34. Food Ecosystems, Industrial Ecology & Interdisciplinary Knowledge - with Dr. Weslynne Ashton

05/24/22 • 78 min

This episode dives into understanding how businesses and industries develop and die out in certain regions in a very evolutionary manner. Dr. Ashton talks with Arlene about what we can learn from these natural changes and how we can use the information to create more sustainable business structures. We also hear how Dr. Ashton's career developed organically, both due to her interests and to simply going through the doors that opened along the way. Dr. Weslynne Ashton is an Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology with joint appointments at the Stuart School of Business and the Institute of Design. She also holds a faculty affiliate (courtesy) appointment in the Armour College of Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Ashton is a sustainable systems scientist, whose research, teaching and practice are oriented around transitioning our socio-ecological systems towards sustainability and equity. She studies the adoption of socially and environmentally responsible strategies in business, and the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in addressing social and environmental challenges. Her research is grounded in industrial ecology and the circular economy. Her current work focuses on increasing sustainability and equity in urban food systems, and developing regenerative economies in post-industrial regions, newly industrializing countries and small island states. She was awarded a Jefferson Science Fellowship by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in 2018. She spent the 2018-2019 academic year as a science-policy advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where she worked with the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia on strategic planning, energy policy and energy efficiency programs in the Balkans and Ukraine. We hope you enjoy the journey on today's Pathway! Show Notes: Would you like to join one or more of our in-person discussion segments? Become a member of GrenSTEAM today at https://cutt.ly/membersignup. We can't wait to have you! Head over to our https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOIsgNOExGUWh04-TpnTnruz5NRjtQATJ to catch the full video version of this and every episode. Video is also available on Spotify! As part of our ongoing mission to engage the public in STEAM-related topics, GrenSTEAM is running a crowd-sourced blog. If you, or someone you know has a piece they would like to share which has something to do with Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture or Math, be it a personal article, a short paper, a knowledge-share or simply suggested reading, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0EEaXx_kRkJa0lG0iIb4yxAVAYYTdfZiSB_Kzy_3wGG3ziQ/viewform. Fill out our short form, then upload or paste your word file to be uploaded to our website. If you’d like to get involved with curation of our blog, volunteer at https://grensteam.org/get-involved/#volunteer. This episode of Pathways was produced by Arlene Hayes for Grenadian STEAM Inc. Video editing by Kate Masaltseva of https://www.instagram.com/mindzeye_films/. Audio editing by Chemon Marryshow. Episode artwork by Identity Designer, https://www.instagram.com/justmo.gd/. Your host is Arlene Hayes Theme song produced by Andrew 'Hitz' Phillip The thoughts and ideas expressed on this podcast are those of the host and her guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Grenadian STEAM or its members.

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33. Remote Work and the Web3.0 Era - with Kareem P. Jackson

Today, Kareem and Arlene chat about the experiences he had navigating life, more or less blindly, as an international student before discovering the world of remote work and diving in. They also share thoughts on Blockchain, NFTs and the Web3.0 revolution. Kareem P. Jackson is a realist, a stoic, a global citizen. A problem solver, product engineer and minimalist. An overthinker and overachiever. A Blockchain enthusiast. A curious mind, an adventurer and ... we’re still on the fence about whether or not he’s human. His experiences and interests so far in life have led him to founding Unpluggd Media Group - an outlet for his passions and curiosities, a platform to share, communicate and build with the world. Kareem believes in living to learn and sharing to grow, so through the technology vertical of UMG - https://medium.com/unpluggd-digital - he develops the products that serve those roles. We hope you enjoy the journey on today's Pathway! Show Notes: Would you like to join one or more of our in-person discussion segments? Become a member of GrenSTEAM today at //cutt.ly/membersignup. We can't wait to have you! Head over to our https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOIsgNOExGUWh04-TpnTnruz5NRjtQATJ to catch the full video version of this and every episode. Video is also available on Spotify! As part of our ongoing mission to engage the public in STEAM-related topics, GrenSTEAM is running a crowd-sourced blog. If you, or someone you know has a piece they would like to share which has something to do with Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture or Math, be it a personal article, a short paper, a knowledge-share or simply suggested reading, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0EEaXx_kRkJa0lG0iIb4yxAVAYYTdfZiSB_Kzy_3wGG3ziQ/viewform. Fill out our short form, then upload or paste your word file to be uploaded to our website. If you’d like to get involved with curation of our blog, volunteer at https://grensteam.org/get-involved/#volunteer. This episode of Pathways was produced by Arlene Hayes for Grenadian STEAM Inc. Video editing by Kate Masaltseva of https://www.instagram.com/mindzeye_films/. Episode artwork by Identity Designer, https://www.instagram.com/justmo.gd/. Your host is Arlene Hayes Theme song produced by Andrew 'Hitz' Phillip The thoughts and ideas expressed on this podcast are those of the host and her guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Grenadian STEAM or its members.

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35. Disaster Management, Beyond the Crisis - with Kemron Dufont

Ever wondered what a disaster management professional does when there's no disaster happening? Arlene and Kemon discuss the role of a disaster management specialist during times of crisis and at peacetime on this episode of Pathways. Kemron also shares how he is currently using food processing as a way of getting Grenada closer to being ready to survive disaster. We hope you enjoy the journey on today's Pathway! Kemron Dufont is a proactive disaster risk management specialist, environmental engineer, project manager, and technical leader. Kemron holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the City Colleges of New York and a Master of Disaster Management from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Over the years, he has amassed experience working with local, national, regional and international partners on policy issues, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, sustainable development and projects design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Kemron recently served as Technical Officer with NaDMA - the National Disaster Management Agency here in Grenada for a number of years - and it’s equivalent organization in St. Lucia - NEMO. He has recently transitioned to more of a focus on his consultancy in different aspects of Disaster Management. Show Notes: Would you like to join one or more of our in-person discussion segments, or simply get engaged with the organization and find out how you can support what we are building? Become a member of GrenSTEAM today at https://cutt.ly/membersignup. We can't wait to have you! Head over to our https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOIsgNOExGUWh04-TpnTnruz5NRjtQATJ to catch the full video version of this and every episode. Video is also available on Spotify! As part of our ongoing mission to engage the public in STEAM-related topics, GrenSTEAM is running a crowd-sourced blog. If you, or someone you know has a piece they would like to share which has something to do with Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture or Math, be it a personal article, a short paper, a knowledge-share or simply suggested reading, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0EEaXx_kRkJa0lG0iIb4yxAVAYYTdfZiSB_Kzy_3wGG3ziQ/viewform. Fill out our short form, then upload or paste your word file to be uploaded to our website. If you’d like to get involved with curation of our blog, volunteer at https://grensteam.org/get-involved/#volunteer. This episode of Pathways was produced by Arlene Hayes for Grenadian STEAM Inc. Video editing by Kate Masaltseva of https://www.instagram.com/mindzeye_films/. Episode artwork by Identity Designer, https://www.instagram.com/justmo.gd/. Your host is Arlene Hayes Theme song produced by Andrew 'Hitz' Phillip The thoughts and ideas expressed on this podcast are those of the host and her guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Grenadian STEAM or its members.