November 14, 2019 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Outreach and education has always been a central part of the mission Jamie Lead set forth for the Center for Environmental Nanoscience and Risk (CENR) – the South Carolina SmartState Center he established when he joined the Arnold School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences in 2012. Not only do CENR members (i.e., six faculty members and more than 20 doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows) study how to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of nanoparticles’ effects on environmental and human health, they exchange ideas with others from kindergarteners to leading scientists in the field.
Stateside, CENR engages in outreach activities with K-12 students and members of the community to provide education about this growing field. They also host scientists from around the world to exchange ideas and provide new training opportunities. The CENR team is well represented in scholarship as well – having published more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of soil, water, atmosphere, and social science about the nanoscale since 2012.
Lead also makes an effort to spread the word and build collaborations around nanoscience on a global scale. Last year, he began a five-year collaboration with Shanxi Agricultural University to help them develop their nano-focused agricultural program. In August and October of this year, he returned to China to discuss nanoscience through a series of Plenary and Invited talks (see talk schedule below). In between, he traveled to Austria to give a talk and chair a session at the 14th International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials, for which Lead serves on the international organizing committee as one of the founding organizers.
The topics covered examples of the full range of activities that he and CENR researchers investigate at universities and conferences with hundreds of attendees. His travels also included nearly a week at Shanxi, where he worked with scientists on the impacts of nanoparticle exposure plant health, productivity and the root-soil microbiome.
Lead’s international reputation as a leading authority in the field is evident from the numerous invited talks and collaboration opportunities. His frequent presence on the global scene is also a reflection of the growing understanding and importance of the field of nanoscience.
“The environmentally benign uses of nanoscience as well as the potential harm of nanomaterials have to be balanced to optimize benefit and risk, which is the CENR’s mission,” Lead says. “More and more this is a question of international importance, where collaboration can improve the quality of research and reduce their costs. This double benefit makes exchange and outreach essential. Our interaction with the Chinese research community is just one part of our collaborations including those nationally and with Europe, India and elsewhere.”
|
Talk Title |
Conference/Institution |
Location |
Dates |
|
Role of the journal NanoImpact (Lead is co-Editor-in-Chief) |
National Conference on Environmental Chemistry (Invited Speaker) |
TianJin, China |
August 16-18 |
|
Oil remediation in the environment using nanotechnology |
ChinaNANO (International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology) (Invited Speaker) |
Beijing, China |
August 18-21 |
|
The role of physico-chemical transformations and persistence in the applications and implications of nanoparticles |
Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanocenter and High Energy Physics division) |
Beijing, China |
August 22 |
|
Transformations of nanoparticles in aquatic systems; a single particle and single cell approach |
All Material Fluxes in River Eco-systems Conference (Plenary Speaker) |
Beijing, China |
October 11-13 |
|
Fate and behavior of nanoparticles in environment |
East China Normal University |
Shanghai, China |
October 17 |
|
Transformations and biouptake of nanoparticles |
Fudan University |
Shanghai, China |
October 18 |
Related:
CENR director Jamie Lead builds nano collaborations with Chinese University
Jamie Lead included in Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate Analytics fourth year in a row
CENR perfects revolutionary technique for cleaning up oil contamination
CENR researchers use nanoparticles to learn when toxicity occurs in the food chain
CENR engages K-12 children on the topic of nanomaterials with new program at EdVenture
Jamie Lead receives USC Educational Foundation Award for Research in Health Sciences