David Brown, associate professor for the Centre for the Environment at Brock University in Ontario, will be the annual Robert E. Umbaugh guest lecturer at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in 209 DEF Building, Penn State DuBois. The lecture is free to the public.
Brown, who holds a doctorate in ecology and renewable resources from McGill University in Montreal, will present "Garbage Cans to Gigabytes: Appropriate Technology for Taming Trash in Thailand," focusing on the strategies and a case study in implementing technological solutions for third-world country problems. Brown lived in Thailand and China during the 2004-2005 academic school year.
"The whole question of appropriate technology was addressed from the starting standpoint of principles of sustainability, which required a careful matching of what was technologically possible with what was socially and culturally appropriate," Brown said of his personal experience in Thailand.
Brown has taught courses on wildlife management and conservation, waste management, environmental toxins, ecosystem-based planning and environmental impacts of the automobile, among other disciplines.
Hoagy Schaadt, wildlife technology program leader at the Penn State DuBois, remarked that there are lessons that can be learned locally from Brown's experience.
"Accounts of proposed and developing landfills have long been front-page news in the Tri-County Area," Schaadt said. "But, unlike our situation, Thailand has a strong and active 'informal' waste economy. Legions of pickers glean a living by sorting through the trash to salvage valuable items from Thailand's waste. There are of course many other factors that complicate the system and magnify Thailand's growing waste-stream management problems."
Schaadt added that Brown will illustrate all of these concerns in a manner that will leave a lasting impression on the audience, with both his message and the stunning photography from southeast Asia.
The Robert E. Umbaugh Lectureship at Penn State DuBois was endowed to the campus in 1997 and provides funds to support the costs of hosting quality public speakers in the fields of science and technology. While visiting DuBois, Brown also will share knowledge with students enrolled in Penn State DuBois' wildlife technology, forestry and biology programs as well as faculty and staff and local high school students.