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On this episode we speak with Dr. Zafra Lerman about how a love for science is fostering world peace.

Zafra Lerman is an American chemist, educator, and humanitarian. She is the President of the Malta Conferences Foundation, which aims to promote peace by bringing together scientists from otherwise hostile countries to discuss science and foster international scientific and technical collaboration. 

From 1986 to 2010, she chaired the American Chemical Society's Subcommittee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights. She has been successful in preventing executions, releasing prisoners of conscience from jail and bringing dissidents to freedom. 

She is the recipient of many awards for Education and science diplomacy, including the 1999 Presidential Award from U.S. President Clinton, the 2005 Nyholm Prize for Education from the Royal Society of Chemistry (England), the 2015 Science Diplomacy Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the 2016 Andrei Sakharov Award for human rights from the American Physical Society (APS), the 2016 United Nations NOVUS Award for the 16th Sustainable Development Goal: Peace and Justice, and the 2017 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award.

https:/natureandsciencepodcast.com

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Host Don Murphy has been a medical research assistant at the Salk Institute For Biological Research, a park ranger, director of California State Parks and deputy director of the U.S. National Park Service. He has traveled the world representing the United States on the World Heritage Commission. Don is the author of several books: “Love Vignettes”, a collection of love sonnets; “Beth”, a coming of age story of a young girl; and several children’s books.

Don was honored by the University of California, San Diego as one of its top 50 Alumni. For fifteen years he led executive leadership seminars at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado and at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. For the past ten years Don has led Making Sense of Science Seminars to promote science literacy among seniors.