Friday, January, 22nd, 2021 News
TIE has been so pleased to host our 2020 - 2021 Special Speaker Series, a new initiative which promotes education and discussion about the most pressing and challenging environmental topics of our current moment.
Topics addressed over the series include: Race, Justice, and the Environment, an election special on Spatial Toolkits of White Supremacy, and water concerns in places in crisis compounded by COVID-19.
The need for water in refugee camps is critical. The number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), worldwide, is about 80 million. Most refugees are fleeing water-stressed and conflict-torn countries such as South Sudan, Somalia, and Syria. Generally, the host countries for refugee populations are also arid or semi-arid, such as Kenya, Chad, and Jordan. In the marginal landscapes where refugee camps are usually sited, groundwater is often the only practical source of water for drinking, cooking, and sanitation. A lack of access to adequate water supplies is directly tied to increasing occurrences of cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, trachoma, and other diseases.
Today, with Covid-19 outbreaks already occurring in overcrowded refugee camps, improving hygiene is absolutely necessary, and a well-targeted geophysical exploration program can make the difference between a successful water supply program and a doomed one. To learn more about the pursuit of water in these distressed areas, join us as Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Distinguished Lecturer, Paul Bauman leads us on a geophysical search for water in distinct refugee and conflict zones in East Africa. Moderated by Dr. Daniele Lantagne, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University.
To view the event Zoom recording, please click the below link.