Most of the time you hear nature environments are being destroyed all over world.
Deforestation happen at an alarming rate. Water bodies are heavily polluted.
Air is contaminated with chemicals that are harmful for breathing. In most polluted cities already people are starting to wear masks. You should be thankful if you are living in a clean air environment and drinking good water. Others are not privileged as the people living in good environment. Most of the cities are being converted to concrete jungles.
On the apposite side, as an Environmental scientist, I feel better and take pride when I see an excellently restored area that was once most polluted environment.
Today had the opportunity to visit Lake Apopka environment for a festival called Birdapalooza .
Lake Apopka was one of most Polluted lake in Florida. Hard working people with the help of government had secured the area and made it a wonderful natural habitat. As always, I reinstate that wetlands are very important for any country. Never destroy wetlands.
Good that these lands have been purchased from private owners and had been restored. Several birds and animals live there. Fresh air, greenery and good water are very hard to get these days.
I hope other countries all over globe should have this type conserved areas, so that at least some of those areas in their country gets protected. Otherwise people in those countries would only see buildings without any natural environments, trees and wildlife such as birds and animals. These Environments and their inhabitants are very important and would not be there for them and their children.
In this industrial era, it may seem that it cannot be avoided to leave a piece of land like these, but real leaders should save the environment and preserve these type of areas (at least few areas) in their respective countries.
It was a joy to breath fresh air, watch wonderful lake environment and view majestic birds and animals with family and make friendships with people who equally respect Nature and Environment.
Swamp Brothers were there.
Audobon society were there and along with Orange county people, who gave a wonderful Bird Watch Tour around Lake Apopka.
People such as pew environment, who work towards better environment were there.
Also felt good that so many children actively participated and were very interested in birds, animals and environment.
I am always for CLEAN TO GREEN and for Protecting & Restoring Our Water Resources.
During this weekend, I had a wonderful opportunity to
attend 13th Orlando Wetlands Festival.
If
opportunities are available in any community, these types of events should be
conducted for the betterment of communities, societies, groups and environment.
Parks and Recreation Department gave us a free backyard tree in
celebration of Arbor Day.
We received a cherry
plum tree. Hopefully one day we will get excellent plums from this tree in our
backyard.
Update:
Reaping the benefits of this cherry plum that was planted:
Wetlands are very
important environment for every country in the planet. Also wide ranges of
fauna and flora are available in these environments. We had a wonderful walk in
the Fort Christmas Historical Park wetlands area.
During the walk we saw a huge
alligator eating a huge turtle. Several beautiful birds were flying, swimming
and feeding in the wetlands.
Excellent Photographic and bird watching trails
were there.
There were several
environmental societies and departments having their booths. I had the
opportunity to talk to them. Few years back, I did research on Atrazine and
wetlands. People who were in the Department of Environmental Protection told me that Atrazine is still the major chemical that enters the wetlands. Hopefully atrazine don’t affect
the wetlands, since in Florida, sunshine is always there and atrazine degrades
better with sunlight in wetland environment than any other water bodies. Also, I hope for making future environmental
association with these environmental groups and departments.
Audubon society booths were there with live birds
including the beautiful, wonderful and majestic Bald Eagle.
I wish that this type
of events should be conducted in every part of world for the betterment of societies,
communities and environment.
From my childhood, I was interested in Nature and Environment. We have planted numerous trees in schools. What we planted as small saplings have grown into beautiful trees:
Bharathiar University - Environmental Sciences
Science was my subject.
When I learned about Limnology and
used Secchi disc during my undergraduate degree, I decided to become an
Environmental Scientist.
Beautiful Water Body from where I studied Limnology
I joined Master’s degree (PSGCAS) and focused towards
Environmental Chemistry. My research was - Color removal from pulp and paper
mill effluent.
Then got admitted to another Masters (M.Phil - Bharathiar University) and focused towards Environmental
Physiology. I got chance to work with plants,
bioindicators, bioremediators, fishes and scary scorpions.
Portulaca oleracea
(Linn) AS BIOINDICATOR AND PHYTO (BIO) REMEDIATION TOOL OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT
Stem affected by Copper
During these
periods, got very good friends, enjoyed my studies and had a good passion for
Environment. My research was using a plant as bio-indicator and that inclined
towards metal remediation using plants. Finally got into PhD program - MarineEstuarine Environmental Sciences. Environmental Sciences, Toxicology,
Statistics, Microbiology and Biochemistry were my five majors. Passed my tough
written, oral exams and I concentrated on my research - Toxicity of two
Chesapeake Bay Tributaries. I loved the research. I liked to go into the field
for collecting sediments in a small boat that was easily transported in a car.
The tributaries were scenic beauties and after tough work, samples were collected and transported to
lab. By that time, I had become an expert in sample analyses, toxicity
identification evaluation, environmental instrumentation and Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometer.
After the samples were analyzed for the data, I predicted
one of the tributary ( Pocomoke River ) which had flow of nutrients and influent from Sewage water
treatment is more toxic. This was before the massive fish kills that occurred in Pocomoke River, MD. Several people participated in my dissertation defense
and I was proud of it. Results were published in refereed environmental scientific research journals. One of the best paper was :
Impact of point and nonpoint source pollution on pore waters of two Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
Karuppiah M,Gupta G. I graduated as an Environmental Scientist with very keen interest in doing something for Environment.
I also ended up in
Computer Sciences Master’s program, graduated from it and found a
well-paid career in the new field. My passion was in Environmental Science. Even in MS computer science my thesis was related to Environmental Science and it was on Fuzzy Logic in an Universally Acceptable Pollution model. With help of my degrees in Environmental Sciences and Computer Sciences, we
created a company called EnviroApps - Enviro - for Environment and Apps
- for Information Technology Applications. My quest for Environmental
Research and love for nature never stopped. I still grab every small
opportunity to involve in Environmental activities, teaching and creating
awareness (Quora, Twitter). With my interest in Environmental Sciences, we created our own environmental projects at - EA FARMS.
Cattle from EA FARMS - We produce organic feed to feed our cattle for good milk.
One of my passion is to teach Environmental Sciences - from kids to Graduate students.
Recently with my great friend Dr. Hatha, I am involved in some important Environmental Research such as: Halophilic heavy metal tolerant bacteria from Vembanad Lake as possible means of bioremediation of lead and cadmium. Antibiotic resistance of heterotrophic bacteria from natural and culture environments of freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de man, 1887).
So many ways are available for mankind to work and move positively. Let us move forward positively in year 2013. From my side, environmental projects will move ahead and move forward positively. Happy New Year to All.
When evil takes over, it is hell
that is displayed on the fragile EARTH and every HEART is broken.
When bright little flowers were
destroyed by evil force, all we could do was to cry and pray.
Hearts are broken and when strong
leaders are shedding tears, something is not right here.
If the problem is dug down deeply
and logically thought, many truths come out.
Human body functions properly, by the
way of proper food and other intakes such as water and air. As we all know
every vital organ is formed from a single cell. When the pregnant mother
consumes proper food the cells develop healthily and vital organs including brain
of the fetus forms healthily and an angelically looking new healthy child is
born.
Beautiful and simple wiring of Brain.
Why to short circuit with unwanted chemicals?
As a Toxicologist and
Scientist, I can surely say that if a pregnant mother consumes unhealthy
chemicals such as alcohol, disturbing chemical drugs and inhaling carcinogenic
chemicals by smoking, it is going to affect the fetus. Organ growth including
Brain abnormalities are sure to happen. The child without its knowledge or willingness
becomes a victim of this chemical abuse. The child could develop strong brain
disorders along with other problems. So it is very important for pregnant moms,
not to drink alcohol, intake unwanted drugs and smoke.
Instead they should take proper foods
such as folic acids and necessary good foods for the child to develop properly.
These fetuses that develop on the wombs
of alcoholic mothers will have many disorders along with brain disorder. They
may have mental disorders. Alcoholic consumption not only affects the child, it
also affects the mother and puts the family into stress. Families are torn
apart and people involved are stressed in the mind, even though they have all
other resources including wealth. Important aspect of humans on EARTH - LOVE
goes missing in this already stressed child. Father does not live with mother, siblings do not talk to each other, love goes missing - minds become confused
and alienate GOOD altogether.
Disturbed minds are disturbed
further as they grow.
To aid the evil in EARTH, several
things are available very easily.
VIDEO GAMES - VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES –
Just do a Google search on them; you can find
so many of these violent video games available. As a computer technologist, I
see the growth of technology and it is so good there is no difference between
virtual and reality. Games have guns and weapons that are as similar as the
real ones. With these games you do not need to go to a real gun range to target
practice, it is readily available in your computer desks and even in tablets.
VIOLENT MOVIES - is there any recent
movie with full of love and fun that a family could sit and watch together. I
don’t think so.
Foul language mouthed people with
violent actions and shooting scenes are the major parts and scenes of the
movies. Violent movie plots are going to unprecedented and non thinkable destructive
scenes. When a disturbed mind human without any love from the family and with a
solid experience in violent video games sees these violent movies – it becomes
a very favorable condition for evil to take over his life.
When this disturbed individual gets
hands on training and access to weapons –
HELL is experienced in the fragile
EARTH.
Our Hearts are broken.
We have been taught many times to
live in harmony and peace. Peaceful humans and leaders taught the world how to
live peacefully. But even after centuries of their sacrifices humans kill
humans. Alcohol, Violent Video games and Violent Movies change a person
without love into a monster and create a havoc that turns the EARTH into HELL.
Greed takes us to cross our limits to
sell anything, even to disturbed minds without any boundaries and it comes back
to haunt us.
Everyone should eat good food,
inhale proper air, and drink proper water to keep the body, mind and soul – clean and good. SIX TASTES OF FOOD - eating should be done as one would do meditation. Food should be chewed and eaten which makes it easily digestable. When you eat properly it aides in healing. Stop when stomach says you to stop (by means of burbs). Simple steps of eating makes you feel good. Proper food and eating methods aid in healing body and mind.
There are so many positive ways to
stop this violence. There are so many positive people in the EARTH and they are more
than willing to help.
Everyone should work as a team to
eradicate this evil from our beloved EARTH.
Prayers for young and wonderful
victims with full of tears. Praying that they shine as bright stars in the sky as they did here on EARTH.
Devils in Delhi
Few devils joined in a Delhi bus for joyride, drank alcohol and created brutal havoc in a young lady's life. I pray strongly for the lady to get well. Alcohol sales are at record levels in India and I am really worried. Alcohol and drugs turn humans into monsters. When I was a teenager I heard a story from a movie: An evil came with a young lady, a very small child and an alcohol bottle to man and said you have to commit one crime. You can choose any one of these: rape this lady or kill this child or drink this alcohol. The man thought alcohol was the better choice, because it would hurt only him and not others. But as soon as he drank, he was out of his mind and raped the lady and killed the interfering crying child. He committed all the crimes because of alcohol. Small but powerful story that demostrated the evil of alcohol. This is why, Great Gandhiji told not to drink. Good that states like Gujarat, where he was born, is still following that. Young resources are wasted by this evil. This evil - 'Alcohol' makes Destructive evils - 'Devils', as we witnessed in Delhi.
Praying for more positives. Just read that the Victim passed away. Feeling very sad and praying. Tears, Tears & Tears. She is with God now. The devils that did this should ROT in HELL.
During this week, I received a wonderful email from my beloved brother:
We are harvesting the Peanuts (ground nuts) already at EAFARMS. The harvest is not bad this time.
I already went to Anamalai Gandhi Ashramam - today and gave them 10 kilos of the produce (Peanuts).
This is what I dreamt of when we started EAFARMS.Thanks to my brother we have achieved this and we will move forward.
In Anamalai Gandhi Ashramam, at any given point in time, there are about 50 to 60 children between the age group of 4 to 13 years. These children either don’t have the support of their parents or they are orphans by birth. People at Anamalai Gandhi Ashramam are doing an excellent good deed.
We are happy that from EA FARMS, where we practice Natural Sustainable Agriculture, we could give Organically grown peanuts to these kids at the Ashram.
Peanuts(ground nuts) are rich in energy and contain many health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for good health.
Peanuts are filled with B-complex and niacin, which contributes to good blood flow to brain. Hence it is useful for learning kids.
Peanuts have been used to eradicate malnutrition from poor health countries (cost effectively) - Plumpy'nut.
They are also rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acids, which are good for heart and with good source of dietary protein (amino acids) they are good for healthy development.
Some of their ingredients are considered as anti-carcinogenic and play an important role against many diseases. Since fresh peanuts were given, it is very easy to boil them and boiling increases its health benefits.
So to provide 10 Kg of Organically grown healthy peanuts to these kids is a very good small but strong step we have taken towards achieving our dreams. Every day we should think - what can I give and do it in action. That will provide the best satisfaction.
I was envisioning to spend quality time with him on all ends - professional, recreational and personal - during Thanksgiving week, 2012.
The day came and Hatha was with our family. I got the true feeling of friendship when I received him. That's when I actually experienced the following-
Even though friends are apart from each other, when they meet, it will be the same as before.
Next day I drove Hatha and my family to Everglades, a sub tropical wetland - an important ecosystem.
As we both are Environmental Scientists and nature loving people, we had wonderful time at Everglades. During boat ride to Coot bay from Flamingo center, we were watching Mangroves, beautiful birds and alligators and walking in the Anhinga Trail was excellent. As usual, I stopped at "Robert is Here" and had a tasty mango shake.
Evening after visiting a family friend stayed at another friend's house at South Florida near the
Both were very well delivered and relevant people, who attended got what they wanted from the seminars. Hope and pray these teams will work together and co-ordinate in future for the betterment of various environments (esp. the Ocean Environments - they are concentrating on) and people. I will do my part on that also.
After the seminars, stayed at friend's house close to Lion Country Safari (LCS). Again with my family and Hatha, I visited LCS. So many varieties of animals are there - Lion, rhinos, several varieties of deer, birds, zebras, giraffes, monkeys and camels. Every animal roams freely, has vast areas to roam and we ride in our cars to see the animals and birds. Wonderful Safari.
Next day we were at SeaWorld. Another fun place for watching sea animals especially for scientists who work in Oceans. Killer whale (Shamu) show, Dolphin show, Manatees, Polar bears, Beluga whales, Otters, Sea lions, Humongous Walrus, birds, sharks and thousands of varieties of fishes and sea animals - all at one place. It was great to be at Sea World with a Marine Scientist.
Next day at Disney World - EPCOT center - Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - at Siemens's Earth Space ship, we designed our future workplace and home. Of course it was completely green living and environmentally friendly. Visited the 'LAND' area and twice road the boat through Disney's green house. We soared in SOARIN across the great state of CALIFORNIA.
Also, we experienced Mexico, China, Norway, Japan, France, Italy and Canada in the EPCOT country pavilion and finally finished the day seeing the EPCOT laser show with wonderful fireworks.
Final day of tour was at NASA - Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Those Imax movies take you to the out of world experiences. We spent quality time in the Rocket gardens, KSC Bus tours, Apollo Rocket experiences, Nature and Technology areas and space history pavilions. Driving back we saw the excellent views of Florida (Sunshine state) sunset.
On the day we all relaxed, Hatha was kind enough to give the Arctic Expedition and his scientific research experience presentation (That he gave in NOAA - AOML) to our family. Again it was well taken and I envision that one day my daughter would be a scientific person.
Everything has to end at sometime. The send off day has come and had to send off Hatha after his visit with us. But the wonderful time we spend as now mature Environmental Scientists, has its own merits. We have planned to do more good work in the future to better the environments and its inhabitants. Every minute was well utilized by good friends.
I had the opportunity to teach Environmental Sciences to small kids (bunch of 3rd graders) during this week. I have taught the subject to under and post graduate students. After few years of break, I had this opportunity. Since, lots of news about BP oil Pollution (They were going to pay billions of dollars as fine) was going on, I choose to create a model that explains how oil pollution happens and how it gets cleaned.
Marine Oil Pollution and Clean Up:
I bought some sand from Home Depot. I used a plastic box, shoe box and filled with the sand sliding from top to bottom. I created blue water using water and blue colored ink. It turned out as a good Ocean model. All the kids were watching with full curiosity. I made an 'Oil Barge' with simple small candle light stand on small ship shaped wooden plank which I got from 'Michaels' store. I used left over cooking oil (which I take to recycling center) and colored it with some black color. That cooking oil now looked like crude oil and I poured them in the candle stand tanks of my oil barge model. It was floating in my clean Ocean model.
All of sudden, I turned barge and oil fell into the Ocean and spread. I heard a big 'oooh' sound from the kids. I had made oil containers to contain oil spread using left over 'felt' and threw them around the oil polluted area. It contained the oil spread. I used cotton to absorb the oil and make my Ocean model once again a clean environment. I took some marine animal toys including a pelican toy and covered them with oil and taught them how to clean the oil soaked animals with dilute soap solution and dry them with towel. I told them to visualize the whole thing in real world and showed the pictures. All of them clearly understood how oil pollution occurs and how it can be cleaned.
Good Sample Identification:
Before going to teach in, I made three solutions - Solution A - Vinegar, Solution B - Baking soda solution and C - Filtered water. I bought pH paper from 'Amazon.com'. I told them there is a site where people are affected from a natural disaster and they don’t know which water they could drink. They send us three samples and asked us to find which sample can be used as drinking water. Kids used their school tap water (filtered using Brita water filter) as control and using pH paper they found that Solution A was an Acid, B - was a base and C was drinkable water. They were happy to find out the drinkable water and to know they have saved people from drinking the wrong water.
I felt this was a good small experiment to kids to identify the toxicity, which I fully used in my PhD research.
Water treatment:
I procured some Alum from 'Amazon.com'. I took some tap water and added some dirt solids and made a polluted water sample. Now added the alum and did some swirling (to give centrifugal force) and allowed that bottle content to settle. After few minutes the solids settled down and the above water as clean as we mixed the dirt before. I told them this is one of the steps how they treat water before it comes through the tap. Along with this primary (Physical) treatment, they also do secondary (biological) treatment and tertiary (Chemical) treatment.
Aquatic Biosphere:
I had collected some aquatic plants and water from our community pond. I used a clean glass bottle and added some filtered water. Then I added the pond water. That’s when I noticed some small water bugs were also in the pond water. The children were happy to see the bugs. I added some of aquatic plants in the water and closed the bottle and told them to keep it near a corner in the table and watch the bottle. The bugs were happily swimming in the water. After a week I will bring it back and let them in the community Pond again. I told them in future (several years) if we don’t reduce pollution, the future generations should have to live in contained self-sustainable biospheres and this bottle aquatic biosphere is one such example.
Safety:
I emphasized that in labs - safety is important. There may be several chemicals and biological organisms. So it is very important to follow safety procedures such as wearing lab coat, gloves, safety eye glasses and sometimes even mask. I used all these and showed them how the experiments are conducted in a real lab.
Renewable and Biodegradable:
I talked about Natural Renewable energies such as SOLARand WIND . Also I talked about Biodegradable materials. I showed models of them.
Finally, I told them how they can save the earth by using the paper they write fully instead of writing one line and throw. I told them about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - Three R's. Also, told them not to waste water. In US, we are privileged to have water coming to us, but in some parts of the world to get water they have to travel so much. They really understood and were happy to be part of people, who would save the Earth, Environment and its Nature. These wonderful gifted and knowledgeablekids send me individual hand made cards to thank me for teaching them Environmental Sciences. It was a fulfilling day for me.
