Dr Anthony Halog awarded a Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Dr Anthony Halog of the University of Queensland was awarded a short-term Invited Research Fellowship in Japan, given by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to senior scientists with an excellent research track record. He has pursued collaborative research on industrial ecology and sustainability science with Professor Masahiko Hirao from the University of Tokyo. Anthony undertook his fellowship in the summer of 2012. He visited several leading research universities and organisations to give lectures and discuss future collaborations, including Waseda University, United Nations University, Institute of Global Environmental Strategies, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University, Kagoshima University, Tohoku University, and Kyushu University.

While in Tokyo, Dr Halog met Professor Nakamura at Waseda University, a leading industrial ecologist in Japan who is interested in input/output and waste flows analyses and their application to the mining and mineral resource industries. At the Department of Chemical Systems Engineering, University of Tokyo, Dr Halog gave a talk on ’Life Cycle Based Framework for Developing Sustainable Systems: Critical Role of Ecosystem Goods and Services’. At the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science (GPSS) of University of Tokyo and at the Graduate School of Innovation, Tokyo Institute of Technology, he presented a talk on ‘Systems Based Framework for Developing Sustainable Industrial Networks and Supply Chains’. Anthony further participated in the International Symposium on ‘Fostering Future Leaders for Sustainable Society’ held at the University of Tokyo.

Moreover, Dr Halog visited the Inamori Frontier Research Center, Department of Hydrogen Energy Systems at Kyushu University. He had a discussion with Professor Michihisa Koyama and gave a talk on ‘Life Cycle based Framework for Developing Sustainable Energy Systems’. Dr Halog further visited the Research Centre for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University and gave a talk on ‘Industrial Symbiosis based Approaches for Developing Sustainable Systems (Case of Islands Sustainability)’. Professor Shunsuke Nagashima and Dr Halog agreed to collaborate on issues of islands sustainability, waste management, and forest bioenergy.

Discussion with Dr Kazuyo Matsubae at Tohoku University

At the Graduate School of Environmental Studies of Nagoya University, Anthony met Professor Hiroki Tanikawa and discussed environmental systems, particularly the use of material stocks and flow analysis and GIS for urban metabolism, with a specific focus on construction of new infrastructures. At the Graduate School of Engineering of Tohoku University, Anthony met Dr Kazuyo Matsubae and agreed to collaborate in the area of tracing phosphorous flows in food systems as well as in analysing the flows of metals/rare earth elements between Australia and Japan.

 

About JSPS and the Invited Fellowship Programme

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) was established in 1937 with the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science in all fields. JSPS is funded by the Japanese Government and has a budget in excess of ¥330 billion (£2.8 billion) distributed across a range of different programmes.

The JSPS Invitation Fellowship for research in Japan (short-term) is aimed at promoting international scientific exchange while advancing research in the subject field. It allows researchers in Japan to invite colleagues from other countries to Japan to participate in discussions, attend seminars, give lectures, or perform similar functions at their universities and research institutes.

Anthony Halog

(We’d like to thank Anthony for contributing his story and photos. Do you have news you’d like to share with the ISIE-SEM community? Perhaps a new publication, conference announcement, job opening or a story about your research team? Please send it to karin.hosking@csiro.au. Thanks!)