OIP Events

Student Conference on Global Challenges. WATER. February 26, 2010

Date: Feb 26, 2010
Time: All day conference
Venue: Behrakis Hall Grand Hall , Creese Student’s center, 32nd and Chestnut Street.

To see pictures from this event, click here.

Panelist Registration is now closed.

Event Registration is now closed, however walk-ins are still welcome!

This conference will count toward the CEO credit. Student will only need to attend 2 panels and keynote speaker to receive full CEO credit. 

Most of us don't think about water; we turn on a tap and clean water flows readily. Yet for millions of people, water is a constant concern: Will the taps run? Will there be enough water? Will it be clean? Access to water is a global problem which affects essential areas such as health, the food supply, education and the development of local communities.

Water is the source of life. Without clean water people get sick, children miss school, and the cycle of poverty is perpetuated. Millions die prematurely from water-related diseases. As water scarcity becomes more acute, the global water crisis could lead to violent conflicts. The complexity and gravity of this issue makes it a major challenge facing humanity. Let us take a look at this serious challenge from all perspectives – social, economic, scientific, political as well as cultural.

Student Panelist Applications will be available on December 15, 2009. Registration opens from January 4th 2010. For more information please contact us at oip@drexel.edu or call us at 215.895.6372

Keynote Speaker

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She is also an executive member of the San Francisco–based International Forum on Globalization and a Councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Maude is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Award, and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award.

In 2008/2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. She is also the best selling author or co-author of 16 books, including the international best seller Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

Lunch Speaker

Patricia L. Meinhardt, MD, MPH, MA is an occupational and environmental medicine physician specializing in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of water-related disease resulting from biological, chemical, and radiologic agent exposure. She has provided waterborne disease recognition and medical management training to thousands of medical and public health practitioners in the US and abroad. Dr. Meinhardt presented the keynote address at the Global Conference on Microbial Contaminates in Drinking Water sponsored by Singapore Government and provided medical preparedness training for water contamination emergencies at the request of the Institute of Water Officers in London, England and The World Water Organization at the United Nations in New York City.