Each year, more than 130 countries around the world convene under the Stockholm International Water Institute’s (SIWI) global event dubbed World Water Week to address the planet’s major water issues. For the first time ever, the event will be completely digital. Sessions will be free to stream live or watch on-demand after the event. Click here to sign up for this fantastic digital event – no payment required.
This year’s theme is Building Resilience Faster. The goal is to energize the world to rethink how we function as a society, from growing food and generating energy to how we travel and use national resources.
At Thermo Fisher Scientific, we applaud the efforts of the SIWI to broaden its reach and ensure that all communities can participate. Water challenges affect us all, and community involvement is essential to solving said challenges. From national governments and municipalities to academic institutions, we are proud to provide our customers products that help make their communities cleaner and healthier. But our support goes far beyond product offerings.
The team behind our Thermo Scientific Orion water analysis products includes many trained and citizen scientists who monitor local waterways for changes in water quality. One organization we align with is the Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Our colleagues in this organization work to ensure that there is enough clean water to support the people, fish and wildlife. Our team recently participated in the Paddle-A-Thon fundraiser which helped contribute to raising $75,000 to help keep the river water clean.
“We learned that the IRWA also supports water quality monitoring of the Parker and Essex Rivers and engages with the USGS as part of a national river monitoring program,” said Staff Scientist Mike Bates, PhD. “They also share data with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and collaborate with the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory on nutrient dynamics in the Ipswich River watershed. So when the Paddle-A-Thon came up, we knew we had to support the IRWA in every way we could.”
From L to R: Cheryl Gaynor, Gayle Gleichauf, Mike Bates, and Srinivas Chitta at Thermo Fisher’s booth during the Ipswich River Watershed Association Paddle-A-Thon Fundraiser this year.
In addition to the IRWA, our team collaborates with many other organizations and local groups to provide STEM presentations focused on water quality. We are extremely concerned about sustainable environmental stewardship, so getting local communities and the youth engaged is key to ensuring that future generations will have clean water.
At Thermo Fisher we support the local ecosystem, and we educate future scientists to do the same. We also share opportunities for education and discourse with our broader network of scientists and environmental advocates. These are just some of the reasons we’re excited to tune in to the World Water Week conference and learn more about how we can Build Resilience Faster.
Please join us as we watch World Water Week and learn more about the major water issues that affect our planet. We’ll let you know what we think the main takeaways are and how we can adopt new behaviors or ways of thinking to help our communities. We hope you’ll do the same.
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