Tag: 3BL

GENEVA, April 16, 2025 /3BL/ – The Tire Industry Project (TIP) is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its external Assurance Group, boosting its subject matter expertise. Formed in 2006, the Assurance Group guides TIP on vital environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics, bringing in an independent, external view. The Group is comprised of renowned experts from various scientific and academic fields, providing TIP with objective counsel on research and strategic initiatives.

“Ever since its inception, the Assurance Group has served as a solid sounding board as well as a check point, helping us stay on track in pursuit of our goals. Their multi-faceted advice over the years has strengthened our scientific understanding of key topics with an external perspective. We are now expanding the Assurance Group with specialist knowledge in the areas of ecotoxicology, human health, environmental impact and environmental policy, in line with our enhanced ambitions for TIP 2.0”, says Larisa Kryachkova, Executive Director, TIP.

The new members of the Assurance Group were selected following a rigorous process, based on their scientific contributions, relevance to TIP’s focus areas and fitment within the Assurance Group.

The four new Assurance Group members include:

• Dr. Masaharu Motoshita: A Research Group Leader at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, Dr. Motoshita is a seasoned researcher with a focus on sustainable industrial practices, including Life Cycle Assessment, environmental impact assessment, and supply chain management.
• Dr. Iseult Lynch: Chair Professor of Environmental Nanosciences at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK, Dr. Lynch is a leading expert in the field of nanotechnology and its environmental impact. Her research focuses on the safety of nanoscale materials and their interactions with biological systems.
• Dr. Oludayo Olusegun Dada: A lead expert and advisor to the African Region Group on Chemicals and Waste Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Dr. Dada brings over three decades of diverse experiences in developing sustainable solutions to both regional and global environmental challenges, especially around pollution control.
• Dr. John Bucher: An internationally known toxicologist and retired leader of the US National Toxicology Program, Dr. Bucher has studied the health effects of chemicals (including those used in tire manufacture) for over 40 years. He has served on the National Academy of Sciences, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and World Health Organization committees.

In addition to the above, the following Assurance Group members will continue advising TIP during the 2024-25 work cycle:

• Dr. John Spengler: A professor of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US, Dr. Spengler has done pioneering work on the impact of environmental pollution on humans. He also served as an advisor to the World Health Organization for air and indoor pollution.
• Dr. Emeric Frejafon: Currently at Bureau des Recherches Géologiques et Minières, France, scaling up industry innovation, besides being the Chairman of the European Committee for Standardization on Nanotechnologies, France. He specializes in environmental risk assessment, has won multiple awards for metrology and is the owner/co-owner of several world patents.
• Dr. How Yong Ng: Adjunct Professor at National University of Singapore (NUS), Changjiang Scholar Professor at Beijing Normal University, China, Fellow of Academy of Engineering Singapore and International Water Association (IWA), and Chair of the IWA Membrane Technology Specialist Group, focusing on sustainable water management and removal of emerging pollutants. Dr. Ng has over 500 publications and received multiple awards.

While welcoming the new members of the Assurance Group, TIP also expresses its sincere gratitude to the outgoing member Dr. Masahiko Hirao (University of Tokyo, Department of Chemical Systems Engineering School of Engineering, Japan), for his invaluable contributions since 2019.

“With the expanded Assurance Group now in place, we are better poised to pursue a sustainability agenda that is science-based, innovative and pragmatic”, comments Kryachkova.

About TIP

Formed in 2005, the Tire Industry Project (TIP) is a voluntary CEO-driven initiative with a mission to anticipate, understand, and address global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues relevant to the tire industry and its value chain. TIP acts by commissioning independent research of the highest standards, collaborating on sectoral solutions, and engaging with external stakeholders. The organisation currently brings together 10 leading tire companies that represent more than 60% of the world’s tire manufacturing capacity. For more information, visit The Tire Industry Project.

Traditional recruiting does not always enable people who are neurodiverse to demonstrate strengths and qualifications. That’s because while many people with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia have extraordinary skills, many struggle to feel comfortable in a company’s hiring process.

Benefits of neurodiversity

Research shows there are business benefits to hiring employees with autism. People on the spectrum often demonstrate exceptional trustworthiness, sharp abilities to remember, reliability, adherence to rules and attention to detail.

They are also often good at coding, a skill that is in high demand at Rockwell and in many talent markets. Strong coding skills include “pattern recognition,” “strong attention to detail” and a “very direct” communication style. People with autism have special gifts when it comes to thinking outside the box and can be extremely creative.

Rockwell’s focus on neurodiversity

Rockwell partnered with CAI Neurodiverse Solutions, a neurodiversity employment program that brings neurodivergent people into the workforce.

Program participants begin as contractors at Rockwell. Two employees hired on full time through this program commented on its strengths and unique approach:

“I am surprised at how good I feel working here,” said Alice Ruel, a senior technician in Rockwell’s Mequon, Wisconsin manufacturing facility. “It is comforting to know my talents and skills are in full use here.”

“I am very proud to work with such a renowned company assisting in the development of technology that drives industry and improves lives across the globe,” added Craig Benedict, a senior technician also in Mequon.

“An important part of our culture is to empower every one of us—and our unique talents—because inclusive thinking drives both our engagement and innovation,” said Gabe Kinzer, team lead at the Rockwell Mequon facility. “Through this program, applicants engage in an extended interview process that focuses on workability, team projects, and skills assessment. This approach relieves candidates of the time pressures and anxiety of having only one chance to impress.”

Our neurodiversity hiring pilot program has had 100% success in the retention rate of new employees hired through this partnership.

Covia Mexico recently celebrated its 70th anniversary with a commemorative tour of three key plants in southern Mexico. The event was an opportunity to honor the company’s heritage and recognize the remarkable accomplishments of its plants and team members because of their hard work and dedication. The tour was attended by Covia’s Executive Leadership Team, who expressed pride, gratitude and encouragement to the local teams, reinforcing the company’s commitment to its employees and their contributions.

Covia’s Ahuazotepec Plant is recognized as Plant of the Year for the second consecutive year 

The celebration began at the Ahuazotepec plant with a sense of pride. For the second year in a row, this plant was recognized as the Plant of the Year. The event brought together the plant’s leadership team, who recognized their employees for their unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional results in quality, efficiency and culture. The team was congratulated for their hard work, leadership, and the significant impact they continue to make on the plant.

20 Years Accident-Free at Covia’s Tlaxcala Plant 

The second stop was the Tlaxcala plant, where a remarkable achievement was celebrated: two decades without a lost-time accident. Team members were recognized for working tirelessly to foster a strong safety culture. Covia’s leadership truly values this achievement, as it is a significant reflection of the dedication, responsibility and commitment to health and safety of every employee at the plant.

70th Anniversary of Operations at Covia’s Jáltipan Plant 

The last stop was Covia’s Jáltipan plant, which celebrated its 70th anniversary, a significant milestone for the plant. The event brought employees together, fostering a sense of community and shared history. During the celebration, a powerful message was delivered, emphasizing that this achievement is the culmination of the collective dedication of generations of team members who have shaped who we are today. The tour not only honored 70 years of history but also celebrated the employees who contribute to the company’s future every day.

DENVER, April 16, 2025 /3BL/ – Arrow Electronics recently teamed with the Colorado Rockies to champion Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver and its innovative approach to building affordable housing.

On Opening Day, Arrow and the Rockies celebrated the nonprofit by highlighting its newest local development, Mountain View Community Homes – Habitat’s first affordable smart home project. Habitat is developing the community in collaboration with Arrow. The company is working with its suppliers and customers to equip each of the community’s 20 homes with a bundle of smart home products designed to enhance security and safety, save energy, conserve water, improve air quality and reduce energy costs.

“We’re so proud to be working with Habitat to build the first affordable smart home community in its history. The technology we are deploying in this community will improve the performance of the homes and enable residents to live more comfortably and safely,” said Arrow President and CEO Sean Kerins.

Arrow employees also contributed over 700 hours building homes and training residents to use the technology. The community’s first residents will begin moving into the three-and-four-bedroom duplexes in May.

A mother of five and first-time homeowner, will soon call the Mountain View community home. As part of the Opening Day festivities, Yareni and her daughter threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Coors Field to kick off the 2025 Colorado Rockies season.

“Opening Day was a great celebration of Habitat’s partnership with Arrow, and our collaboration to build affordable and smart homes for families in our community,” said Jaime G. Gomez, CEO of Habitat Metro Denver. “The energy and excitement of the home opener and first pitch mirrors our excitement for the 20 homeowners who will soon buy and move into their new Habitat smart homes at Mountain View.”

Arrow has served as an official sponsor of the Rockies for a decade and has worked with the team to highlight organizations who have positively impacted the local community.

Habitat has helped more than 2,200 Denver-area families build and buy affordable homes over the last 46 years.

About Habitat for Humanity 

Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver is part of a global, non-profit housing organization that seeks to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership, founded on the belief that everyone needs a decent place to live. Habitat homeowners help build or repair their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage or reduced cost for repairs. To learn more, visit HabitatMetroDenver.org.  

About Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW) sources and engineers technology solutions for thousands of leading manufacturers and service providers. With global 2024 sales of $28 billion, Arrow’s portfolio enables technology across major industries and markets. Learn more at arrow.com.

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Originally published in Sysco’s 2024 Sustainability Report

Now in its 20th year, Sysco’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program encourages responsible growing practices. This includes using pesticide and nutrient inputs responsibly, conserving energy and water, and minimizing waste. It applies to Sysco Brand canned and frozen foods, such as frozen fruits, vegetables and potatoes. As of FY2024, the program included more than 17,600 growers and 59 suppliers covering more than 1 million acres of field. Overall, growers who applied IPM principles reported avoiding 6.1 million pounds of pesticides throughout the growing season.

About Sysco

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 76,000 colleagues, the company operates 340 distribution facilities worldwide and serves approximately 730,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2024 that ended June 29, 2024, the company generated sales of more than $78 billion. Information about our Sustainability program, including Sysco’s 2023 Sustainability Report and 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report, can be found at www.sysco.com.

 For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoFoods. For important news and information regarding Sysco, visit the Investor Relations section of the company’s Internet home page at investors.sysco.com, which Sysco plans to use as a primary channel for publishing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information. In addition, investors should continue to review our news releases and filings with the SEC. It is possible that the information we disclose through any of these channels of distribution could be deemed to be material information.

To learn more about Sysco’s commitment to sustainability, visit our webpage

For full details about Sysco’s 2024 Sustainability Report, visit here.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 16, 2025 /3BL/ – Discovery Education presents a new collection of free, high-quality digital resources and a unique virtual event to support students’ exploration of the natural world on Earth Day and beyond. Discovery Education is the creator of essential K-12 learning solutions used in classrooms around the world.

The resources in Discovery Education Experience, the essential companion for engaged K-12 classrooms, include:

• Earth Day Channel: This curated collection features on-demand events, videos, images, Virtual Field Trips, and fun activities, empowering students to explore environmental issues in the classroom for students of all ages.
• Fix-it: Taking Care of Earth: In this lesson, 1-2 grade students practice properly using commas while learning about taking care of Earth.
• Celebrate Earth Day Holiday Lesson: Students in grades 3-5 celebrate Earth Day’s history and influence, and learn about Earth’s natural resources.
• Celebrate Earth Day Teacher Choice Board: Use this choice board for students to explore Earth Day topics. Students in grades 6-8 can demonstrate understanding by completing one of the recommended activities.

Users of the award-winning Mystery Science by Discovery Education can access 5-minute mini-lessons in the Celebrating Earth Day collection designed to inspire K-5 students to ask questions about Earth’s natural processes and diverse lifeforms.

Discovery Education also offers free resources created in collaboration with corporate partners to celebrate Earth Day. These resources include:

• Video Topic Series: This 3-part video topic series, created with Trane Technologies, showcases the human imagination, ingenuity, and passion behind environmental initiatives. Accompanying classroom and at-home resources take learning even further, inspiring students to learn, explore, and innovate.
• Digital Lesson Bundles: This collection of standards-aligned classroom lessons and educator guides helps students create a more resourceful world through STEM investigations. Created with Itron, these resources are designed to help foster dialogue on the importance of energy and resource utilization.
• Career Videos: This collection of career videos of employees working for the planet supports educators’ efforts to drive deeper student engagement by connecting classroom lessons to the real-world. This content is available from the STEM Careers Coalition, an alliance of industries and non-profit organizations, reaching 11M+ students with equitable access to STEM resources and career connections since its launch in 2019.

In addition, the Environmental Education Initiative – the first-of-its-kind effort to help students engage in environmental science – offers a new collection of resources. The new content includes a video series that introduces students to regional facts and knowledge, as well as student-driven videos showcasing authentic stories of everyday students tackling problems. Additional resources include ready-to-use lessons and student activities exploring subjects such as energy, forestry, water, and more.

Finally, elementary and middle school educators and students are invited to the Earth Day Career Connect Spotlight Event on April 25, 2025. Starting at 10 AM ET, students will have the opportunity to connect with leaders from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Mount Washington Observatory, the LEGO Group’s Build the Change, Bat Conservation International, and more. During these connections, students will discover various career paths as they learn about important scientific topics, such as vulnerable species, manufacturing, and weather. This event is brought to you by Discovery Education’s award-winning Career Connect feature, which is now available to all users of Discovery Education Experience. Learn more and register here.

“Discovery Education is thrilled to provide students with dynamic digital resources that encourage them to be curious about the world they live in,” said Lance Rougeux, Senior Vice President of Curriculum Instruction and Student Engagement at Discovery Education. “This new collection of resources empowers educators to engage their classrooms in explorations of nature and connect what is learned in the classroom to the wider world.”

For more information about Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources and professional learning solutions, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

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About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art, K-12, digital solutions support learning wherever it takes place. Through award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, innovative classroom tools, and strategic alliances, Discovery Education helps educators deliver powerful learning experiences that engage all students and support higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 100 countries and territories. Through partnerships with districts, states, and trusted organizations, Discovery Education empowers teachers with essential edtech solutions that inspire curiosity, build confidence, and accelerate learning. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

Contacts
Grace Maliska
Discovery Education
Email: gmaliska@dicoveryed.com

Since 2007, we’ve invested nearly $1 billion to transform our Brewton Containerboard Mill into a model of innovation. Thanks to modernized equipment and the dedication of our employees, we’ve created a cutting-edge, sustainable and safer workplace. As the first integrated paper mill in the U.S. to earn the ENERGY STAR® certification, Brewton stands as a testament to our ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. Here’s to continued success and the exciting milestones ahead. https://bit.ly/3GaxglW

About Georgia-Pacific 
Based in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific and its subsidiaries are among the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of bath tissue, paper towels and napkins, tableware, paper-based packaging, cellulose and building products. Our familiar consumer brands include Angel Soft®, Brawny®, Dixie®, enMotion®, Quilted Northern®, Sparkle® and Vanity Fair®. Georgia-Pacific has long been a leading supplier of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers. Its Georgia-Pacific Recycling subsidiary is among the world’s largest traders of paper, metal and plastics. The company operates more than 150 facilities and employs approximately 30,000 people directly and creates more than 80,000 jobs indirectly. For more information, visit: gp.com/about-us. For news, visit: news.gp.com. Follow Georgia-Pacific on LinkedIn, Meta, Instagram, X and YouTube.

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Originally published on PSEG ENERGIZE!

Leaves scattered across the lawn, broken branches and dirt covering the pavement greeted the Sesame Street friends after an intense night of stormy weather in a recent video shared by Sesame Workshop. What seemed like a daunting cleanup for Rudy, Abby Cadabby, and her mom quickly became manageable when they realized teamwork was the key. After hours of scrubbing, collecting, and organizing the garden was restored to its original state. “Cleaning up was easy peasy because we all worked together,” said Rudy, as they celebrated their effort.

This is the essence of the Little Neighbors Program, and what attendees of our webinar with Sesame Workshop from all over the country and even as far as Brazil were excited to learn about and share.

“I am excited to share the Sesame Workshop Little Neighbors program with my children, community and local PTA. There is so much useful and meaningful information about science, literacy, and resources to develop healthy relationships and respect differences,” said Kendall Ademu-John, manager of Outreach Public Affairs at PSEG.

The animated video is one of many handcrafted videos born from the partnership between the PSEG Foundation and Sesame Workshop, the global nonprofit behind Sesame Street. In an effort to encourage children to become good neighbors in their communities at a young age, PSEG and Sesame Workshop partnered to create new engaging and creative activities help children learn about the ways that they can make positive changes in their communities and the larger world.

“This is a valuable resource for us, as we have seven preschool classrooms. We’ve found that focusing on social emotional learning skills helps young children to sort through their feelings and cope better. Being able to share relatable content with teachers and students will be helpful to make the topics more accessible,” said Tracy Hewitt, STEM program leader at Millhill Child & Family Development Corporation in Trenton, NJ.

The 10+ year partnership between the PSEG Foundation and Sesame Workshop has produced numerous free resources for children, families and educational organizations. This milestone was celebrated earlier this year in Paterson, NJ, with a special appearance by Elmo.

“These newest resources, as an expansion of our Little Neighbors initiative, were created to help empower young children and their families to play an active role in caring for their communities. We want to remind our youngest community members that every child, no matter their size, can make a meaningful impact in helping to build a better world. We’re so proud and grateful for our continued partnership with PSEG Foundation in this important work,” said Zoe Rochman, U.S. social impact content manager at Sesame Workshop.

Watch Maria Spina, manager of PSEG Foundation & Corporate Social Responsibility, and Jeanette Betancourt, Ed.D., SVP of U.S. Social Impact at Sesame Workshop, join Steve Adubato to discuss the Little Neighbors program below and visit sesame.org/LittleNeighbors for a variety of free resources for children in your lives, in English and Spanish, from illustrative creative exercises, scavenger hunt challenges, nature journaling prompts, outdoor activities and more.

Rhinos, elephants, gorillas, and their habitats, are among the natural treasures protected by Cisco and Connected Conservation Foundation in a 10-year partnership.

In 2015, the rhinos of South Africa’s Sabi Sand Nature Reserve were under relentless siege.

Every night, poachers would break the perimeter of the reserve to target the majestic animals. Not for food or sport but for the rare rhinos’ horns, which in some cultures are believed to possess healing powers (in fact, they are made of keratin, the same as human fingernails).

The result? A perfect storm in which limited local economic opportunities mixed with high black-market prices. Add in outnumbered, or worse, outgunned park police, and these natural treasures were being pushed towards extinction.

A solution was needed, quickly.

“At that time, it was a desperate situation,” said Sophie Maxwell, CEO of Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF), a nonprofit that for 10 years has partnered with Cisco to use digital technologies to help save endangered species in Africa and beyond.

“Forty-five rhinos had been recently poached in Sabi Sands,” Maxwell continued. “That’s when Cisco and Dimension Data, its partner at the time, stepped in to help counter the poaching crisis in South Africa.”

With technologies like LoRaWan networks, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, long-range thermal cameras, and automated fence alarms, results came quickly. According to CCF, by 2019 poaching in Sabi Sand had been reduced by 96 percent.

But Sabi Sand was just a starting point.

Today, Connected Conservation Foundation operates in 35 protected areas across 15 nations, from Kenya and Namibia to Papua New Guinea and Peru. And it protects gorillas, elephants, tree kangaroos, pangolins, leopards, and Andean bears (to name a few), while supporting local communities by enhancing education facilities, providing technology training, and building career opportunities.

Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s chief people, policy, and purpose officer, shared her thoughts on the success of the Cisco/CCF partnership.

“For 10 years, Cisco and the Connected Conservation Foundation have been joined by the belief that we can use technology to leave our planet in a better place than we found it,” she said. “We know that technology can help transform our world in big ways, and that includes helping to protect the world’s ecosystems and endangered species. Now, as it accelerates, so can our impact!”

Stopping poachers before they strike.

Connected Conservation Foundation was the brainchild of Bruce “Doc” Watson, a co-founder of Johannesburg-based Dimension Data (now part of NTT DATA) who wasted no time getting his chief technology partner Cisco involved.

“Sabi Sand Nature Reserve became a test bed for all this technology innovation,” Maxwell explained. “It was about looking for solutions to detect threats, monitor ecosystems, and track the movement of wildlife and people across these reserves — to get an early warning of when incursions were happening so that when poachers were entering the reserve, they could intercept and apprehend them before they killed the rhinos to take the horns. And at that time there was no technology being used.”

Ian Robertson, Cisco’s global business development executive of cloud computing, has been with the project since its inception. At the 10-year mark, he’s proud of the program’s progress but keeps a clear focus on the future.

“We started in a good spot in the South Africa reserve,” he said, “but the scope of what we’re doing has 1,000 percent expanded. Last year, 32 rare white rhinos were reintroduced at Sabi Sand, which recently reported 500 days poacher-free. And we’re protecting all kinds of animals now, not just rhinos. But the program is still evolving, and it’s more critical than ever.”

Unfortunately, poaching still rages in parts of South Africa and many other places where protected areas lack early warning solutions. But Kenya is one country where CCF and Cisco have built a success story. Today, landscape-scale solutions are deployed across 8 percent of Kenya. And excellent conservation management coupled with surveillance and monitoring technologies have played a key role in eradicating poaching. Between 2012 and 2017, rhino numbers rose by 6 percent.

Making conservation work for animals and people

For any conservation project, a holistic strategy is imperative. And Rebecka Turner, a Cisco senior global partner marketing manager who, together with Robertson, leads Cisco’s partnership with CFF, stressed the importance of moving past animals, ecosystems, and technology to include people.

“A big part of the story,” she said, “is how CCF is helping the communities. They bring in training and jobs for in-field technicians, and the technologies are now also helping facilitate more peace between the communities, the conservancies, and the animals.”

A key starting point is education, especially in raising awareness around the value of intact, living ecosystems — for example, to attract ecotourism, a key economic driver.

“We realized early on,” Robertson said, “that it’s not just about looking at the game reserve to protect the wildlife. Ninety-nine percent of those nearby communities are rural poor, and educational opportunities are limited. Cisco’s all about connecting the unconnected and powering an inclusive future. So, there was more for us to do.”

To that end, skills training became an essential element. And the Cisco Networking Academy, which has empowered more than 24 million people in 191 countries with networking and cybersecurity skills, was ready to step in.

“Cisco not only brought in the Networking Academy training courses,” Maxwell said, “but they’ve also donated digital access points and Wi-Fi to environmental community education facilities. So, we have enabled digital infrastructure for environmental campuses in Uganda, South Africa, and other places. They are training local people for a range of environmental jobs — like protected-area technicians, ecology monitoring, and tourism. It’s about creating the skills for nature-based local economies.”

Future threats, future innovation

Pressures on endangered animals continue to mount, whether from poaching, habitat destruction, the changing climate, or other factors. So, Connected Conservation continues to innovate and expand.

In 2021, Airbus Foundation joined forces with Cisco and CCF to contribute high-resolution satellite tracking, an “eye in the sky,” as Maxwell calls it. When combined with Cisco’s networking and IoT technologies, an ever-more precise picture of complex ecosystems emerges. This can include detailed environmental data on crop, soil, and climate impacts, along with deeper understanding of the animals’ movements and behaviors.

The goal is to reduce human/animal conflicts — for example, helping farmers to coexist with animals by knowing when they are most likely to eat or trample crops — while also providing valuable agricultural information.

“It’s about understanding the dynamics of the landscape and the changing environment, the droughts, the floods, and general ecosystem health,” Maxwell explained. “An understanding of where the flow and dynamics of nature interact with humanity is really important for stopping these conflicts.”

Case in point: Namibia’s elephants.

“We found that man-made watering holes are one thing that motivates the wildlife,” Maxwell continued. “And so, mapping the man-made water holes and tracking that against the elephant-collar data, you can understand what motivates their movements and where the elephants are going to move next.”

Of course, the more complex CCF’s operations become, the more data is generated — lots more. That demands the best security and analytics.

Robertson and Maxwell are exploring how newer technologies can contribute — especially as Cisco continues to infuse artificial intelligence into more of its products, along with the capabilities of Splunk, the analytics powerhouse it acquired last year. And of course, all future efforts will include rigorous cybersecurity, an ongoing concern as bad actors continue to gain in sophistication.

“Cisco is our lead partner, our founding partner,” Maxwell concluded, “and we’re so grateful for everything they’ve done to support us and make this all happen. We’re excited to explore and continually harness the best future ecosystem of technologies that will help continue to facilitate our vision.”

To support CCF initiatives and get the latest news, visit connectedconservation.foundation.

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Cummins

Engineering graduates Nompilo Zulu and Sinethemba Mthembu, from Johannesburg, South Africa, have not only forged their own paths in the field but have also inspired those around them. Here’s what they have to say about teamwork and innovation:

Q: What idea has had the most profound impact on your career path?

Nompilo Zulu: Knowing that my younger sister looks up to me as a woman in the engineering field has motivated me to strive for excellence, excel in everything I do, and serve as a positive role model for her.

Q: How is your team innovating?

Nompilo Zulu: My team is innovating by working on an optimized tool aimed at aiding us and our customers in selecting renewable energy sources that power our Accelera™ by Cummins electrolyzers for smoother operations.

Q: How does this work contribute to more sustainable energy solutions?

Sinethemba Mthembu: Green hydrogen, which is produced by these electrolyzers utilizing renewable energy, serves as a versatile energy carrier, enabling energy storage, industrial decarbonization and powering different industrial applications through the use of fuel cells. Our team’s work helps our customers make use of this technology and reduce carbon emissions.

Q: What have you learned from being part of your team?

Nompilo Zulu:The importance of effective communication. I realized that addressing issues or raising concerns promptly leads to quicker resolutions and smoother operations.

Sinethemba Mthembu: Being part of this team has shown me that our diverse backgrounds and ages give us the opportunity to grow and learn from one another. Each person’s unique experience and perspective enriches our understanding. Moreover, working toward a shared goal unites us in how we collaborate.

Q: What is the greatest wealth in your life?

Sinethemba Mthembu: I have learned that time is my greatest asset in life. It is what I use to gain experiences, reach my goals, and build relationships. With time, I can keep growing, innovating, and learning new things. It’s not about how much time we have but how we make the most of it — to achieve our dreams and leave a lasting impact.