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Combating Global Problems at BIARI

By Guest PostJune 22, 2012Environment, General, Scienceaids, ambedkar university delhi, anita elizabeth cherian, armed conflict, barbara willaarts, biari, botin foundation, brazil, brown university, cape town, China, chinese cities, civil society, climate change, courtney coelho, development, end project evaluation, environmental awareness, ethiopia, global problem, grass stage theatre, hiv, hiv awareness, India, junia quiroga de cuhan, kathamandu university, ke zhang, latin america, laureate universities, maria cecelia trannin, nepal, new delhi, nigeria, peking university, population, qing hui hou, rebecca hodes, rio de janeiro, rukmini sen, sagar sharma, shimla, South Africa, university, yunnan province, zheng xie

Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). The two-week program began June 11, 2012.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). Participants, who were chosen from a pool of more than 850 applicants, come from several countries, including Brazil, China, Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia.

The two-week program began Monday, June 11, 2012. Now in its fourth year, BIARI is centered around four two-week intensive institutes, convened concurrently by Brown faculty, in which participants and leading scholars in their fields share their research and develop new collaborative projects through sustained, high-level dialogue spanning disciplines and continents. This year’s institutes touched on global health and HIV/AIDS; theater and civil society; population and development; and climate change. (more…)

20 Years after Rio Earth Summit: Ecologists Call for Preservation of Planet’s Remaining Biological Diversity

By Guest PostJune 9, 2012Natureaichi targets, andrew gonzalez, balance of evidence, biodiversity loss, biological diversity, bradley cardinale, columbia university, david hooper, earth summit, ecologists, ecosystem services, exotic plants, fungal, george gilchrist, impact on humanity, j emmett duffy, natural ecosystems, nutrient remineralization, pests, planet, plant pathogens, preservation, rio de janeiro, rio earth summit, shahid naeem, soil organic matter, sustainability, university of michigan, viral infections

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Twenty years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 17 prominent ecologists are calling for renewed international efforts to curb the loss of biological diversity, which is compromising nature’s ability to provide goods and services essential for human well-being.

Over the past two decades, strong scientific evidence has emerged showing that loss of the world’s biological diversity reduces the productivity and sustainability of natural ecosystems and decreases their ability to provide society with goods and services like food, wood, fodder, fertile soils, and protection from pests and disease, according to an international team of ecologists led by the University of Michigan’s Bradley Cardinale. (more…)

Scholars Say Global Governance Overhaul Needed For Earth’s Sustainability

By Guest PostMarch 19, 2012Environmentearth, environmental change, environmental institution, environmental scholar, frank biermann, geo engineering, global governance, model, Nanotechnology, reform, rio de janeiro, societal change, steven bernstein, subsystem, sustainable development, synthetic biology, un, united nations

A group of the world’s leading environmental scholars are sounding the alarm that human societies need to transform their national and international environmental institutions into a more coherent and robust planetary stewardship model to steer away from rapid and irreversible changes to the Earth’s subsystems.

University of Toronto political scientist Steven Bernstein is one of the authors of a paper which appears in Science on March 16, 2012. (more…)

Facebook Blasts into Top Position in Brazilian Social Networking Market Following Year of Tremendous Growth

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 20121 commentTechnologyalex banks, brazil, brazilian market, China, Comscore, distrito federal, Facebook, google plus, Japan, orkut, poland, rio de janeiro, russia, social media, social networking market, social networking population, south korea, tumblr, Twitter, Vietnam, vostu, windows live profile

*Facebook Audience Triples in the Past Year while Engagement Grows Nearly Sevenfold*

São Paulo, Brazil, January 17, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data showing that Facebook assumed the top position in the Brazilian social networking market following a year of exceptional growth. In December 2011, Facebook.com attracted 36.1 million visitors – representing an increase of 192 percent in the past twelve months – to surpass Orkut as the leading social networking destination in the market.

“Facebook’s rapid ascent in the Brazilian market has certainly been one of the most interesting stories to develop during the course of 2011,” said Alex Banks, comScore managing director for Brazil. “Brazil has always been a particularly social market and currently owns the fifth largest social networking population in the world. But despite the cultural affinity for social media, Facebook adoption had traditionally lagged in the market. That has all changed in the past year, during which the site has tripled in audience size as engagement has grown sevenfold to assume the leadership position in the market.” (more…)

J. Timmons Roberts: What did Durban do for climate?

By Guest PostDecember 13, 2011Environment1992 earth summit, american, atmosphere, brown researchers, carbon dioxide, center for environmental studies, China, climate change, climate change negotiations, climate talks in durban, copenhagen, democrats, durban, environmental experts, fossil fuel emissions, global citizens, global network, greenhouse gas emissions, India, j timmons roberts, kyoto protocol, mood, republicans, richard lewis, rio de janeiro, South Africa, timmons roberts, united nations, united states

J. Timmons Roberts, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, led a group of Brown researchers and students to the United Nations climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa. On his return, Roberts spoke with Richard Lewis, reflecting on the Durban meetings, the status of research, and the challenges of activism on issues of climate change.

Timmons Roberts, professor and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, has just returned from attending climate talks in Durban, South Africa. Roberts and a delegation from Brown — faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students — witnessed the negotiations up close as observers to ministerial speeches and negotiations. The talks ended with an agreement to extend the greenhouse gas emissions targets set under the Kyoto Protocol and a pledge to work on a replacement treaty incorporating the United States, China, and India.

Roberts spoke with Richard Lewis on the importance of the talks, the need for industrialized countries to compensate developing countries for damages from climate change, and the unique opportunity for people from Brown’s environmental program to attend the talks. (more…)

IBM Pledges $50 Million To Create 100 Smarter Cities

By Guest PostNovember 9, 2010Technologybaltimore mayor, brazil, chengdu, China, citizen engagement, globe, greater charlotte, ho chi minh city, ibm, katowice, mecklenburg county, municipalities, philanthropic investment, poland, rio de janeiro, smarter cities challenge, stephanie rawlings blake, sustainability, Technology, Vietnam

ARMONK, N.Y. – 09 Nov 2010: IBM today inaugurated Smarter Cities Challenge, a competitive grant program in which IBM will award $50 million worth of technology and services to help 100 municipalities across the globe. Teams of IBM experts will provide city leaders with recommendations for successful growth, better delivery of municipal services, more citizen engagement, and improved efficiency.

This new program is the single-largest philanthropic investment currently planned by IBM, which made US$186 million worth of charitable contributions in 2009, comprising cash, technology, and consulting services. (more…)

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