Protecting Our Potables: ‘National Geographic Germany’ And Bayer Invest €250,000 Euro In Freshwater Research

The volume of water on Earth is vast: our planet holds 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of the precious liquid. However, the share of fresh water, crucial to the survival of our species, accounts for just one percent of the reserves – a negligibly small portion that already no longer suffices to cover the needs of Earth’s human population. Hence, meeting the steadily rising global demand for water is one of the great challenges of the future. “National Geographic Germany” and Bayer AG have provided €250,000 in grant monies to set up the “National Geographic Global Exploration Fund,” which seeks to finance new research into protecting our drinking water supplies. It will support scientists in the German-language countries in their efforts to research the worldwide development, distribution and conservational use of water.

“The Global Exploration Fund brings the National Geographic Society idea to Germany,” says Klaus Liedtke, editor-in-chief of “National Geographic Germany.” Its U.S. parent, the National Geographic Society is the world’s largest non-profit scientific institution. Since its establishment in 1888, it has funded nearly 8,000 projects to explore and protect life on Earth. The Global Exploration Fund is the first topical research collaboration that National Geographic is entering into with another company outside the U.S. “We are partnering with Bayer to give German scientists the opportunity to do their research in the name of National Geographic and become part of the Who’s Who in international research,” Liedtke added. “Sustainable business is one of the integral elements in our corporate policy,” says Udo Oels, member of the Bayer AG executive board responsible for the Innovation, Technology and Environmental Protection departments. Bayer AG has been committed to a conservational use of water for many years, and has drastically reduced water consumption in its plants all over the world by using modern production methods, as well as developed a number of water-treatment products. “Our cooperation with National Geographic is a synthesis between innovation and social responsibility,” added Oels.

The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) welcomed National Geographic Germany and Bayer’s efforts: “We are very pleased that National Geographic and Bayer have taken action with a new grant program for freshwater as a resource, and that they seek to encourage German scientists in particular to develop innovative ideas for clean drinking water.” According to „National Geographic Germany,” research topics promoted by the new grant program include finding and tapping freshwater reserves, as well as water treatment, quality control and analyses of global freshwater cycles. The grants cater to natural scientists as well as humanists and engineers in the German-speaking countries, and to international scientists with projects in the German-speaking regions.

Professor Gerold Wefer, a world-renowned geoscientist and marine geologist in Bremen, is accepting grant applications through Sep 15 and will join the two sponsors of the fund in drawing up a shortlist of projects worth supporting. Afterwards, a commission of noted scientists in the U.S. will decide on the final allocation of the grant monies together with Professor Wefer. Information about applying for the research grants is available on the Internet at www.nationalgeographic.de/gef .

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