"Fill your brain for free," the advance publicity said. And that's just what folks did last week as 22 Institute on the Environment resident fellows made lively five-minute "Outburst!" presentations on the Big Question they're addressing, how they're doing it, and what it means for the rest of us.
Watch the archived presentation here - or, for just a taste of the talks and the variety of topics covered, check out this sample of live-tweets from attendees:
Partying with the Institute on the Environment #Outburst!
Jon Foley introducing Outburst! now. Why are we here at Institute on the Environment? To have an impact in the world.
I love how people in computer science are interested in real problems, and want to study / save the planet!
Okediji: the right regulatory framework allows us to capture the value of climate change technology
Now at Outburst! Volkan Isler on robotic systems for collecting data, starting with carp (yes, fish)
New concept - "Environmental nutrition" or environmental science merged with nutrition and health
"2 Billion More Coming to Dinner" film coming soon out of Institute on the Environment and Sci Museum collaboration
Robotic data mules replace graduate students... at least for tedious tasks
At Outburst! James Forester on how movement ecology interacts w/ disease
Costs and time for patenting green technology create imperative for a fast-track system
How can our developing world technology be made available for the "bottom billion" to survive, thrive?
In response to climate change, can we create fast track licensing mechanism for green technology for global south?
Klass: federal laws and state laws need to be harmonized to get our national energy infrastructure in shape.
Banerjee says twitter helps researchers understand public sentiment, find new stories... so I will tweet EVEN MORE
Geoengineering governance? We HAVE NOT thought through the law. At all.
Make law work better for environment and justice? Crazy!
Computer science can help us understand abrupt changes in climate, can help complete large forest ecology database
Household flux calculator - measure your impact on the flux of nutrients in the environment!
Outburst! Is perfect for those of us who are ADD and love learning about everything. AKA most environmental people I know.
We lack mechanisms for cost sharing for smart grid transmission - resulting in our current clunky system
An application of Shekhar's research? Evacuation route planning so transportation plans are sustainable
In Haiti, neighborhoods must be self sufficient, of necessity, and community approach fits culture
How can Midwestern agriculture create new prosperity and public goods by producing more from the same land base?
Spatial Data Mining - great potential for advancing climate science
Membrane filtration or reverse osmosis, important mechanism to get clean water
Neighborhood scale district energy systems part of the sustainability plans at UMore Park
In India, hydrological change, agriculture and the economy are linked, and dramatically impact food security
All water on northern plains (Canada) goes through Lake Winnipeg, a resource shared by 4 provinces, 2 states
Osofsky tells how multidimensional environment and energy governance and justice could be our path for better future
More from Osofsky - environmental justice and the BP oil spill shows we need better legal/ governance structures
Household flux calculator - measure your own flux!
In an area of heavy commercial forest harvesting sits the Wanang Research Area in Papua New Guinea
Air pollution among top 15 global cuause of mortality, estimated to cause 1M premature deaths annually
At Outburst! Jonathan Schilling asks "How do fungi eat and WHO CARES?" Hmmm.
Schilling: Fungi are gutless, toothless and heartless wonders.
Wood-degrading fungi provide lessons for bioconversion, may capture VOCs, methane
Now at Outburst! Alex Klass from law school on how to build out nation-wide grid for transmission of electricity
Nanotechnology widely used now, in 1000s of products. What is it? Engineered and very small
A Minnesota design team works hand in hand with Guanacaste national park staff in Costa Rica - on a coloring book
Why care about transmission? Current system weighed down by waste and makes incorporating renewables difficult.
Threshold: things flip over into a new state. A key element of human-environment systems.
Manson says if "complex" is too complicated for you - think "black swan" instead
Occupational disease risk high in India due to scarcity of infrastructure for enforcement, weak power of labor
Comparing India and China, lessons for rapid industrial growth and occupational health
Now at Outburst! Gurumurthy Ramachandran says "I win the award for longest name" Guess so.
Nanotechnology would be more appreciated in the future, since there is still more manual work happening today even with the high technology.
Thanks for your comments, Green Planet Grass. Interesting point. We shall see how it all shakes out!
I believe there are already numerous nanotech inventions out there hidden perhaps and under experimental stage.