Bowling Green , Ky. - Western Kentucky University geography professor Chris Groves is traveling to Beijing next week at the invitation the U.S. Embassy’s Section on Environment, Science, Technology & Health (EST&H) to brief the group on environmental health challenges facing citizens of rural China.
Dr. Groves, who directs the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute within WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program, recently began “The China Environmental Health Project,” a new program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The program was made possible with the assistance of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). WKU chemistry professor Dr. Wei-Ping Pan also plays a leading role in the work, managing the air quality aspects of the project.
The EST&H Section at the embassy, as an office with the U.S. Department of State, oversees American environmental and science activities within China, and relations with Chinese government environmental agencies.
After the Dec. 8 briefing, Dr. Groves and his colleague Professor Yuan Daoxian of Southwest University of China will travel to a remote part of southern Yunnan Province, about 50 miles from China’s border with Vietnam. There they will meet with local and provincial officials to plan for a major water supply effort within the project, which will include several WKU faculty and graduate students.
Dr. Groves’ last stop on the way back to Kentucky will be a meeting with USAID officials at the Agency’s Regional Development Mission for Asia, located in Bangkok, Thailand, where the WKU environmental project is managed.
“WKU’s involvement in this international project demonstrates how faculty and students are seeking out new places to conduct research and to engage students with issues that have consequences beyond their immediate area,” said Dr. David Keeling, head of the Department of Geography and Geology.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5974.
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