ESI98 Project Plan

Project Title/theme:

Human Health and Climate Change.

Faculty Mentor:

Project Team

Description of Research Project:

The focus of this project is to investigate the potential direct and indirect impact of global climate change on human health. Using a multidisciplinary approach to the problem, participants will determine and analyze the factors involved in the relationship between climate changes and the distribution patterns of new and reemerging infectious diseases. The project team will examine the current scientific literature and collect Internet data in an effort to determine these key components and their interrelationships. Major components include climate variations, types of infectious diseases, methods of transmission, human dimensions, and a historical perspective. Using the case study method, individual participants will investigate the effects of climate changes on a specific vector- borne disease (such as dengue, malaria, yellow fever).

Scientific Objective:

To understand how global and local climate changes influence the reemergence and redistribution of infectious diseases.

Educational Objectives:

To introduce team members to the scientific method by completing a specific project. To develop modes of delivery for using the project in teaching at levels from junior high school through college. The modes of delivery will include (a) discussion/seminar, (b) role-playing scenarios, (c) individual research projects, and (d) team research projects.

Outcomes:

Participants will understand the scientific method because they have applied it to a specific problem and will be able to teach their students using techniques and materials developed as part of the project. A focus of the research team's effort will be to include problem-based learning approaches to the topic. Participants will understand the relationship of climate change and its potential impact on human health.

Resources Needed:

Most of the work will be done using resources on the Internet and the University library facilities. The project will develop materials for the Web.

Preparation before the Institute:

All team members will be expected to explore the internet for current information on emerging infectious diseases and climate change. Become familiar with the following recommended sources:

Garrett, Laurie, The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

(Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1994) This book is available in paperback.

http://www.cdc.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases: Tracking trends and analyzing new and reemerging infectious disease issues around the world; A peer reviewed journal published by the National Center for Infectious Diseases four times a year (now in volume 4). Explore this web site. Focus on the EID journal. You can also retrieve the journal through email and can subscribe to the EID-TOC mailing list. The table of contents will automatically be sent to your email address.

http://www.outbreak.org

Outbreak: on-line information service addressing emerging diseases.

http://www.healthnet.org/programs/promed.html

The Program for Monitoring Emerging Disease Electronic Conference This is a global system that reports emerging disease outbreaks. I suggest that you subscribe to proMED. However, a word of caution, this listserv generates a great deal of messages. If you do not keep up with your email on a regular basis, you might find it overwhelming.

http://www.who.ch/programmes/emc/emc_home.htm

UN World Health Organization; Emerging and other Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control (EMC)

http://www.ciesin.org

Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network

http://www.noaa.gov

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration This is a big web site. Become familiar with its content. Focus on El Nino.

http://epa.gov/docs/ozone/

US Environmental Protection Agency

http://plaguescape.com

Ten plagues of Egypt described in the Book of Exodus: historical or "emerging infections"? Let?s include a historical perspective. This site attempts to explain the ten plagues in modern scientific terms (multidisciplinary). Nicely presented, interesting and fun.

http://www.edge.org/

Edge: "To arrive at the edge of the world?s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves." Go to the Reality Club: The World Question Center. Also, a bit of science philosophy: what is the "Third Culture"? How does it relate to C.P. Snow?s "Two Cultures". Does Edge relate to our projects? Edge is a thoughtful, interesting place.

Since the days of the caveman, the earth has never been a Garden of Eden, but a Valley of Decision where resilience is essential to survival.... To grow in the midst of dangers is the fate of the human race." Rene Dubos in Mirage of Health, 1959

Note: Agricultural, economic, social, political, and environmental considerations are also component parts of the project. Thus, the topic, Human Health and Climate Change, can be used not only as part of school science programs, but also across the curriculum in multidisciplinary areas, such as social sciences, history, and English. My vision of our research efforts is that of a collaborative team of peers who will develop and explore concepts together. If you have any questions, please fell free to contact me by email at: siewierski@aesop.rutgers.edu.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes" --Marcel Proust

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science

lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281

Tel:(609)452-7007

Fax:(609)452-0066