-Magdalen Lindeberg

Graduate students and postdocs from Cornell University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) participated in a joint workshop October 5 – 9, directed at broadening understanding of sustainability related initiatives in Ithaca and Japan. Jointly coordinated by graduate students from Cornell and TUAT, ten participants from TUAT and seven Cornell grad students and postdocs toured the Ithaca and Agritech campuses, visited alternative energy facilities, and attended talks on science communication by SIPS Communications Director Magdalen Lindeberg and Bruce Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication in the Department of Science & Technology Studies.  The workshop culminated with participants giving fun and engaging presentations on solutions to climate change and other environmental challenges at a special Science Cabaret event. The 2018 workshop was coordinated by three graduate students from TUAT and and four from Cornell including SIPS grad students Penelope Lindsay and Hannah Thomas and postdoc Phil Conklin. Conklin is supported by NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship #1612235, for which public outreach is a important component. Cornell participants were drawn from SIPS, Computer Science, Engineering, and Materials Science.

Cornell has been hosting workshops in collaboration with Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology since 2013 with the goal of broadening students’ cultural and academic horizons and with a particular focus on the intersection of the environment and technology. Cornell workshop participants have the opportunity to visit Tokyo as part of the exchange.  Gillian Turgeon, professor in the Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Professor and Vice Dean Tsutomu Arie from TUAT, and Associate Professor Yoko Ichijo have been instrumental in the creation and continued funding of the TUAT-Cornell exchange.