and I'm a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering here at MIT.

我是麻省理工學院土木與環境工程系的教授。

And the mission of my group

我的團隊的使命是

is to change the way that we invent materials and processes.

改變我們發明材料和加工處理的方式。

We try to use geo-chemical tools

我們嘗試使用地球化學工具

to understand how chemicals are gonna move in the environment,

來了解化學物質在環境中如何移動、

where they'll end up, and what that means for

它們最終流向何處，以及這對於

potential exposures to human and ecological systems.

可能會接觸到的人類和生態系統意味何事。

I have always been passionate about the environment

我自幼就一直

from a very young age.

對環境有極高的熱情。

I'm from Portland, Maine, and my grandmother's home is situated in Gray, Maine.

我來自緬因州的波特蘭，而我祖母的家位於緬因州的格雷。

Gray, Maine sits atop one of the EPA's Superfund sites

緬因州的格雷位於環保署的超級基金站點之一，

called the McKin site. And the McKin site

名為麥金站點之上。這個麥金站點

was responsible for the collection and disposal of

每年負責收集和處理

hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial waste

數十萬加侖的工業廢料，

annually, from 1965 to 1978.

負責的時間是從1965年到1978年。

The method of disposal at the time

當時的廢料處理方法

was to basically put these barrels of chemicals into an open pit in the ground.

基本上只是將這些化學物質桶放入地下的露天礦坑中。

I didn't know about any of that until I was in college,

那個時候我在上大學前對此都一無所知，

but what I did know was that everybody in my grandmother's neighborhood was sick.

不過我所知道的是住在我祖母鄰近地區的人都生病了。

The child up the street was born with an inexplicable neurological disorder;

那條街上的孩子在出生時得了一種無法解釋的神經系統疾病；

two doors down there was a cancer;

再走過兩家就有個罹患癌症的；

my grandmother and my uncle both had multiple sclerosis;

我的祖母和叔叔都有多發性硬化症；

a couple of doors down there was another cancer, and another one;

再走過幾家是另一個有罹癌的，然後接著走下去又有；

and I said to my mom, as I was realizing this,

然後當我了解到這個狀況時，我告訴我母親：

"There has to be something in the air or in the water in this town that's making these people sick!"

「這個城鎮的空氣或水當中必然有某種東西讓這些人生病！」

So for the next fifteen or so years

所以接下來的15年左右，

I gained the skills to try and be able to understand this problem,

我習得了一些能嘗試去解決和了解這個問題的技能，

and about a year from graduating with my chemistry degree;

然後大約在我拿到化學學位畢業後的一年；

ｍy aunt, who had helped raise me, became sick with breast cancer.

幫忙撫養我的阿姨患上了乳癌。

I ultimately found that there was chemical contamination in the drinking water in this town.

我最終發現這個鎮上的飲用水中有化學污染物。

One of the reasons I came to MIT as a grad student

我當時來麻省理工學院當研究生的原因之一

not only for the great science, but also so I could take the bridge

不僅是因為這所學校卓越的科學，我也可以走過這座橋

across the river to MGH and sit with her during her cancer treatments,

抵達麻省總醫院，然後在她治療癌症期間照看她，

which was really, you know, a privilege for me, but

嗯，這對我而言是項特權，不過

made the mission of my work that much more salient.

也使我的工作使命更加顯要。

So that's really what I see as my role;

所以那真的就是我如何看待我的角色；

is to be able to train future inventors, and say

能夠培養未來的發明者，並且說

is the best way to do this is really at the...the point of inception of an idea,

達成目標的最佳方式實際上是在想法開始萌芽的時候呢，

or maybe just past the proof of concept where you start to say:

抑或是在這個概念驗證之後，由此你就會開始說：

"Ok, how am I making this, and how can I make it with consideration of the environment?"

「好的，我該如何達成，然後該如何在考慮環境的情況下達成呢？」

But there's another level that we can't ignore,

但是有另一個我們不能忽視的層面，

and that's already developed industry.

那就是已經發展完成的產業。

And so one of the things that we've undertaken is the task of

因此，我們已經著手進行的事情之一就是從事任務，

trying to understand how are natural gas extraction processes

試圖了解天然氣

and alternative oil extraction processes being developed,

和替代石油的開採過程是如何發展，

and is there something that we can understand about the chemistry

以及是否存在著我們可以了解的化學，能用來

to try and prevent unwanted byproducts,

嘗試防止不想要的副產品，

because then we can have the same chemical intervention

因為那樣我們就可以進行同樣的化學干預，

that protects the public health and also helps the industries.

藉此保護大眾的健康，同時幫助這些產業。

One of the things I emphasize in my group is

我在團隊中強調的一件事就是

we can't just be finger-pointers anymore. We have to be part of identifying the solution.

我們不能再只當指責錯誤的人了。我們必須成為發現解決方案的一份子。

And sometimes that solution is actually really hard to find because

有時候解決方案真的很難找到，因為

you don't just want a solution that works for you and makes a nice science story,

你不僅僅想找到你覺得可行的解決方案並成為一個很好的科學故事，

you want a solution that's gonna be adoptable and deployable in practice

你會想要一個解決方案是在實務操作上能採用且發揮作用的，

so that it can actually go on to affect people's lives.

這樣它才能真正持續影響人們的生活。