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Since September 2014, I have been managing the Chemists Without Borders team in Bangladesh.  We started with a team of part time interns, all graduates of the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh.  We had the objective of seeing whether we could work effectively with high schools to educate the students, and through them, …

Achievements of Chemists Without Borders Bangladesh Arsenic Education Project Read More »

Dear friends of Chemists Without Borders, I am pleased to announce the kickoff of our campaign on IndieGoGo aimed at educating high school students in Bangladesh on the dangers of drinking water contaminated with arsenic. Chemists Without Borders has provided arsenic test kits to six schools in Bangladesh to test the drinking water in their …

Support Bangladesh Arsenic Education Project on IndieGoGo Read More »

by Josh Kearns *     *     * Hi – Your erstwhile correspondent Josh Kearns here! As a Chemist Without Borders doing work of on-the-ground relevance, you may enjoy this critical look at the continuing struggle to bring academia into accord with the real world…. *     *     * OK, …

Functional Stupidity in Academia Blocks Meaningful Efforts to Pursue Sustainability Read More »

Earlier this morning, Aqueous Solutions launched a science crowd-funding campaign through experiment.com! We’re raising money to purchase laboratory supplies, reagents, etc., for a series of micro-column tests in the lab that will determine the capacity of locally generated biochar for removal of toxic pesticides and pharmaceutical residues from drinking water sources. Check out our project …

Can biomass char remove toxic synthetic chemicals from drinking water? Read More »

Fire at the regional trade union council building in Odessa, Ukraine Photo: Barcroft Media In the midst of the Ukrainian crisis, tactics reminiscent of the Cold War began emerging—ones that trace back to the KGB laboratories half a century ago. From guns that spray hydrogen cyanide to assassination attempts with “Agent Orange,” it seems that …

Winter is coming, or is it always cold in Russia? Read More »

 By Josh Kearns Our society is pathologically enthralled with “the new.” As scientists and engineers, we’re inculcated starting from very early in our training to seek “the cutting edge” of technological development and innovation. But if we want the results of our research efforts to stand the best chance of making a beneficial impact in …

Forget the Cutting Edge – Embrace the Old-Tech Future Read More »

(or, A Hodge-Podge of Fact and Opinion) By Josh Kearns I’ve just returned from an arduous – but tremendously joyful – trip to a small village in the remote coastal mountains of Burma’s “Deep South,” Tenasserim Division. The trip took two weeks and consisted of nearly four days of travel – each way – over …

Doing Manual Labor for Sustainable Development Makes You Sexy Read More »

By Josh Kearns I’ve had a lot of unpopular ideas. Maybe the all-time most unpopular, though, is this one: The relatively short trips made by international humanitarian science/engineering and sustainable community development professionals for fieldwork, particularly to far-flung destinations, are almost certainly futile from an environmental sustainability perspective. Most of us in the international “humanitarian …

I’ve Got a BEEF with Sustainability Read More »

By Josh Kearns Crowdsourcing is by now thoroughly established as an internet meme. How do I know this? Because I’m aware of it. Compared to today’s hip and uber-connected Millennials, I’m a hopelessly antiquarian Gen-Xer. I do not and hope to never own a smart phone. (My career aspiration is to eventually go “full Wendell …

Crowd Funded Low-Tech Cyanide Mitigation, Anyone? Read More »

Biochemists and microbiologists: Aqueous Solutions has a mission for you. By Josh Kearns    I recently visited two village training centers deep in the wilds of Tenasserim district (Thailand-Burma border region), where colleagues and I conducted follow-up inspections on water treatment systems installed by local trainees during recent months. (Check out our Facebook page for photos from …

(Bio-) Chemists Without Borders: Help Aqueous Solutions Hack Field E. coli Testing! Read More »