentrations in foods. Fortunately, they seldom cause illness.

Early methods of air removal included the sealing of foods inside containers (such as jars), or the covering of food surfaces with hot paraffin. The invention of canning by Nicolas Appert enabled commercial preparations of foodstuffs. In response to a prize offered by Napoléon in 1795, Appert developed a method of canning and preserving fruits and vegetables in glass containers for sea voyages. His process was used commercially in 1910 by Peter Durand in England, using metal cans. During the earliest days of canning, some persons (including some Arctic explorers) probably died as a result of exposure to the lead that was once used to solder cans. Modern techniques of air removal include vacuum sealing and the use of plastic wrappings.

Along with cooking, which kills most bacteria, freezing stops or slows bacterial growth as well as changes in foods brought about by enzymes present in the foods. Unlike the slower freezing of foods in homes, quick freezing in commercial processing enables foods to retain more of their natural appearance and taste.

Chemical preservatives include free radical scavengers (also known as antioxidants), such as vitamin C and compounds such as BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), and bacterial growth inhibitors, such as benzoic acid, sulfur dioxide, and sodium nitrite (NaNO2). Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) has long been used as a preservative, both of itself (as in wine), and of other foods (e.g., fruits stored in brandy). Some chemical preservatives may be harmful: Sulfur dioxide (often used to preserve wines) is irritating to the bronchial tubes of persons who have asthma, and nitrites have been implicated as carcinogens.

After Louis Pasteur proved that it was the presence of bacteria that caused food to spoil, there was a tendency to consider all microorganisms harmful. But in fact, microbial action is responsible for the production and preservation of some foods. The action of microbes is a part of the production of cheese and some flavoring agents. Sauerkraut is both processed and preserved by lactobacilli, and yeast cells ferment sugars, producing alcohol, which may add zest to beverages as well as help to preserve them.

The irradiation of foods has the advantage of enabling food packaging and preparation in which there is less person-to-food contact, thus decreasing the possibility of contamination and decreasing the need for chemical preservatives, some of which may be harmful. The ionizing radiation that is used to irradiate foods, wherein the foods are exposed to bursts of high-intensity x rays or streams of electrons, disrupts bacterial DNA. Some persons have objected to the irradiation of foods because of an (unfounded) fear of radioactivity. As pathogens such as virulent strains of coliform bacteria have caused food poisoning, the irradiation of animal carcasses and, in particular, of hamburger during its preparation has become more desirable. Irradiation currently extends the shelf lives of foods such as strawberries. Irradiation does not make foods radioactive, but may cause changes in food color or texture.

Common Batteries

chenhongxia — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:56:49 GMT

In most flashlights, toys, and remote controllers for televisions, primary batteries are used. The cell reactions in primary batteries are irreversible. During use, reactants are converted to products, and when the reactants are used up, the battery is "dead." The inexpensive flashlight batteries sold in retail stores use a design called a Leclanche dry cell. The body of the battery is made of zinc, which acts as the anode. A carbon rod in the center of the cell serves as the cathode. It is surrounded by a moist paste of graphite powder (carbon), manganese dioxide (MnO₂), and ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl). The anode reaction is the oxidation of the zinc cylinder to zinc ions. The cathode reaction involves the reduction of manganese dioxide. A simplified version of the overall reaction is

Zn + 2MnO₂ + H₂O → Zn²⁺ + Mn₂O₃ + 2OH⁻ (10)

Alkaline cells are similar, except that the zinc case is porous and the paste around the carbon cathode is moist manganese dioxide and potassium hydroxide. These are more expensive than ordinary zinc-carbon cells, but they maintain a high voltage longer.

The lead-acid storage battery used in automobiles is a secondary battery; it is rechargeable. That is, the automobile battery operates as a galvanic cell when used to start the engine (when discharging), and as an electrolytic cell when it is charged by the alternator or by an external battery charger. The anode consists of porous lead plates in contact with a sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) solution. The cathode consists of lead dioxide (PbO₂) plates, also in sulfuric acid. Electrons flow from the lead plates to the lead oxide plates. As lead (Pb) loses electrons, it forms lead ions (Pb²⁺) that react with sulfate ions (SO₄²⁻) in solution to form insoluble lead sulfate (PbSO₄). When PbO₂ gains electrons, it too reacts with SO₄²⁻ ions in solution to form solid PbSO₄. The cell reaction is

Pb + PbO₂ + 4H⁺ + 2 SO₄²⁻ → 2PbSO₄ + 2H₂O (11)

and proceeds from left to right when the battery is discharging and from right to left when charging.

The rechargeable nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries are used in a variety of cordless appliances such as telephones, battery operated tools, and portable computers. During discharge, cadmium metal (Cd) acts as the anode, and nickel dioxide (NiO₂) as the cathode. Both metals form insoluble hydroxides due to the presence of the potassium hydroxide electrolyte. The cell reaction during discharge is

NiO₂ + Cd + 2H₂O → Ni(OH)₂ + Cd(OH)₂ (12)

The reaction is reversed during charging.

More about Penicillin

sunnye — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:06:53 GMT

Penicillin was discovered accidentally in 1929 when Sir Alexander Fleming observed bacterial cultures contaminated with a mold that inhibited bacterial growth. The antibiotic penicillin was subsequently isolated from cultures of the Penicillium mold. In 1938 two other British scientists, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, first used purified preparations of penicillin to treat bacterial infections. Penicillin may have been present in folk remedies used as early as 600 B.C.E., at around which time molded soybean curd was used by the Chinese to treat boils and carbuncles, and moldy cheese was used by Chinese and Ukrainian peasants to treat infected wounds.
Initially it was thought that penicillin was a pure substance, but further studies revealed that a number of closely related compounds were present in Penicillium cultures. Naturally occurring penicillins, such as penicillin G, are most effective against gram-positive bacteria, but much less effective against gram-negative bacteria. A further limitation to the use of Penicillin G is that it is not well absorbed when administered orally. Research programs to produce chemically modified penicillins with improved properties have resulted in a large number of clinically useful penicillin derivatives. Examples of such penicillin derivatives include ampicillin and amoxicillin, which have much greater efficacy against gram-negative bacteria than penicillin, retain good activity against gram-positive bacteria, and are well absorbed when administered orally. The principal adverse reaction associated with the penicillins is the occurrence of allergic response.
The molecular targets for the antibacterial activity of the penicillin and related β-lactam antibiotics such as the cephalosporins are a group of bacterial enzymes known as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). The PBPs are essential to the final stages of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. Penicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics inhibit PBPs, thereby inhibiting bacterial cell wall biosynthesis, which eventually results in bacterial cell lysis. (Vancomycin and cycloserine are nonpenicillin antibiotics that also inhibit bacterial cell wall biosynthesis through other mechanisms.)
The penicillins and related antibiotics have been among the most widely used therapeutic agents since their introduction into clinical practice in the 1940s. However, the widespread use of these antibiotics has resulted in the emergence and spread of bacteria that are resistant to these agents. A major mechanism of resistance to the penicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics is the bacterial production of β-lactamases, enzymes that cleave the β-lactam antibiotics and render them inactive before they can inhibit their PBP targets. Significant efforts have been made to develop β-lactam antibiotics resistant to the β-lactamases, and toward finding inhibitors of the β-lactamases to allow β-lactam antibiotics to be useful antibacterial agents against β-lactamase producing bacteria.

Aug 6 Discussion of Washington, DC's (Sustainable) Wildlife Action Plan

Alexandra Ritchie — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:30:11 GMT

Dear NELS Community,

My agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, is hosting an event this Wednesday, Aug. 6 on the District of Columbia's Wildlife Action plan. This will be a special opportunity to learn about how the District's Department of Environment protects wildlife in this unique wildland-urban interface. Please read below for event details!

Alexandra Ritchie

The U.S. Department of the Interior Museum will host a talk and presentation by Mary Pfaffko. Ms. Pfaffko is a Wildlife Biologist for the Fisheries and Wildlife Division of the District of Columbia’s Department of Environment and will speak about DC’s Wildlife Action Plan. Congress asked each state to develop a wildlife action plan to conserve wildlife and their habitat. DC’s plan is unique among the states as it strives to create a sustainable interface between wildlife and urbanization.

WHO: Mary Pfaffko, Wildlife Biologist, Fisheries and Wildlife Division of the District of Columbia’s Department of Environment

WHAT: Talk and presentation on DC’s Wildlife Action Plan

WHEN: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 10 a.m.

WHERE: Museum Classroom, Interior Museum, DOI Main Interior Building

The museum is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm and from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm on the third Saturday of each month, except for all Federal holidays. For more information on the museum, call (202) 208-4743 or visit their website www.doi.gov/interiormuseum.

Special Assistance – For those in need of special assistance (such as an interpreter for the hearing impaired) or inquiries regarding the handicapped entrance, please notify Hunter Hollins at (202) 208-4659 in advance of the lecture. Special needs will be accommodated whenever possible.

7 companies: New egg-replacers for the industry

Gerda_Fischbach — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:44:11 GMT

Replacing egg-products in the industry is a beginning trend, which also offers health- and cost-benefits! Companies like Gum-Technology (US), have recently introduced interesting new egg-replacer brand lines for industrial application.

This and 6 other companies are linked at the bottom of http://www.futurefood.org/eggproducts/index_en.php .

=> Do you have experience with these new products?

=> Do you know companies that might be interested to learn about the new egg-replacers?

The global food-crisis, ecological factors, animal welfare and human health issues challenge us to find alternatives to animal products to be able to feed people in the future.

New inspirations for dairy-free products

Gerda_Fischbach — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:46:37 GMT

similar to the mentioned vegetarian meat, some of the most remarkable existing global brands of non-dairy milk-drinks, yoghurt or cheese are listed at http://www.futurefood.org/soymilk/index_en.php , which also need optimised price and marketing.

Does anybody know of any activities of global players in the food-industry working on such products? Any contacts for us at Nestle, Unilever, Mars/Masterfoods, Kraft, … ? Which strategy do you suggest to get the ideas and information through to the decision-makers?

June 27 Coping with Climate Change: Gulf Coast Transportation and New York City Waterworks

Sarah Banas — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:29:41 GMT

American Meteorological Society's Environmental Science Seminar Series

Coping with Climate Change: Gulf Coast Transportation and New York City Waterworks

What aspects of the Gulf Coast transportation infrastructure, and New York City water infrastructure, are most vulnerable to climate changes in progress and anticipated? What specific manifestations of climate change are anticipated along the Gulf Coast and in NYC? How will people and ecosystems be affected by the impacts of climatic change on the transportation infrastructure in the Gulf region and on the water infrastructure in NYC? What are the ripple effects of these changes likely to be regionally? What options do people and governments have in coping with the suggested changes? How resilient are the Gulf Coast and NYC to anticipated climate changes?

Public Invited*

Friday, June 27, 2008
New Time - 10:30 AM - 12:30 pm
Russell Senate Office Building, Room 253
Washington, DC

Buffet Reception Following

Moderator:
Dr. Anthony Socci, Senior Science Fellow, American Meteorological Society

Speakers:
Michael J. Savonis, Air Quality Team Leader, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Washington, DC

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University’s Earth Institute, New York City, NY

Program Summary

Gulf Coast Transportation: Coping with the Future

Climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems. The prospect of a changing climate raises critical questions regarding how alterations in temperature, precipitation, storm events, and other aspects of the climate could affect the nation’s roads, airports, rail, transit systems, pipelines, ports, and waterways in the region of the U.S. central Gulf Coast between Galveston, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. This region contains multimodal transportation infrastructure that is critical to regional and national transportation services. More broadly, what happens in the Gulf region will no doubt, have ripple effects nationwide and internationally, as was evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
Historical trends and future climate scenarios were used to establish a context for examining the potential effects of climate change on all major transportation modes within the region. Climate changes anticipated during the next 50 to 100 years for the central Gulf Coast include warming temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and increased storm intensity. The warming of the oceans and decline of polar ice sheets is expected to accelerate the rate of sea level rise globally. The effects of sea level rise in most central Gulf Coast counties will be exacerbated by the sinking of the land surface, which is accounted for in this assessment.
Warming temperatures are likely to increase the costs of transportation construction, maintenance, and operations. More frequent extreme precipitation events may disrupt transportation networks with flooding and visibility problems. Relative sea level rise will make much of the existing infrastructure more prone to frequent or permanent inundation – 27 percent of the major roads, 9 percent of the rail lines, and 72 percent of the ports are built on land at or below 122 cm (4 feet) in elevation. Increased storm intensity may lead to increased service disruption and infrastructure damage: More than half of the area’s major highways (64 percent of Interstates; 57 percent of arterials), almost half of the rail miles, 29 airports, and virtually all of the ports are below 7 m (23 feet) in elevation and subject to flooding and possible damage due to hurricane storm surge. Consideration of these factors in today’s transportation decisions and planning processes should lead to a more robust, resilient, and cost-effective transportation network in the coming decades.

New York City: Preparing for Climate Change

New York City (NYC) represents one of the ﬁrst substantial efforts to undertake climate-change planning for infrastructure changes in a large urban area. Notable characteristics of the NYC system are that it is a mature infrastructure system, that its managers are skilled at dealing with existing hydrologic variability, and that there are many potential adaptations to the risk of climate change in the NYC water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems. Capitalizing on this expertise and experience, the work of the Climate Change Task Force of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, has focused on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC.

The Task Force included representatives from all of the operating and planning bureaus in NYCDEP along with experts from Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) and other universities and engineering firms. A key element of the process was that it was agency-wide, allowing the development of an integrated climate change program throughout the entire organization. The agency-wide approach provides organizational benefits even beyond climate change planning in fostering communication among bureaus within the agency.

As part of the Task Force, agency, private-sector partners, and climate scientists developed climate information and adaptation assessment frameworks. The climate information framework consists of current and historical climate observations, downscaled climate change scenarios from global and regional climate models, projections of how risks of extreme events (including hurricanes, nor’-easters, heat waves, droughts, and floods may change), and focused analyses of sea-level rise and storm surges, including recent ice-sheet melting.

The major product of the NYCDEP Task Force is a Climate Change Assessment and Action Plan for the agency. The Agency will continue to work with climate scientists to improve regional climate change projections, enhance DEP’s understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on the Department’s operations, determine and implement appropriate adaptation to DEP’s water systems, and inventory and manage greenhouse gas emissions. Establishing climate indicators is important to provide mechanisms for tracking the dynamics of a changing climate.

Biographies

Michael J. Savonis has 25 years of experience in transportation policy, with extensive expertise in air quality and emerging environmental issues. He has served as Air Quality Team Leader at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), since 1996. For the past 16 years, Mr. Savonis has overseen the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program which invests more than $1.5 billion annually to improve air quality. He directs FHWA’s transportation / air quality policy development, research program, and public education. He received DOT’s Silver Medal in 1997 and FHWA’s Superior Achievement Award in 2004. Mr. Savonis was instrumental to the creation of the DOT Center for Climate Change. He is co-Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Climate Change Subcommittee, was a member of the Air Quality Committee 1999 - 2004, and served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation Control Measures, 2000 - 2004. He is author of several papers on climate/air quality, including: The Gulf Coast Study, Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.7, Climate Change Science Program; Toward a Strategic Plan for Transportation Air Quality Research, 2000-2010, Transportation Research Record; and Clean Air Through Transportation: Challenges in Meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, Report to Congress. Mr. Savonis holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University and a BS in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University. Her primary research involves the development of interdisciplinary methodologies by which to assess the potential impacts of and adaptations to global environmental change. She has joined impact models with global and regional climate models to predict future outcomes of both land-based and urban systems under altered climate conditions. Advances include the development of climate change scenarios for impact and adaptation analysis, and the application of impact models at relevant spatial and temporal scales for regional and national assessments. Recognizing that the complex interactions engendered by global environmental change can best be understood by coordinated teams of experts, Dr. Rosenzweig has organized and led large-scale interdisciplinary, national, and international studies of climate change impacts and adaptation. She co-led the Metropolitan East Coast Regional Assessment of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and was the lead scientist on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Climate Change Task Force. For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, she was a Coordinating Lead Author on the Assessment of Observed Changes and Responses in Natural and Managed Systems. The results of this Assessment found that physical and biological systems on all continents and in most oceans are already being affected by recent human-caused climate changes, and that climatic effects on human systems are emerging. She is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science. She leads the Climate Impacts research group at the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, whose mission is to investigate the interactions of climate (both variability and change) on systems and sectors important to human well-being. Dr. Rosenzweig received her Ph.D. in Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Massachusetts in 1991. She earned an M.S. in Soils and Crops from Rutgers University and a BA in Agricultural Sciences from Cook College. She has authored or co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed scientific articles and authored or edited eight books.

*Please provide us with a business card if you would like to be on our mailing list. This seminar series is open to the public and does not require a reservation. To bypass the registration table on the day of the seminar, please use this NEW online form at: http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/ESSSRegister.html.

This seminar series is open to the public and does not require a reservation.

October 2-3: NAE event on Engineering, Social Justice, and Sustainable Development

Sarah Banas — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:19:05 GMT

The NAE Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society will convene a workshop on engineering, social justice, and sustainable community development on October 2-3, 2008, in Washington, D.C. The workshop will explore engineering in contexts of poverty, crisis, and controversy. It will examine 1) engineering and questions of humanitarian welfare and social and environmental justice; 2) the interface of engineering, ethics, and practice; and 3) implications for engineering education. In addition, a panel of early career engineers will share their perspectives, small groups of participants will discuss potential action items, and roundtable members will discuss how engineering might better address complex choices and cultural conflicts. The full program and registration information for this free, public event are available online at

http://www.nae.edu/nae/engethicscen.nsf/weblinks/CGOZ-7C6L3X?OpenDocument.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, and partially supported by the National Science Foundation and a grant to the Center from NAE member Harry E. Bovay, Jr.