Global Concerns, Global Science

14-Nov-2012

As the fall 2012 semester rapidly winds to a close, planning for 2013 is already underway. On the international stage as well, events are being set for the year to come. Featured topics for international discussion and action for 2013 include several areas of the sciences.

The United Nations typically sets two or more areas of international focus as year-long observances each year. 2013 will be the UN's International Year of Water Cooperation and International Year of Quinoa. An FAO report on quinoa, "Quinoa: A Ancient Crop to Contribute to World Food Security" was published in July 2011 and highlights quinoa's nutritional properties, genetic diversity, and economic potential. Looking farther ahead, 2014 will be the UN's International Year of Crystallography and International Year of Family Farming.

Other organizations can also sponsor international years of observance for a topic, and many national and international societies of mathematics and geosciences have joined in sponsoring a year for Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013.

The ISU Library owns a number of resources relating to these topics, as well as books reporting on events and research relating to previous International Years. Here are just a few examples:

Water Cooperation:

Water for Food in a Changing World edited by Alberto Garrido and Helen Ingram. Call number: TC409 W368 2011

Freshwater Resources and Interstate Cooperation by Frederick D. Gordon. Call number: HD1691 G67 2008

World Water Actions: Making Water Flow for All by Francois Guerquin et al. Call number: TD345 W65 2003

Quinoa:

Quinoa, the Supergrain: Ancient Food for Today by Rebecca Wood. Call number: TX393 W66 1989

The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook by Wendy Polisi. Call number: TX393 P65x 2011

Mathematics of Planet Earth:

Portraits of the Earth: A Mathematician Looks at Maps by Timothy G. Feeman. Call number: GA13 F44 2002

Fuzzy Logic in Geology by Robert V. Demicco and George J. Klir. Call number: QE33.2 M3 F89 2004

Applied Mathematics in Integrated Navigation Systems by Robert M. Rogers. Call number: TL695 R64 2003

Past International Years:

Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008 by the National Research Council. Call number: G587 L47x 2012

The Chemical Element: Chemistry's Contribution to Our Global Future [published during the 2011 International Year of Chemistry]. Call number: TD193 C465 2011

Global Farmer Town Hall Meeting on Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity Practices. Webcast of a panel discussion held October 12, 2010 at Iowa State University as part of the 2010 United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.

New Light on a Hidden Treasure: International Year of the Potato 2008: An End-of-Year Review. Call number: SB211 P8 N49x 2009