The year 2010 brought exciting opportunities for environmental research and engagement activities to Purdue and the Center for the Environment. C4E has now completed its first full year as part of the Global Sustainability Initiative under the leadership of GSI interim director, Prof. Jon Harbor. MORE FACULTY MEMBERS, GRAD STUDENTS ATTEND BEIJING SYMPOSIUM For Chinese native Yini Ma, attending the China-US 2010 Joint Symposium on Energy, Ecosystem and Environmental Change last fall in Beijing, China, provided more culture shock than she expected. “First of all, what surprised me is the amount of funding from the Chinese government for environment-related study,” says Ma, a graduate student in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. MORE C4E, CHINESE RESEARCHERS FORM RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP The Center for the Environment and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are forming a five-year research partnership focused on environmental challenges posed by population growth and urbanization in both countries. In a signing event last fall, Purdue officials and members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Applied Ecology formalized the partnership for establishing the China-U.S. Joint Research Laboratory on Sustainable Ecosystem. MORE NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO PREVENT MAJOR 'SYSTEMIC' FAILURES A C4E researcher is proposing development of a new cross-disciplinary approach for analyzing and preventing systemic failures in complex systems that play a role in calamities ranging from huge power blackouts to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the subprime mortgage crisis. “The striking similarities in such catastrophes necessitates a broader perspective to better understand such failures,” says Venkat Venkatasubramanian, professor of chemical engineering. MORE INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR HELPS BUILD RESEARCH COMMUNITIES Pankaj Sharma has been appointed interim managing director of the Global Sustainability Initiative. He is assisting the Center for the Environment as well as the Energy Center. The associate director of Discovery Park, Sharma holds a Ph.D. in physics from Gujarat University. He has an M.B.A. from Purdue University and an advanced certificate in applied computer and information technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. MORE SPIRIT OF LAND-GRANT MISSION AWARD GOES TO C4E PROFESSOR Agronomy professor Sylvie Brouder has received Purdue University’s 2010 Spirit of the Land-Grant Mission Award. The award recognizes the accomplishments of a faculty member in the College of Agriculture, College of Health and Human Sciences or School of Veterinary Medicine whose work integrates the University’s land-grant mission of discovery, extension and learning. MORE |
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Ecological Sciences Retreat by PICES-DEEE-C4E The half-day retreat will begin with updates from the Purdue Interdisciplinary Center for Ecological Sustainability, Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering and the Center for the Environment, followed by attendee summaries. Each attendee is invited to talk for four minutes about their activities related to teaching and research; they may also discuss opportunities for nurturing collaborative efforts. U.S.-Australia Sustainability Workshop Elizabeth Schick, General Counsel, Australian Consulate from Chicago and Elizabeth Smith Rachel, Counselor from Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Australian Embassy, Washington D.C., visited in December 2010 to discuss collaborative opportunities in broader topic of sustainability in environment. Plans are in progress to have a U.S.-Australia workshop in 2011. Shell Energy Day U.S.-China Joint Research Symposia on Global Sustainability Issues in Energy, Climate, Water & Environment CONTACT THE CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Mann Hall, Room 266 Director:
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PROFESSOR'S RESPONSE TO OIL SPILL LEADS TO NEW RESEARCH COMMUNITY
DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
