International Education Week to feature International Research Speakers Series

International Education Week celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. To mark the week (Nov. 13-17), the Office of Global Partnerships, together with the Purdue Policy Research Institute and the John Martinson Honors College, will hold the International Research Speakers Series featuring Purdue faculty, staff and scholars. Refreshments will be provided. Registration is requested at this link.

The speakers and topics scheduled for the week are:

Monday, Nov. 13, noon to 1:30 p.m., Honor’s Innovation Forum, Honors College and Residences Hall North

“International Research Adventures,” featuring Michele Buzon, professor of anthropology, and
Bryan Pijanowski, professor forestry and natural resources.

Buzon will talk about her involvement in educational opportunities and exciting research around the world. Her training and work focus on archaeological excavation and analysis to reconstruct the lives of people who lived in the ancient Nile River Valley. She will discuss her recent research in Sudan and her collaborative efforts in building successful long-term projects. Site link: Tombos.org

Pijanowski’s professional goal is to record the Earth in order to discover how sound can help us better understand nature. Using advanced digital sound recording technologies, a backpack, two legs – along with trains, planes, jeeps, boats, horses, rickshaws, snowmobiles and other modes to navigate the globe – he has now collected 10 million recordings from some of the most exotic spaces of this marvelous planet. A short presentation of his research will be made using sound recordings that feature a 1,000-species dawn chorus in Borneo, the haunting sounds of melting glaciers in Patagonia, mysterious underwater neotropical pond sounds and the inspirational nature praise-giving songs of Mongolian herders.

Tuesday, Nov. 14, noon to 1:30 p.m., Honor’s Innovation Forum, Honors College and Residences Hall North

“Opportunities at the Intersection of Research and Social Impact,” featuring Stacey Connaughton, professor of communication and director of the Purdue Policy Research Institute;

Pallavi Gupta, program director of LASER PULSE; and Yuehwern Yih, professor of industrial engineering and director of LASER PULSE.

The world we live in is burdened with many socioeconomic and environmental challenges. These are complex multidisciplinary issues that cannot be solved by the knowledge and resources of one group alone. Many of these issues require universities, government, and the social and private sectors to collaborate and share their unique strengths, knowledge and lived experiences. The elements of multidisciplinary research or best practices of collaboration building are not easily taught in the classroom; these are learned by working in a cross-cultural environment with multidisciplinary teams and practicing deep listening, empathy and mutual respect.

LASER PULSE, a $70 million USAID-funded program, has been conducting this work systematically for the past five years. The program has brought together 45-plus diverse cross-sector teams of researchers, students, policymakers, donors and private sectors in more than 21 countries and has helped them build strong collaborations to achieve a common goal of conducting rigorous research in international development. The issues that such cross-sector teams work on span challenges like agriculture and food security, democracy and human rights, economic growth, education, climate change, humanitarian assistance, water and sanitation, and conflict and violence prevention.

In this session, the panel will reflect on the program’s past five years in addition to their individual project experiences. Panelists will also discuss opportunities for student engagement, as well as the value proposition LASER PULSE, and programs like it, provide to student learning and student success. 

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 6.30 p.m., Honor’s Innovation Forum, Honor College and Residences Hall North 

“Exploring World Heritage Sites in Iran,” featuring Hossein Mousazadeh, postdoctoral researcher in the Community and Well-Being Learning Collaborative, John Martinson Honors College.

Mousazadeh will use an immersive display technology — the VisionPort — to take attendees on a journey to the hottest place on Earth: the Lut Desert. He’ll introduce a piece of centuries-old Iranian engineering — the Persian Qanat. These wonders of community engineering have been used to create irrigation channels over long distances and have been the basis of flourishing agricultural communities in the middle of an arid desert. Mousazadeh will speak about the sites and about working with local populations to develop tourism, community development and engagement in the area.

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 5:30 p.m., Honor’s Innovation Forum, Honor College and Residences Hall North

“Learning from Brazil’s Ethanol Framework,” featuring Danilo R.D. Aguiar, Fulbright Chair in Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue and professor of economics at Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil; and Fabio H. Ribeiro, the William Nicholas and Elizabeth Holstein Delgass Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue and director of the Center on the Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources.

Aguiar will discuss his research into the lessons that can be drawn from the success of Brazil’s ethanol policy framework. His research during his time at Purdue has explored the opportunities for climate mitigation in a policy framework that is able to benefit multiple stakeholders. He’ll be joined by Ribeiro, who will place Aguiar’s work within the broader landscape of climate solutions. 

Friday, Nov. 17, 12:30-2 p.m., Honor’s Innovation Forum, Honor College and Residences Hall North

“Building Multidisciplinary Research Partnerships,” featuring Gary Burniske, assistant director for program development, International Programs in Agriculture; and Chad Jafvert, the Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of environmental and ecological engineering.

Purdue and the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín in Arequipa, Peru, are partners in a bold cooperative technical alliance program with its flagship research, capacity and capability building initiative: the Arequipa Nexus Institute for Food, Water, Energy, and the Environment (Nexus Institute). The partnership has focused on co-development of targeted technical and research infrastructure to support a network of interrelated, interdisciplinary research projects. The projects addressed a variety of challenges in the areas of food security and safety, water and air quality, energy efficiency, soil health and productivity, social conflict identification and resolution models, and holistic watershed management.

Burniske will discuss capacity building for tackling food and nutrition insecurity in Peru with UNSA faculty, lessons learned and prospects for the future. Jafvert will speak about his research under the NEXUS Institute on monitoring metals and metalloids in rivers in the Arequipa area, as well as his overall experience performing research in Latin America, China and Kenya.

The International Research Speakers Series is part of a variety of activities, lectures and experiences being held by Purdue colleges and units to celebrate diversity, intercultural learning, and international research and partnerships during International Education Week. A schedule of events is available online. 

A joint initiative of the U.S. departments of State and Education, International Education Week promotes programs that prepare Americans to excel in a global environment and attracts future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences.