Chemists Without Borders representatives were invited to Bangladesh University by the Board of Trustees to offer ideas for consideration as the University inaugurates a program of environmental science degrees and the Center for Environmental Research and Development. Ms. Rachel Pokrandt, Co-Director of K-12 Curriculum and Training, Beyond Benign (a green chemistry education enterprise) and I (Professor Lois Ongley, Secretary, Chemists Without Borders and Professor at Unity College in Maine) arrived in Dhaka on March 3.
Dhaka is a city that is at the forefront of some environmental inititatives: most vehicles operate on compressed natural gas rather than gasoline, plastic bags seem to be banned for most shopping with paper or cloth being used by shop keepers if a bag is needed, each light bulb in my hotel room is CF and there is a switch into which you must place your key for the electrical power to be active.
Our hosts have been wonderful, sacrificing their weekend day off on Friday March 4 to show us the sites like the Pink Palace and Lalbagh Fort, the Language Martyrs Monument, and the Botanical Gardens. We got to see the opening moments of the Bangladesh/West Indes cricket match on TV during lunch. The outcome of the game was not what Bangladeshis had hoped for as the West Indes team won decisively.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Chemists Without Borders in Bangladesh
Friday, February 04, 2011
Education on your mobile device
The Chronicle on Higher Education had an interesting article about textbook manufacturers developing content for mobile phones.
McGraw-Hill to Provide English Instruction and Test Prep Through Cellphones in India
The mobile-phone platform could help teach millions of rural cellphone users who lack access to education, a company official said.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Speak with Conviction
Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
Typography Animation project for class
Poem by Taylor Mali (www.TaylorMali.com)
Thursday, August 05, 2010
National Research Council Estimates Impact of Human-Caused Global Warming
Image via Wikipedia
Increased Confidence About Future ImpactsWhat then must we do?
Although some important future effects of climate change are difficult to quantify, there is now increased confidence in how global warming of various levels would relate to several key impacts, says the report. It lists some of these impacts per degree Celsius (or per 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming, for example (these apply for 1 C to 4 C of warming):
· 5 percent to 10 percent less total rain in southwest North America, the Mediterranean, and southern Africa per degree Celsius of warming.
· 5 percent to 10 percent less streamflow in some river basins, including the Arkansas and Rio Grande, per degree Celsius of warming.
· 5 percent to 15 percent lower yields of some crops, including U.S. and African corn and Indian wheat, per degree Celsius of warming.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Good News! Clinical Trials of Rotavirus Vaccine Launched
Rotavirus is a diarrheal disease that kills half a million children worldwide every year. Current vaccines do not reach all the children early enough. This new vaccine, which has taken decades of effort to develop, would allow administration at birth and ensure more babies be protected. This map from a CDC page, shows the estimated global distribution of the 800,000 annual deaths caused by rotavirus diarrhea. Read more about this important advance by clicking the title.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A new study shows 77 million Bangladeshis are being exposed to water containing arsenic. CNN's Dan Rivers reports. Jun 21, 2010
Here's a short update on the arsenic problem in Bangladesh, and how the SONO filter alleviates the problem (click the title above to view the 2:51 minute video). With over 300,000 SONO filters already in place, that leaves some 75 million people in Bangladesh still in need of its benefits. Of course, there are many other countries (including developed countries) which need the same protection. Chemists Without Borders seeks contributions of people's time and money to expand manufacturing and distribution of this highly effective solution both within Bangladesh and elsewhere, so please share this need with your friends and colleagues and encourage their participation. Thanks for reading. [Pictures courtesy of Dr AKM Munir, Kushtia, Bangladesh.]
Thursday, July 15, 2010
President Rene Preval Assesses Haiti's Quake Recovery
PBS NewsHour's Ray Suarez talks with Haitian President Rene Preval about the recovery the country still faces, six months after a devastating earthquake. There are many lessons from this. One is that while NGOs' independent work is essential immediately after the disaster, their working in co-ordination with the government is essential as time passes. I recommend you watch this interview:
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Martin Fisher (KickStart) Fighting Poverty in Kenya by Selling Water Pumps to Poor Farmers
PBS's Spencer Michels reports on the story of how a California social entrepreneur sees the chance to increase access to clean water in Kenya through the use of foot-pumps. In this segment, there are many lessons for us on how to achieve our goals in the field. I recommend you watch this report:
Friday, December 11, 2009
2009: a great year for open access
2009 has been a good year for open access; for details, see my December 11, 2009 Dramatic Growth of Open Access.
Happy Holidays!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Irreversible Catastrophic Climate Destabilization
Image via Wikipedia
You can watch the segment below. I recommend you view the NOW page also, as the comments are enlightening. For instance, commenter Forrest M. Mims III says,"... land subsidence alone may account for an elevation change of -30 cm over the past several decades," which for me is in the category of "things you never thought of".
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