In January, ten members of NIMEP (including a PhD candidate at the Tufts University Fletcher School) spent two weeks in the Arab Republic of Syria conducting NIMEP's annual fact-finding mission. Throughout the months leading up to the trip, the group put in a lot of effort into preparations; aside from being responsible for the logistics of the trip, ranging from finding the cheapest airfare to setting up interviews, every member of the team was responsible for extensive reading on the history of Syria and was expected to complete a twenty page literature review in order to ensure that they had the necessary background knowledge to conduct meaningful research. While in Syria, the group met with more than a dozen important individuals, ranging from journalists to artists to government ministers. Some of the more high-profile meetings included those with Todd Holmstrom (US Attache to Syria), Patriarch Mor Ignatious Zakka I Iwas (Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church), Ahmad Hassoun (The Grand Mufti of Syria), Faisal Mekdad (Deputy Foreign Minister of Syria), and Buthaina Shabaan (Minister of Expatriates). The group also had a highly controversial meeting with Khaled Meshaal, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, currently in exile in Damascus. The group also had a guided tour of the Golan Heights with UN Peacekeeper Major Stephen Eder in the UNDOF zone. Upon returning, every member of the group wrote a research paper on their individual topics from the research trip. Many of these will be published in the Fall 2008 edition of the Insights journal. Possibilities for upcoming trips include Israel and the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, and the Gulf States.

During the 2008 winter recess, two students traveled to Beijing to undertake research on China's rapidly expanding wind energy industry. Through meetings with various experts active within the field, the students sought to assess the current status and the future prospects for large-scale wind development and prescribe realistic policy solutions to foster such development. Highlights included interviews with the Chinese Wind Energy Association, Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy Research and Education Center, financial consultancy Azure International, and turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy, among others. In addition, the students were invited to attend and observe the U.S.-China Clean Energy Dialogue held at the Grand Hyatt Beijing. As a result of such varied and extensive exposure, the students attained a unique and comprehensive outlook on the future development of China's wind industry.

Over winter break, a team of six Tufts EWB members traveled with Professor Durant to El Salvador to continue work in Arada Vieja. The team included seniors Jonathan Zack and Sara Jackson, juniors Russell Hyatt, Jon Gregorowicz, and Kate Siegel, and sophomore Lauren Morris. This group, representing engineers and community health majors, focused their efforts on the construction of a permanent lid for the spring box located at the beginning of the water system. Prior to lid construction, the spring box was open to the air and thus polluted with algae, bacteria, garbage, and insects. The lid was constructed with an L-shape design and built-in manhole that allows for easy access to the spring box for routine cleaning. In addition, a diversion ditch was dug around the spring box to prevent rainwater runoff from entering the system. The team focused heavily on health surveys, as a new health survey was formed during the fall semester that was more data oriented to better facilitate comparisons between trips. On the trip, the team also did multiple water quality tests, testing not only for bacteria, but iron, phosphates, nitrates, turbidity, and pH. The results were astounding. All three filters were fully working at reducing the bacteria count from over 50 counts of total coliform to 0 per milliliter of water. Future trips will focus on ensuring it will stay this way.

The Ecuador project is now in its final stage. Students Brittany Wright, Julia Green and Amy Piscopo traveled with Tufts EWB alumnus Jonathan Crocker to El Cristal, Ecuador in January 2008 in order to perform water quality tests on two of the main water systems and provide the results to the community. While in El Cristal, the travel team learned that in the fall of 2007 the local water board had used the water quality data from the August trip to apply to the municipal government of Cotacachi for funding to install a slow-sand filter in the main system. They successfully secured grants to convert existing tanks of the main water system to a slow-sand filter during the fall. The tanks have been resurfaced, new piping connections added and valves replaced. Due to poor road conditions, the filters will not be completed until the rainy season ends. With the news of the slow-sand filter, the January travel team focused on testing the two smaller water systems. Community members hope to use January water test results to apply for additional funding. The Ecuador project team is hoping to do a final trip within the next year, once the slow-sand filters are running, in order to perform water quality tests to verify that the filters function properly.

Host Fireside Chat on "Ethics of International Travel for Undergraduate Learning" featuring Dean James Glaser, Prof. Rosalind Shaw, and Prof. Edward Kutsoati.

The Institute provides training in nonviolence/conflict resolution widely in the state of Rhode Island, and is home to the Nonviolence Streetworkers Program in Providence. Gross is the recipient of The Institute for Global Leadership Alumni award from Tufts University, The Community Service award from the Rhode Island Minority Police Association, and the Recognition Award in supporting the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission.

An Issues of the Future symposium 11:00-12:00: What is the Role of the Military in a Democracy? Dr. Harvey Sapolsky- Prof. at MIT and Dr. Mac Owens- Prof. at Naval War College 12:00-1:00: Civil-Military Relations in Higher Education Erik Dahl- Advocates for Tufts ROTC, PhD candidate at Fletcher Dan Wesche- Army Reservist, Iraq Veteran, Tufts student Tyson Belanger- Marine ,Harvard PhD candidate , Assoc. Truman National Security Project Dr. Paul Joseph- Prof. at Tufts, Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program 1:30-2:30: Problems and Possibilities: Private Military Contractors Derek Wright- Dir. Of Development for International Peace Operations Association Dr. Kateri Carmola- Ass. Prof at Middlebury and author of forthcoming Private Security Contractors in the Age of New Wars: Risk, Law, & Ethics Rye Barcott- Marine, Harvard KSG/MBA student, Assoc. Truman National Security Project 3:00-4:00: Forgotten Heroes: Veterans & the Psychological and Physical Affects of War Andrew Young- USAFR and Mental Health Service Officer for the Iraq War Veterans Organization Patrick Enking- Physician's Assistant in Psychiatry, Maine Dept. Veterans Affairs Drew Sloan- Marine, Harvard MBA Student, assoc. Truman National Security Project