Spotlight: Israel Dumade
Why did you become a scientist? What drew you to your particular field?
I like creating/developing something, something visible and verifiable. I wanted a career that offers opportunity to innovate and make life better for others. My interest in sustainability (i.e. environmental/sustainable engineering) arose from my observation of the unintended outcomes of things that we create. The intention is to make life easier/comfortable but there are usually a number of unintended side effects such as resource depletion, deforestation, species extinction, loss of biodiversities, air pollution, soil and water contamination, health impacts, ecosystems degradation and many other environmental impacts. My desire is to be able to contribute a little-bit to making life better without adding to the burden, especially environmentally.
What kind of research do you do and how does it help society?
My research is in the area of sustainability. My work is currently focused on sustainability assessment of various types of infrastructure and systems. This area of work is helpful to the society in the choice of new infrastructure options and in the redesign of existing ones. It enables policy makers and developers consider various ways in which the infrastructure can affect categories of stakeholders and provides opportunity to take pre-emptive steps at eliminating or reducing the potential negative impacts.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of a career in Environmental Science?
Embraced your studies whole-heartedly because it is an interesting and highly rewarding career. It offers opportunities for employment and research in various areas all over the world. There are several evolving areas that need to be attended to, some has been discovered and many more will still need to be discovered. These openings present opportunities for those that care about our environment and those that are willing to be part of the solution to our environmental problems.