April 12, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Olivier Carduner, the newly appointed director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA), traveled to Chongqing recently to visit Western Kentucky University’s partnership with Southwest University of China (SWUC) to improve water resources in rural southwest China.
The trip was Carduner’s first official visit to China. He chose WKU’s China Environmental Health Project from among several USAID initiatives for the visit following a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt Jr. in Beijing. USAID fosters economic growth, protects human health, provides emergency humanitarian assistance and nurtures democracy in developing nations.
The goal of the China Environmental Health Project (CEHP) is to establish academic partnerships with Chinese universities to improve public health through access to potable water and clean air. The project is made possible through the support of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and is directed by Dr. Chris Groves of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at WKU.
In addition to the water resources partnership with SWUC, the WKU group is also working with the Anhui University of Science and Technology to enhance clean coal technologies. That effort is led by Dr. Wei-Ping Pan of WKU’s Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental Technology. Other major project partners include the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in Kunming, China.
During the visit, Carduner toured a new state-of-the-art laboratory for Geographic Information Systems and was briefed on the USAID project’s recent field and laboratory training efforts. SWUC graduate students also demonstrated rope-climbing techniques used in mapping underground river systems that can provide alternative water sources where there is little surface water.
Following the visit, Carduner praised the warm reception provided by his Chinese hosts, as well as the “informative discussions with them about the role of USAID and the U.S.-China partnership to help address problems that also affect the rest of the world.”
Groves, who returned from southwest China following field work in Yunnan province, said “this provided a great opportunity to share the results of WKU’s continuing success” in the international arena.
The head of WKU’s Department of Geography and Geology said the partnership with Southwest University of China is an important step in the growth of Western Kentucky University’s ongoing educational ties with China. “Water is among the most critical resource issues for both China and the U.S.,” said Dr. David Keeling, “so ongoing collaboration between faculty and students can only benefit both societies.”
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.
ETN
For information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5974.
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