Great conversation has a way of bringing people together. Each year, Dalhousie鈥檚聽聽offer a space where new and interesting perspectives are shared, and where audiences can learn from and engage with researchers, faculty, alumni and students on a range of timely and important topics.
This year, through a series of five in-person and聽, the Open Dialogue Live series zeroed in on Dal鈥檚 research strengths 鈥� from food security and clean energy, to ocean research, health outcomes and innovation and entrepreneurship 鈥� answering the question, 鈥楬ow can we use these strengths to help solve today鈥檚 greatest challenges?鈥�
Here are 10 things we learned this season:
- We need to produce 50-60 per cent more food.
This will help support a growing, global population of nearly 10 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations.聽聽(BA鈥�19), food security policy analyst and panelist at 鈥溾��, explained that the world currently produces enough food to feed it, but today鈥檚 challenges around food security and policy have become a matter of distribution.
- It鈥檚 essential to support local farmers.
Dal Faculty of Agriculture聽professor and panelist Dr. Gumataw Abebe shared that food production, distribution and supply chains are systematic. To bring synergy, we need to focus on a more sustainable approach. 鈥淲e are living in a very globalized environment, one in which people are realizing the importance of supporting local.鈥澛�
- When looking for the latest renewable energy sources, see what鈥檚 already available.
础迟听, battery tech guru, alum and panelist聽聽(MSc鈥�11, PhD鈥�15) said that we don鈥檛 need a breakthrough: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 technologies are compelling, and capable of making change.鈥�
- Dal is creating powerful solutions for energy generation and storage.
顿补濒鈥檚听Clean Technology Research Institute (CTRI)聽is also fueling powerful solutions for energy management and public policy. It鈥檚 received more than $70 million in external funding to help support clean technology research to date.聽
- Early prevention and diagnosis are necessary for understanding illness.
础迟听, Dr. Brendan Leung, associate professor with聽, explained his work in growing lab replicas of patient tumours using their own cells, sharing, 鈥渂y understanding the stages in tumour progression, we can optimize our treatment strategies to achieve better patient outcomes, with less side effects.鈥�
- Understanding a patient鈥檚 baseline 鈥� how they were before they got sick 鈥� is key.
This came from Dr. Kenneth Rockwood (PGM鈥�91), a professor with Dalhousie鈥檚 Division of Geriatric Medicine, when he was explaining his exploration in the relationship between frailty and dementia, and how he鈥檚 working to get patients back to where they were before they got sick.聽
- Dal is fighting climate change across its faculties.
础迟听, panelist Dr. Mike Smit, professor at the School of Information Management, shared that research areas and expertise from across the university 鈥� from engineering and law, to entrepreneurship, innovation and social science 鈥� are working to tackle urgent climate challenges.
- Up to 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide will need to be removed from the atmosphere by 2050.
Drawing on his training from Dal,聽聽(PhD鈥�16) shared how his company,聽, is using the ocean to soak up harmful carbon dioxide using alkaline material.聽
- Today, start-ups and investment opportunities are driven by their social impact.
础迟听, panelist and business leader Wade Dawe said young innovators and entrepreneurs are leading the charge here.
- Innovation and entrepreneurship programming injects jobs and dollars into the economy.
At Dal, such programming fosters the skills of hundreds of students and researchers each year.聽
We thank all who joined in-person and online for this year鈥檚 Open Dialogue Live events and look forward to next year, when we will offer a new slate of conversations on timely and important topics. Stay tuned!