Preparing the Next Generation of Sustainability Scientists

Graduate programs emerging in universities over recent decades support the advanced study of sustainability issues in complex socio-environmental systems. Constructing the problem-scope to address these issues requires graduate students to integrate across disciplines and synthesize the social and natural dimensions of sustainability. Graduate programs that are designed to foster inter- and transdisciplinary research acknowledge the importance of training students to use integrative research approaches. However, this training is not available in all graduate programs that support integrative research, often requiring students to seek external training opportunities. We present perspectives from a group of doctoral students with diverse disciplinary backgrounds conducting integrative research in universities across the United States who participated in a 10-day, National Science Foundation-funded integrative research training workshop to learn and develop socio-environmental research skills. Following the workshop, students conducted a collaborative autoethnographic study to share pre- and postworkshop research experiences and discuss ways to increase integrative research training opportunities. Results reveal that students, regardless of disciplinary background, face common barriers conducting integrative research that include: (1) lack of exposure to epistemological frameworks and team-science skills, (2) challenges to effectively include stakeholder perspectives in his/her research, and (3) variable levels of committee support to conduct integrative research. To overcome the identified barriers and advance integrative research, students recommend how training opportunities can be embedded within existing graduate programs. Students advocate that both internal and external training opportunities are necessary to support the next generation of sustainability scientists

CHANGING WATERSCAPES: The Dichotomy of Development and Water Management Surrounding the East Calcutta Wetlands since the British-colonial Era

ConCave Ph.D. Symposium 2020: Divergence in Architectural Research, March 5-6, 2020, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.The deltaic region of Bengal is known for its riverine networks and fertile soil. The capital of former British- India, Calcutta, was a swampy region with small canals connecting the land with the river Hooghly in the west and to the saltwater lakes in the east, now known as the East Calcutta Wetlands (ECW). The eastern canals carry the city’s wastewater to the ECW for treatment using sewage-fed fisheries and farmlands and then released it into the Bay of Bengal via the Kulti River. In the early British colonial period, the salt lakes were depicted as hindrance to the health and well-being of the city’s inhabitants because of high mortality in the region, presumably caused by miasmic diseases. Part of these marshes, the ECW now acts as a giant sink for this dense post-colonial urban settlement, helping to drain the land, providing food and employment, and saving costs for artificial wastewater treatment plant. This hydrologic system is now at risk due to encroachment from real-estate development and pollution in the adjoining canals, posing an immense threat to this critical human-water relationship. In this paper, we examine the dichotomy of urban development and water management since the colonial era to assess the temporal nature of the human-water negotiations behind the changing waterscapes

Antioxidant potential of hydro-methanolic extract of seed of Caesalpinia bonduc: An in vitro study

It is well known that the over production of reactive oxygen species is harmful for living organisms and it damages major cellular constituents such as DNA, protein, and lipid. At present, searching of new plant sources having free radical scavenging activity is an important field of research in phytomedicine as natural products are safe and relatively low cost. In this respect, attention has been focused to evaluate the antioxidant potential of hydro-methanolic extract of seed of Caesalpinia bonduc (Caesalpenacae) using different in vitro models. To evaluate the antioxidant activity, extract was examined on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging effect, scavenging of hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical scavenging potential, and anti-lipid peroxidation activity by biochemical methods. Total phenol and flavonoids contents in the said extract were measured biochemically as per standard methods. Results were compared with butylated hydroxyl toluene and α-tocopherol. Results indicated that hydro-methanolic extract has strong scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical with IC50 value 157.4 μg/ml, hydroxyl radical with IC50 value 61.9 μg/ml and hydrogen peroxide with IC50 value 64.32 μg/ml. Hydro-methanolic extract also showed notable inhibition in lipid peroxidation having IC50 value 58.87 μg/ml. Phytochemical study focused that the extract is rich in phenolic compounds (24.66 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dried extract) and flavonoids (136.65 mg quercetin equivalent/g dried extract). Findings of the experiment indicated that the hydro-methanolic extract of seed of Caesalpinia bonduc is a source of natural antioxidants

Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Thermal and Luminescent Characterization of Two New 3D Cadmium\u2013Carboxylate Frameworks

Two new cadmium coordination polymers have been synthesized with composition {[Cd2(tma)(atz) (H2O)].(H2O)}n (1) (tmaH3 = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylicacid, atzH = 5-aminotetrazole) and [Cd(isoor)2(H2O)2] (2) (isoorH = isoorotic acid). X-ray single crystal structure analysis reveals that complex 1 is 3D coordination polymer. However 2 is mononuclear and turned 3D via hydrogen bonding. Thermogravimetric and luminescence characterization of the complexes were done

3D Coordination Network of Ag(I) Ions with \u3bc 3 -Bridging Melamine Ligands

A new 3D silver complex [Ag(mela)(H2O)(NO3)]n (1) (mela = melamine or 2,4,6-triaminotriazine) is synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, IR, and elemental analysis. The structural characterization shows that the compound crystallizes in space group C c, a = 8.181(2), b = 10.269(3) c = 11.347(3) A \ub0 , b = 105.88(2) A, Z = 4. Out of several structurally characterized transition metal compounds comprising melamine, the titled complex represents a rare example of l3-melamine coordination mode realized through the heterocycle nitrogen donors. The fluorescent property of complex 1 was investigated and the mechanism was validated by means of a density functional theory (DFT) calculation

Two new metal-organic coordination polymers of lead with O-, N-donor ligands: Synthesis, characterization, luminescence and thermal behavior

The synthesis of two new lead(II) coordination polymers, [Pb2(picOH)4] .H2O (1) and [Pb3(Sip)2- (H2O)2] .H2O (2) has been reported, where HpicOH = 3-hydroxypicolinic acid and NaH2Sip = 5-sulfoi- sophthalic acid monosodium salt .Both the complexes were structurally characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction analysis.Complex 1, where the 3-hydroxypicolinate ligand is used for the first time in conjunction withPb(II), revealed to bea1D polymericarray. Complex 2 showed a 3D structure with 5-sulfoisophthalate ligand adopting two novel binding modes of high denticity (eta-6mu-6 and eta-7mu-7). The photoluminescence and thermal properties of the two complexes have been studied

2D and 1D Coordination Polymers of Ag(I) Ions with 2,6-Naphthalenedicarboxylate and N-Donor Coligands

Two new Ag(I) coordination polymers [Ag2(mepyz)](2,6-ndc)]n (1) and [Ag4(4,40-bipy)]4(2,6-ndc)2.8(H2O) (2) (where 2,6-ndcH2 = 2,6-napthalene dicarboxylic acid, mepyz = 2-methyl pyrazine and 4,40-bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine) have been synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Complex 1 displays a 2D rectangular grid architecture comprising short Ag-Ag interactions, while 2 is a 1D coordination polymer: both enlarge their dimensionality to 3D via weak interactions. Luminescence study performed on complexes as well on ligands shows metal perturbed intraligand CT transition