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Lead, a well-known neurotoxin, remains environmentally abundant, arising from many natural and synthetic processes which encourage its environmental accumulation and hence, increased interactions with flora and fauna. Therefore, tremendous research efforts have been invested into developing various methods for its analysis and sequestration, however, affordability, sensitivity and selectivity still remain formidable challenges in this area and hence here is room for further exploration.
Science and technology and its application to regional development
The goal of harnessing our biodiversity to bring health and wealth to the people living in the Caribbean Region got a boost recently courtesy of a 2016 IUCN project entitled ‘Advancing the Nagoya Protocol in Countries of the Caribbean Region’ that had five components. This project was commissioned by eight governments (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago) with GEF funding, had UNEP as its Implementing Agency and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as the Executing Agency.
The burgeoning of small gourmet chocolate boutiques worldwide serves as a key driver for niche and ultra-niche marketing of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.), branded as (a) geographical indication (b) estate origin or (c) based on unique genetics. Over 90% of the cacao farms globally, are small with an average size between 2 and 5 hectares and can benefit from supplying to the gourmet boutiques.
The majority of scientific discoveries remain confined to dissertations and peer review publications where they remain hidden from their possible industrial applications. Given the challenges offered by current global events like environmental pollution, climate change effects, and diseases, the need for more rapid transmission of scientific discoveries from the realm of postgraduate dissertations and research papers to industrial applications is most critical. Hence, the need for a clear road map, allowing the connection of both pure and applied scientific discoveries to their industrial applications is obvious. Of course, for this to be achieved, a clear understanding of the constituent steps of such a process is germane. Hence, this brief workshop aims to map a possible path for achieving the aforementioned central goal, using previous experiences and examples.
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