My dear friends,
On the occasion of my departure from CHESS and Cornell, I feel like am beginning, or rather, continuing a quest where nothing less than our collective future on this fragile planet is at stake.
Many of you have asked me why I have chosen to leave, especially when the future of synchrotron science at Cornell looks so bright and with protein crystallography receiving ever more attention and funding. The answer is simple and involves two levels of response.
First, I am responding objectively to a manifest global crisis. Our environment, our only source of life, is suffering greatly at our hands. Please read the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity and the World Scientists' Call for Action if you haven't already seen these documents. As a scientist, I can no longer work full time in my niche area of research with a clear conscience. If we as scientists do not take responsibility for continuing to warn people and politicians of the inevitability of a global ecological collapse if corrective measures are not taken soon, then we are guilty of a great trespass. As physicists and biologists, you know how misinformed and ignorant lay persons can be about physical and biological systems. Reluctant as you may be, it is incumbent upon us to be leaders, to find ways and means to avoid a global ecological collapse, and, above all, to demonstrate through the way we conduct our personal lives how to live sustainably and in harmony with the biosphere.
Second, I am responding subjectively to a deep intuitive call to action. I truly do fear for our planet and all of the beautiful life that it sustains. It is said that one should have no regrets... Well, I would have deep regrets if I merely continued to do "business as usual." Now is no time for complacency.
If you ever took my words as a scientist seriously, now is the time. If you ever thought you should do something as an individual and especially as a scientist, now is the time. Here is a quote from the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity from 1992:
"No more than one or a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished."
This document was conceived by scientists and signed by "...some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences." As a scientist, I am taking this warning seriously and its call to action personally. But, please consult other sources of information and make your own judgment. If you are in need of something more personal, I cannot recommend anything better than Balance Point. It is about one man's epiphany and his ongoing efforts on behalf of our planet. Moreover, it is dedicated (in very small lettering on the inside cover) "...to the scientists of the world...".
Finally, if you should ever want my involvement or feedback in pursuing ideas or actions on how to help our world through your individual effort, please contact me or check our website periodically. I will be doing everything I can think of to live as lightly as possible on our planet. My heart's desire is to see some of you do the same.
art