The problem with alternative sources of energy and water is that it is hard to overhaul a fully developed system.  Our infrastructure must be prepared to handle non-traditional sources of said energy and water. Debaters worked on sorting out some solutions during the discussion of the paper written by Dr. Neil Fromer, Executive Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech, titled “Balancing Efficient Use with Sustainable Generation.” Dr. Fromer's policy position paper was considered during the ISGP conference, Sustainability Challenges: Coping with Less Water and Energy convened June 5, 2015 in Pasadena California. For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are facing nutritional deficiencies and other food security challenges associated with changing food systems and climate change. The situation sounds bad, but it might be even worse: Are solutions to these problems mutually exclusive?

Debaters sorted some solutions during the debate of the paper titled “Effects of Modernization, Global Pollution, and Climate Change on Food Security Among Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic” was written by Professor Laurie Chan from the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Chan's policy position paper was considered during the ISGP conference, Food Safety, Security, and Defense: Food Security and Diet Linked Public Health Challenges, convened Sept. 20-23, 2015 in partnership with North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
If science isn’t communicated properly, then not only does it lose value, but any of that potentially useful information, could be drowned out by more sensational claims that are inconsistent with the best available evidence.  Because we’re currently living in a pivotal age for science communication, mainly due to social media, science communicators need to make their information more relevant, memorable, actionable, and valuable for more people.

Debaters sorted some of the useful options for improving science communication during the debate of the paper, "To Increase Science's Public Value, We must Improve Communication" by Dr. Arthur Lupia, the Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Lupia's policy position paper was considered during the ISGP conference, Communicating Science for Policy, convened Aug. 9–11, 2015 in Durham, N.C.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.

Food supply ethics – that is a real moral dilemma.  As a global population swells in the direction of 9 billion, food security is at stake. But whose food and environmental needs should be prioritized — those of today's humans or those of future generations? And where do animals fit into this complicated picture?

Debaters sorted through the decidedly mixed pros and cons of such a system in the debate of the paper Technological Safeguards for the U.S. Food Supply: Moral and Ethical Dilemmas by Dr. H. Morgan Scott, Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University.

Dr. Scott presented his paper at the ISGP conference, Safeguarding the American Food Supply,  convened April 11–12, 2015, by the ISGP in partnership with Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, U.S., with financial support from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
While scientists agree sea levels are rising,  the magnitude of sea level rise over time is less well understood, making it difficult to design and implement effective adaptation policies for coastal properties. Debaters discussed this challenge and potential fixes in their consideration of the paper The Coming Reality of Sea Level Rise Along the New Jersey Coast: Too Fast Too Soon, by Dr. Harold Wanless, Professor and Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Miami, Florida, U.S.

Dr. Wanless' paper was considered at the ISGP Climate Change Program conference The Shore's Future: Living with Storms and Sea Level Rise, convened October 20-21, 2015, in Toms River, New Jersey, U.S.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
Is "syndromic surveillance" a reliable and cost-effective way to prevent global disease outbreaks? Such monitoring is done without lab testing, relying instead on factors such as environmental indicators.   Debaters sorted through the decidedly mixed pros and cons of such a system in the debate of the paper Novel Surveillance Systems: Good Value for Money Spent? by Dr. Arthur Reingold, professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Associate Dean of Research at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.

Dr. Reingold presented his paper at the ISGP conference Emerging and Persistent Infectious Diseases: Focus on Surveillance, convened in Warrenton, Virginia, U.S.,  Oct. 17-20, 2010.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.


Although 20 years of data suggest GMOs do not pose health risks to humans or animals, GMO products remain heavily regulated, inhibiting development. Should regulatory efforts be based on the technology used to create the product, or should they be proportional to the risk posed by the product being evaluated? Debaters weighed in on this and other questions during the debate of the policy paper Regulatory Oversight of New Plant and Animal Varieties in the United States, written by Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, a biotechnology specialist at University of California, Davis.

The paper was debated at the ISGP conference Production and Sustainability,  held April 2015 in  St. Petersburg, Florida, in partnership with Eckerd College.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
When considering a retreat from vulnerable coastal communities, economics and politics play a big role in decision-making -- or the lack thereof.  Such factors are explored in this recap of the debate of the policy position paper Adapting to Climate Change on the Coast: Changing Values, Behavior, and Policies, by Dr. Karen O’Neill, Associate Professor in the Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. 

Dr. O'Neill presented her paper at the ISGP conference The Shore’s Future: Living With Storms & Sea Level Rise, convened in Toms River, New Jersey on Oct. 20-21, 2015.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.


 

How can synthetic biology products be regulated so as to maximize their benefits and minimize their potential to create harm? Although there is no one-size-fits-all answer, fear of this emerging technology cannot drive the discussion, agreed debaters of The Challenges of Deploying Synthetic Biology Technologies in Developing Countries, a paper by Dr. Maria Mercedes Roca, Associate Professor of Biotechnology at Zamorano University, Honduras.

The debate occurred at ISGP’s 21st Century Borders/Synthetic Biology conference Focus on Responsibility and Governance, held in December 2012 in Tucson, AZ, U.S.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.
Are land trusts an innovative way for governments to adapt to sea level rise -- or are they just too impractical, unpopular and expensive?  Arguments were made both ways and compromises suggested in the debate of the paper Shoreline Adaptation Land Trusts: Concept for Rising Sea Level, by Mr. John Englander, president of the Rising Seas Group, Boca Raton, FL.  

The paper was debated at the ISGP conference  Sea Level Rise: What’s Our Next Move?, convened October 2-3, 2015, in coordination with The St. Petersburg/Pinellas County Working Group, and the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College.

For more podcasts, visit ISGP's The Forum.