Hanks Offers Solutions to Conflict Caught between Iraq’s instability and China’s mounting political tensions, Central Asia has erupted as a source of political unrest. Now, one OSU researcher has a chance to do something about it. Reuel Hanks, associate professor of geography, was chosen to offer solutions to the U.S. Department of State to resolve conflicts in Central Asia. Honored with a Policy Seminar on Conflict in Eurasia fellowship, Hanks is one of only 10 fellows in the nation who traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to present his research. According to Hanks, Central Asia is an important region to examine because of its status as an emerging geo-political region marred with ongoing political tension. “This is a unique region because it is surrounded by large markets in China, Russia and the Middle East that will not tolerate an unstable border. “Central Asia is a crossroads for a number of major political players and is forced to become involved, whether it wishes to or not,” Hanks says. “We need to be proactive and try to maintain its stability.” One goal is to encourage the U.S. Department of State to implement academic centers in Central Asia similar to the Institute for Conflict Analysis Research in South America and Armenia. Another goal is to influence Central Asian universities to provide public education on how to effectively resolve current and future conflicts, Hanks says. Aiming to influence American policy, Hanks says he hopes the research will also lead to meetings in Europe with European scholars adding their efforts. “Our ultimate goal is to see democracy and a civil society,” Hanks says. “The sooner we start working toward those goals, the sooner we can achieve them.” Sheila Dohmann Chemists Work to Solve World Problem A $1 million prize may be a substantial incentive to solve the problem of arsenic-contaminated drinking water, but the environmental chemists at OSU say the seriousness of the problem motivates their work. “One-quarter of the Bangladeshi population drinks water that contains up to 50 times the amount of arsenic the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers safe, but it’s not just developing countries,” says Allen Apblett, associate professor of chemistry. “Arsenic, which is naturally occurring, is also a big problem in the U.S.” Millions drink arsenic-tainted well water in the U.S., China, Mexico, Peru, India and many other countries. Although the symptoms of chronic arsenic exposure — skin lesions, kidney and liver failure, loss of limb movement and cancer — may not appear for a decade or more, the illnesses are debilitating and can be fatal, Apblett says. “We have always heard, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ But that’s not the case with arsenic.” Underdeveloped countries are not equipped to handle the problem, which is Erika Contreras Arsenic and Nanoparticles why the National Academy of Engineering is offering the $1 million Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability to the individual or team that designs a practical, economical and sustainable point-of-use water treatment system for arsenic-contaminated groundwater in developing countries. While OSU scientists don’t have a practical solution yet, they could have one soon. Doctoral student Abdulaziz Bagabas and Apblett have developed an adsorption technique using zinc oxide and other transition metal oxide nanoparticulate materials to remove arsenic from water. “We succeeded in the fabrication of new metal complexes that possess low thermal stability,” Bagabas says. “These complexes serve as excellent sources for the production of nanocrystalline metal oxide ceramics that show promising results for arsenate removal from water at room temperature and at the natural pH of water.” “A large chunk of zinc oxide in its basic form doesn’t work,” Apblett says, “but breaking it down into extremely small particles changes its chemical properties and creates high surface area. Arsenic binds to the surface of the material and is effectively removed.” Apblett’s lab is currently licensing the technology and is working on application in a more condensed form. “Right now, one of the problems is the particles are so fine it’s hard to keep them in one place,” he says. “Remediation of arsenic by adsorption technique is cheap and highly effective,” Bagabas says. “The technique has many attractive features, including simplicity of operation, feasibility for small-scale requirements and low maintenance.” Eileen Mustain qThe American Chemical Society, Division of Environmental Chemistry, awarded Abdulaziz Bagabas, left, a certificate of merit recognizing “outstanding material content and manner of presentation” when he presented his research using zinc oxide nanoparticulate materials to remove arsenic from water at the society’s annual meeting in March. Bagabas works with associate professor of chemistry Allen Apblett, right. pReuel Hanks, associate professor of geography, is one of only 10 fellows in the nation selected to offer conflict resolutions for Central Asia to the U.S. Department of State in May. Oklahoma State University
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