American Expert Discusses Green Technologies and Environmental Science Education

May 22, 2010

Jerusalem: Dr. Thomas Culhane, an American expert in urban planning and one of National Geographic's 2009 Emerging Explorers, conducted a three-day program on climate change technologies and U.S. policy. During his program, Dr. Culhane met with university professors, graduate students, grade-school teachers, and environmental activists in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Salfeet, Bethlehem, and Gaza. Dr. Culhane's main message was to "communicate how America's expanded environmental policies positively affect not only how the U.S. competes in the field of green-technology, but how we interact with other countries and what we can contribute to sustainable development." Dr. Culhane's visit was sponsored by the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, and also included a special meeting with Palestinian engineers from Engineers Without Borders and members of the Palestinian Wildlife Society (PWF), where Dr. Culhane helped build a bio-digester system in Beit Sahour for PWF's model house.

Dr. Culhane is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and holds a Master's and a Ph.D. from UCLA's Urban Planning, Social, and Public Policy programs. He was selected by National Geographic as one of its 10-member 2009 class of Emerging Explorers. The Emerging Explorers Program recognizes and supports "visionary, young trailblazers from around the world" for making "significant contributions to world knowledge" early in their careers. Each Emerging Explorers receives $10,000 to assist with research and further exploration. Dr. Culhane's recent projects and programs include the Green Collar Job Training program in Santa Rosa, California, and recent legislation in the state of California that provided "green retrofits" of re-purchased homes.

Dr. Culhane's most prominent project to date has been the creation of the non-governmental organization Solar CITIES in Cairo, Egypt, in which Muslim and Coptic Christian residents of Cairo's Darb Al Ahmar and Zabaleen neighborhoods participated in a "green-collar" job-training program that led to the local production and installation of 30 hand-made, low-cost but effective solar hot water systems.

For more information please contact the Consulate General Press Office at 02-622-6909.