Seeing Brighter Horizons

Dr Frank J. DiSalvo, Founding Director of the
Ithaca-based 'Cornell Center for A Sustainable
Future', is buoyed by discussions with
WCMC-Q pre-med students

Founding Director for the new 'Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future', Dr Frank J.DiSalvo, has been inspiring WCMC-Q faculty, students and other proponents of a sustainable planet.

During his visit from Ithaca, New York, Dr DiSalvo, John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science, discussed educational issues with premed students over pizza. He also fielded dynamic questions generated by his lecture at Education City on the Center's activities and met with members of Qatar's Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Sanctuaries.

The Center, which opened recently at Cornell's Ithaca Campus, addresses sustainability as one problem with several key components. The three sustainability themes addressed at the center under one umbrella are: energy, environment, and economic development.

'Champion' projects for the Center will be selected from Cornell's 1,600-strong faculty on the Ithaca campus. Local, national and international projects will eventually be researched and tested.

Dr DiSalvo acknowledged that the obstacles to creating a sustainable future could seem overwhelming. "But I am constantly buoyed by the fact that students are energized by these challenges."

"Young people fully understand the need for a sustainable future because they and other future generations will live in the world we leave to them," he says.