Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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"'Busy, busy, busy...' is what a Bokononist whispers whenever he thinks about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is." From CAT'S CRADLE, by Kurt Vonnegut
Josh Kearns
Welcome to my personal blog!
My name is Josh Kearns and I hold bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and environmental engineering from Clemson University and a master’s degree in environmental biogeochemistry from the University of California-Berkeley. I am currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Colorado-Boulder in environmental engineering, and a visiting researcher at North Carolina State University. My research explores the applicability of locally produced biomass char (biochar) as a low-cost adsorbent for drinking water treatment in developing communities.
I have previously studied and worked in the fields of ecological economics and sustainability science, both within academia and in the non-profit/NGO sector. A desire to promote health, livelihood security, environmental and economic sustainability, and local self-reliance led me to found Aqueous Solutions in 2007 – a non-profit organization dedicated to research, development and deployment of appropriate technologies in water and sanitation. As a founder's prerogative, I gave myself the vaguely important-sounding title, "Director of Science."
My work allows me to learn from-and-with elite level University research scientists on the one hand, as well as dedicated, creative, and brilliantly competent field practitioners of public health, rural livelihood security, sustainability and social justice, on the other. For this I am inexpressibly fortunate and grateful.
As far as hobbies go, I enjoy trail running, cycling, swimming, backpacking and bicycle touring. I am an enthusiastic beer homebrewer, and an equally enthusiastic craft beer drinker. Rumor has it that I am also a fair-to-middlin' bluegrass mandolin player.
Most of all, I like to spend time with my wife, Rachael, who is training to be a farm animal veterinarian.
If you like, you can follow me on Facebook.
www.aqsolutions.org
Essays and Articles
- Doing Manual Labor for Sustainable Development Makes You Sexy (Chemists Without Borders, April '14)
- I've got a BEEF with sustainability (Chemists Without Borders, April '14)
- Crowd Funded Low-Tech Cyanide Mitigation, Anyone? (Chemists Without Borders, March '14)
- (Bio-) Chemists Without Borders: Help Aqueous Solutions hack field E. coli testing! (Chemists Without Borders, March '14)
- A chemist's critique of economics and "sustainable development" (Chemists Without Borders, March '14)
- Making "low-tech" biochar adsorbent for decentralized water treatment (Chemists Without Borders, March '14)
- Ler Per Her water treatment workshop (Chemists Without Borders, March '14)
- Chemistry Notes From the Field: A new blog published by Chemists Without Borders (February '14)
- For future farmers and camel-riders (January '14)
- Infinite growth on a finite planet (September '13)
- Sustainable Development Professionals: Does Your Flight Render Your Efforts Futile? (published online at Resilience Magazine, August '13)
- "Authentic development" and the Pun Pun model (November '09)
- Rambling polemic #2 (October '09)
- Ruminations on Appropriate Technologies and Ecological Education (January '09)
- Exposing the Bi-Partisan Myth of Clean Coal (published online at Matador Change magazine, October '08)
- Is Google Making Us Stupid? (July '08)
- The Tao of Vagabond Travel (published on Brave New Traveler website, June '08)
- On 'Vagabonding' and Responsibility (June '08)
- The Zen of Sport (June '08)
- Hand-up or handout? The case against microloans (published on Brave New Traveler website, December '07)
- How local self-reliance will overthrow the system (published on Brave New Traveler website, November '07)
- Why the GDP says little about authentic happiness (published on Brave New Traveler website, October '07)
- Agricultural biodiversity conservation in West Bengal (October '07)
- Five reasons why 'slow travel' beats 'going on vacation' (published on Brave New Traveler website, October '07)
- Good work and the idea of 'vacation' (October '07)
- What are you living for? (October '07)
- Working with our hands (October '07)
- Learning from Ladakh (September '07)
- The crisis of too much energy (published on Brave New Traveler website, June '07)
- "Stranded" in Kathmandu (May '07)
- The crisis of too much energy (May '07)
- Go ahead - experiment with my life! (February '07)
- I have seen ghosts (February '07)
- You call that development? (January '07)
- Self-reliance (December '06)
- How can we get better? (February '06)