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Joshua M. Pearce

Professor, Michigan Technology University

Dr. Joshua M. Pearce received his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. He then developed the first Sustainability program in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education as an assistant professor of Physics at Clarion University of Pennsylvania where he also started their nanotechnology program. Then he was cross-appointed in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and the School of Environmental Studies at Queen's University, Canada. There he helped develop the Applied Sustainability graduate program and currently still runs the Queen's Applied Sustainability Research Group as an adjunct professor.

He currently is an Professor cross-appointed in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Michigan Technological University. He runs the MTU laboratory in open sustainability technology, whose research concentrates on the use of open source appropriate technology to find collaborative solutions to problems in sustainability and poverty reduction. His research spans areas of electronic device physics and materials engineering of solar photovoltaic cells, but also includes applied sustainability, energy policy, and engineering service learning. He is the Manuscript Editor for the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering: Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Pearce has a personal interest and strong track record in promoting open and applied sustainability in the real world. These efforts of moving science and technology of sustainability forward have also been widely covered in the media including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, blogs, documentaries and films.

How better and cheaper software could save millions of dollars while improving Canada’s health-care system

Feb 05, 2024 05:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Billions of Canadian tax dollars have been funnelled to private companies to develop proprietary medical software. More tax dollars were then paid to the same companies to use the software to run our medical...

Small-scale solar has key benefits, and one critical weakness, over large solar farms

Jan 10, 2024 08:51 am UTC| Business

A new study shows size matters in solar energy. The first ever life-cycle analysis comparing big and small solar photovoltaic systems has concluded that small-scale solar systems are in fact better for the environment than...

Oil in Global Economy Series

How to ensure Alberta's oil and gas workers have jobs during the energy transition

Nov 01, 2023 07:00 am UTC| Economy Business

Retraining Albertas oil and gas workers for the solar industry costs far less than you think. The results of our new study clearly show that a rapid transition to sustainable energy production is feasible, as costs of...

How shading crops with solar panels can improve farming, lower food costs and reduce emissions

Apr 27, 2023 08:18 am UTC| Business

If you have lived in a home with a trampoline in the backyard, you may have observed the unreasonably tall grass growing under it. This is because many crops, including these grasses, actually grow better when protected...

Why we need open-source science innovation — not patents and paywalls

Dec 08, 2022 11:03 am UTC| Technology

As we prepare to invest money to prevent the next global pandemic and find solutions to many other problems, science funders have a large opportunity to move towards open science and more research collaboration by offering...

As the coronavirus interrupts global supply chains, people have an alternative – make it at home

Apr 26, 2020 05:21 am UTC| Technology

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on global supply chains, a trend of moving manufacturing closer to customers could go so far as to put miniature manufacturing plants in peoples living rooms. Most products in Americans homes...

Global Geopolitics Series

Nuclear war could be devastating for the US, even if no one shoots back

Mar 01, 2020 13:34 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The White Houses 2021 budget calls for US$28.9 billion for the Pentagon for nuclear weapons and a 20% increase to $19.8 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Yet the U.S. already has over 3,000...

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Economy

What should you do if you can’t pay your rent or mortgage?

The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...

Reducing energy demand and improving efficiency will help prevent the next gas crisis

Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe over the coming years. Many commentators are hopeful...

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor

Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa. In a recent paper, we consider the...

Gas is good until 2050 and beyond, under Albanese gas strategy

The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel through to 2050 and beyond. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuels uses would change over...

South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed

The South African governments Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan was launched in November 2023. It is a roadmap guiding the country away from reliance on coal-fired power towards renewable energy alternatives by...

Politics

Donald Trump Allegedly Offers Oil Execs a Deal to Scrap EV Incentives for $1B Donation

Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...

US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens. A 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in February...

Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections

Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote....

South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global...

What early 2024 polls are revealing about voters of color and the GOP

By the end of winter 2024, the return of Donald Trump to the top of the GOP presidential ticket has revealed a surprising trend in the former presidents base of support: his increasing popularity among Black and Latino...

Science

Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of

Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without...

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

Technology

Giga Shiba Inu Whales Shift 3.5 Trillion SHIB, Boosting Market Activity

Shiba Inu whales are gradually waking up as the asset has emerged from anemia and has shown some positive price performance in recent days. Fortunately, those big transactions are not related to any sales activity and are...

Coca-Cola Launches Lens Platform to Offer Key Data for Retail and Foodservice

The Coca-Cola Company is launching Coca-Cola Lens, an open-source insights platform that distributes data and experiences from hundreds of thousands of retail and foodservice establishments across North...

Binance Pay Launches Dedicated Shiba Inu Payment Page, Boosting SHIB Use

Binance Pay, Binances cutting-edge crypto payment service, has recently launched a dedicated page to handle Shiba Inu (SHIB) payments. This new functionality offers up a plethora of potential for SHIB holders, making it...

Whales Bag $61M Profit as RNDR Price Rallies Over 3%

Render (RNDR) saw a significant rally of over 3% today, with six whales bagging $61 million in profits, igniting debate about the cryptocurrencys future trajectory. Whales Profit $61M Amid Render (RNDR) Price Surge,...

Shiba Inu and PEPE Surge: SHIB Eyes 50% Gains, PEPE Hits $5 Billion Market Cap

The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) has surged by 6% this week, with analysts predicting a 50% rally if key levels are broken. Meanwhile, PEPEs market cap has soared to $5 billion after hitting another all-time high. Analysts...