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‘Building Energy’ and Ideas at TEDxDuke

Tickets on sale for popular TEDx talks at Duke on March 29

Duke psychology professor and behavioral economist Dan Ariely discussed wealth inequality in the U.S. at last year's TEDxDuke. By Duke Photography
Duke psychology professor and behavioral economist Dan Ariely discussed wealth inequality in the U.S. at last year's TEDxDuke. By Duke Photography

As Duke junior Suhani Jalota grew up in Mumbai, India, she noticed that the millions of people who lived in the country’s urban slums and rural communities had problems that weren’t being addressed, such as poor sanitation or children’s safety issues.She visited these communities, and her advocacy efforts led to a range of projects from construction of toilets in a small village to a start-up company where women sell sanitary pads and diapers. Jalota will be one of nine speakers at the fifth annual TEDxDuke at 1 p.m. March 29 in Baldwin Auditorium. The program is modeled after national TED talks, in which speakers share "Ideas Worth Spreading" at live events worldwide and through online videos. Tickets are $20 and include dinner and a T-shirt. "This will be an icebreaker experience,” Jalota said. “A lot of people think it’s cool to say you’re an activist… Get the community to come together and solve (problems) themselves. It should come from within these impoverished communities, because they have their own talents and their own problems, and they know their problems better than anybody else.”The speakers, who are students, employees, alumni and local community members, will each present for 15 minutes toward this year’s theme, “Building Energy.” Ideas will be shared on social, community, physical and motivational energy.About 600 people attended TEDxDuke last year, its largest year yet, with people traveling from as far as Atlanta to participate. TEDxDuke will also include demonstrations and performances, to include the Duke Physics Department and Duke Lasya, an Indian dance group. Organizations such as the Duke Digital Initiative, Duke Office of Information Technology, and Innovation Co-Lab will be tabling and showing off technology such as Google Glass and the 3Doodler, a 3D printing pen that produces plastic through a nozzle.  “In between talks, you get to meet each other. It’s really intellectually vibrant,” said Gavin Ovsak, a Duke biomedical engineering and computer science senior who’s a member of the TEDxDuke executive team. “People can talk about what they’re passionate about, and I wanted to create that kind of environment at Duke because I know everyone has a story to tell and an idea to spread.” Speakers on March 29 range from the editor of a popular women’s website, Colored Girl Confidential, to the energy and sustainability manager of Charlotte, N.C.Charlie Welch, conservation coordinator for the Duke Lemur Center, is also one of the TEDxDuke speakers. He will talk about the Lemur Center’s current conservation work in Madagascar and what his 25 years of conservation experience in that country has taught him. “TEDxDuke is an opportunity for me to talk to people, to emphasize what a dire situation that we’re in worldwide right now in terms of biodiversity loss, with little attention being paid to the extinction of so many species every single day,” Welch said. “You don’t have to be a biologist or conservation ecologist to take this seriously and to be a part of doing something about it.”