The Duke Digest - November 11, 2011

In Today's Issue:

  • Duke Study Offers 7 Safeguards for Hydraulic Fracturing
  • Duke Launches Energy Initiative to Tackle Global Issues
  • Fareed Zakaria to be Duke's 2012 Commencement Speaker
  • Duke Prof Participates in Congressional Briefing, Shares Research with NC Delegation
  • Faculty Opinion: Bi-Sectoralism: Strengths from Within


DUKE STUDY OFFERS 7 SAFEGUARDS FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
A new report by Duke University researchers offers several health and environmental measures for North Carolina lawmakers to consider as they debate legalizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, looks at potential environmental hazards and how lawmakers in other states are factoring health and environmental risks into regulatory approaches targeting the natural gas extraction method.

”If North Carolina legalizes shale gas extraction, we need to consider what’s worked best in other states and avoid what hasn’t,” said Rob Jackson, Nicholas professor of global environmental change at the Nicholas School of the Environment. “That’s the only way to get it right.”

Read More:
Study Offers 7 Safeguards to Hydraulic Fracturing (nicholasinstitute.duke.edu)


DUKE LAUNCHES ENERGY INITIATIVE TO TACKLE MAJOR GLOBAL ISSUES
Energy is essential to our mobile, connected, productive lifestyle, and the world's economic recovery and growth depend on it. But producing and consuming energy has also become the fundamental force behind some of our most pressing global issues, including economic competitiveness, security and the health of the planet's environment.

Duke University is launching an interdisciplinary, university-wide initiative to explore creative solutions to the problems surrounding energy and to help prepare tomorrow's leaders for a world in which producing and consuming energy will present ever greater challenges.

The effort will be led by Richard Newell, a Duke professor who has just returned to campus after two years as the head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Read More:
Duke Launches Energy Initiative to Tackle Major Global Issues (duke.edu)


FAREED ZAKARIA TO BE DUKE'S 2012 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Fareed Zakaria, a CNN anchor, TIME magazine editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist, will deliver Duke University's commencement address on Sunday, May 13, 2012.

Commencement exercises will begin at 10 a.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium and are open to the public. More details are available at http://web.duke.edu/commencement/.

Read More:
Fareed Zakaria to be 2012 Commencement Speaker (duke.edu)


DUKE PROF PARTICIPATES IN CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING, SHARES RESEARCH WITH NC DELEGATION
In conjunction with the House Research and Development Caucus, the Optical Society hosted a briefing on November 17 to provide insight into how medical imaging is being used to better diagnose and treat a range of conditions, while offering perspective into where this technology is headed in the future.

Dr. Joseph Izatt, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke, discussed current and future technologies related to optics in retinal imaging and gave examples of how federally-funded laboratory research has translated into improved disease detection as well as successful start-up companies.

After the briefing, Dr. Izatt visited staff members of some of the North Carolina delegation to explain how federal investments in basic research led to the development of retinal imaging technology that is now the standard used in medical offices around the world. Dr. Izatt also shared how government seed money (SBIR grants) helped his RTP-based startup company spin out of the research developed in his lab.

Read More:
Dr. Joseph A. Izatt's Website (fitzpatrick.duke.edu)
Event Info - Medical Imaging: R&D Saving Lives (researchcaucus.org)


FACULTY OPINION: BI-SECTORALISM: STRENGTH FROM WITHIN
In a piece appearing in the Huffington Post on Wednesday, Bruce Jentleson, professor of public policy and political science at Duke, co-writes:

"The outlook for the U.S., the EU and the global economy is unclear. Political systems buckle under the challenge of domestic, regional or global governance. Consumers hunker down, corporations sit on cash, job creation is anemic, banks and sovereigns shrink.

In this, our third column, we elaborate on the first of our five Bi-Sectoral Principles, Strength from within -- for while the U.S. does depend on others, much more important is what we do for ourselves."

Jentleson and his co-author, Jay Pelosky, go on to emphasize the need for a "grown up conversation around [America's] shared strengths, challenges and opportunities, led by our politicians and incorporating private sector leaders, investors and ordinary people as well."

Read More:
Bi-Sectoralism: Strength from Within (Huffington Post)