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Engineering and Environmental Challenges Technical Symposium on Earth Systems Engineering (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Gaining a Seat at the Policy Table
Pages 57-64

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From page 57...
... Panel III Engineers and Policy Makers Partners in the Development and Implementation of Solutions Engineers can provide a unique perspective on complex problems. This panel explores the rationale for engineers working closely with policy makers and a growing number of other stakeholders to address global problems.
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From page 59...
... Therefore, discussions sometimes extended discussions will be necessary to ensure effective communication. Second, these partnerships will require cooperation among multinational institutions that typically have a limited understanding, and are even suspicious of, different cultural norms and objectives.
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From page 60...
... Why couldn't we also cooperate in military research? The short version of the story is that, although the United States and Russia did agree to cooperate on a few projects, widespread cooperative research (which also would have moved hard currency into Russia at a time when it was sorely needed)
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From page 61...
... If engineers and scientists can offer sound answers to a wide range of technology-based problems, and not just Earth systems engineering, they could establish their credibility and reinforce support for their participation in policy decisions. A good example of the kind of cooperation that I advocate is described in the 1999 NRC report, Water for the Future: The West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, and Jordan, which chronicles a border-spanning technical study of sustainable water resources by academies from Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and the United States.
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From page 62...
... The research community can play a pivotal role in these efforts and can even frame the debate, because the technical community develops the measurement tools, defines the experiments, and wields assessment techniques to determine the status of this Earth system. Analysis of surface and shallow groundwater is relatively well understood, the sensors for determining changes in aboveground and underground reservoirs exist, and the modeling of water ecosystems is reasonably advanced.
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From page 63...
... We can build the necessary tools and techniques, particularly assessment techniques, including developing models of Earth systems and setting standards for collecting and assessing data. The United States has a fine record of stepping up to meet new challenges by mobilizing government funding and the resources and talents of the technical community.
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Key Terms

  • technical community
  • government funding
  • engineering community
  • water resources
  • assessment techniques

  • developing nations
  • military research
  • russian ministry
  • underground water
  • technical study

  • congress allocated
  • forging international
  • cover intellectual
  • civilian applications
  • world population

  • transcontinental railroad
  • reasonable valuation
  • pivotal role
  • engineering created
  • carefully managed

  • address crucial
  • reinforce support
  • measurement tools
  • shallow groundwater
  • president lincoln

  • secure seats
  • build collegial
  • design courses
  • sustained funding
  • engineering design


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