June 23, 2022

Sensegen unveils natural fragrance survey results for 2022 World Perfumery Congress

Fragrances made by biology are 100% true-to-nature.

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Southern California’s taste, smell, and beauty innovator, Sensegen, announced its natural fragrance survey results, gearing up for exhibiting its “New Naturals” initiative at the World Perfumery Congress (WPC), Booth #523, June 29 – July 1, 2022, in Miami, Florida. Sensegen is a division of Blue California ingredients.

“We’re very excited to share our results of the natural fragrance survey, revealing consumer knowledge of natural fragrances and what is appealing, trend-setting in personal care and beauty products,” said Angelique Burke, senior perfumer at Sensegen. “The era of truly natural perfumery is here; we are bringing nature back into perfumery by harnessing classic fragrance molecules from biology rather than deriving them from petroleum.”

Sensegen’s New Naturals are bio-designed fragrances that are natural (plant-based), safe, and sustainable. They perform and are as pleasant as synthetics, yet more complex than blends of essential oils, which thus far have been the only option for natural fragrance seekers. No such fragrance initiative exists on the market today.

An ideal example of a New Natural is Sensegen’s entire class of plant-based musks that gives perfumers the best natural alternative to synthetics. Once coveted and exclusive, the musk fragrance became banned for the inhumane treatment of the Musk Deer — the only source at the time. After that, the highly sought-after musky olfactive character was solely a synthetic option for perfumers.

“The lack of availability of natural musks, combined with the ubiquity, performance, and wide acceptability of this olfactive character, has created a huge challenge for natural fragrances to compete in the marketplace,” said Burke. “Today, Sensegen can offer a far-reaching range of natural and sustainable creations, which proudly stand their ground in the market.”

Sensegen asked 1,000 consumers about their personal care routines and beauty regimens in an online survey. Survey respondents were also asked about their attitudes and understanding of personal care/beauty care products as it relates to scented, as opposed to unscented products, label reading, purchase decision influencers, and familiarity and understanding of natural fragrances.

While 66% of consumers said natural fragrances were naturally derived fragrances, approximately 14% thought it meant no added fragrance, and 5% said it was the same as unscented.

Later, survey participants were shown an explanation of New Natural Fragrances and a product concept containing the new natural fragrance. The data shows that 74% of those respondents would choose the New Natural fragrance concept versus the synthetic. This was a 5% increase over consumers’ choice before being presented with information on the new natural fragrance.

“From this natural fragrance survey, we concluded that there’s a gap in understanding and awareness regarding such terms used in labeling fragrance and fragrance-related statements,” said Natasha D’Souza, senior director, global sensory and consumer insights at Blue California. “There hasn’t been a better time for brands to make exceptional, sustainable products and educate consumers on how they are adopting a more natural position for the benefit of the planet and humankind.”

Interested parties and media members inquiring about the natural fragrance survey can stop by Sensegen’s booth #523 at the WPC or contact Sensegen. The Sensegen booth will have smelling products from sustainable, 100% bio-based materials. Fragrances include samples of fine fragrance, personal care, and home care.

The World Perfumery Congress is hosted by Perfumer & Flavorist.

About Sensegen

Sensegen™, is the science of good sense. We’ve got nature down to a science and create the perfect sense.

As a division of Blue California Ingredients, our innovative taste, smell, and creative beauty center is dedicated solely to delivering plant-based, natural, and sustainable solutions. Our diverse team of experts collaborate with advanced bio-techniques and collaborate as a team to provide unique consumer-validated ingredients.

At Sensegen™, we’ve pioneered a way of formulating nature without compromise or harm, providing one-of-a-kind solutions for Taste, Smell, and Beauty.

Attachments

Ana Arakelian, Head of Public Relations and Communications
Sensegen
+1.949.635.1991
ana.arakelian@sensegen.com

June 23, 2022

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) among the best 150 universities in the world, according to QS World University 2023 rankings

UTS continues to hold its place among the world’s top universities, placing 137th globally and ninth in Australia.

SYDNEY, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Leading higher education network QS has named the University of Technology Sydney as one of the top 150 universities in the world, for the fourth year in a row.

Strong performance in international outlook and research has kept UTS competitive in global rankings. Image: Andy Roberts

Despite strict lockdown measures in Australia, UTS has retained a strong cohort of international students and faculty, which has contributed to a strong position among the world’s best universities. UTS rose 17 places in the area of international student ratio, with international students making up 41% of the student body.

The university also scored above the global median in the areas of international faculty ratio and international research networks. The results reflect UTS’s continuing commitment to being a leading research university with global impact.

This year, UTS also saw a significant improvement in the areas of citations per faculty, rising to 63rd in the world.

Says Professor Kate McGrath, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research):

“Research is fundamental to our purpose, and our academic community should be commended for the delivery of excellent research with strong economic, environmental, cultural and social impact.”

“These rankings results are just one indicator of how much research has come to the fore at UTS in recent years, as we’re delivering increasing impact on the global stage.”

UTS has continued to develop its research through agile, collaborative and transdisciplinary approaches, attracting the attention of domestic and international partners from a wide variety of sectors.

Since 2014, UTS has moved up 135 places in the world rankings. According to QS and Times Higher Education, UTS continues to be the top young university in Australia.

Discover more about the University of Technology Sydney at uts.edu.au.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a leading university of technology and among the top 150 universities in the world. UTS prepares students for the challenges of today and tomorrow through its future-focused approach to learning and research. Located in Sydney’s technology precinct, UTS is minutes away from the city’s business district and some of Australia’s most innovative companies and startups.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1844991/1.jpg

June 23, 2022

Malawi to Transfer 250 Elephants Between National Parks

Malawi’s government and conservationists have announced plans to move 250 elephants from a park in the country’s south to a central one that has lost nearly all its population to poaching. But communities living near the park fear the new arrivals could lead to greater human-wildlife conflict.

The month-long exercise starts Monday, when the animals will be transported approximately 350 kilometers by road from Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi to Kasungu National Park in central Malawi.

Brighton Kumchedwa, Malawi’s Director of National Parks and Wildlife, said that in addition to boosting Kasungu’s elephant population, the relocation will minimize human-wildlife conflict in the communities surrounding Liwonde.

He said there are currently about 600 elephants in Liwonde, twice as many as the park was intended to hold.

“The elephants in Liwonde have exceeded the carrying capacity of the park,” he said. “Now what is happening is the destruction of the habitats, as they go about looking for food and water. And also, at the same time human-elephant conflict whereby people have been killed, their property damaged. So, now one way of minimizing that problem is to have these animals relocated.”

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) supports the transfer of the elephants. It says Kasungu National Park was home to about 1,200 elephants in the 1970s.

The population drastically declined because of poaching, with only 50 elephants left by 2015. Since then, anti-poaching efforts have helped boost the population back to 120.

Patricio Ndadzela, a top IFAW official. said the new elephants will help Kasungu attract more tourists, and that more animals may follow.

“Looking at Kasungu to be the center of tourism attraction to the country, we thought that by bringing more animals in the park, including elephants, and in the future, we are thinking of bringing the big five; there are already leopards there,” he said. “So, we are talking about lions and other species associated with that.”

But communities living near Kasungu fear the new elephants, which will triple the park’s elephant population, may lead to more human-wildlife conflict. Rosemary Banda, a small-scale farmer at Linyangwa village in the Kasungu district, is among wary local residents.

“Our worry is that the presence of many elephants here would contribute to food shortages because elephants have in the past been destroying our crops,” she said. “There was a time when elephants destroyed my crops and left me without enough food as a person who relies on farm produce for survival.”

Allaying local fears, Kumchedwa said the government has constructed a 40-kilometer-long fence in Kasungu to prevent the elephants from entering villages.

“If well maintained, it’s an effective barrier,” he said. “You don’t get elephants frequently going into the community. But also, to support that when these animals get dropped into Kasungu, some of them will be collared for easy monitoring. But also, we have teams for both on ground and aerial support so that we give real time protection to the communities should these elephants be breaking off.”

Malawi undertook one of the largest elephant relocations in history in 2016 when 520 elephants were moved to repopulate the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.

At the time of its last survey in 2015, Malawi had about 2,000 elephants in all, a drop of 50% since the 1980s.

Source: Voice of America

June 23, 2022

US hints at Arab progress with Israel during Biden trip

WASHINGTON, A senior US official hinted that more Arab nations are looking to make gestures to improve relations with Israel when President Joe Biden visits the region next month.

Biden will travel from July 13 to 16 to Israel, the West Bank and to a regional meeting in Saudi Arabia, which former US president Donald Trump assiduously courted in hopes the kingdom home to Islam’s holiest sites would recognize the Jewish state.

Barbara Leaf, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, said that the Biden administration was encouraging greater cooperation between Israel and the Arab nations with which it has relations.

“We are working, in the space that is not in the public domain, with a couple of other countries. And I think you’ll see some interesting things around the time of the president’s visit,” she told a congressional subcommittee.

Asked to elaborate, Leaf said, “I really wouldn’t want to step on the president’s toes.”

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 became the first Arab states in decades to normalize relations with Israel as part of the so-called Abraham Accords which Trump considered a signature foreign policy achievement.

Leaf said that the UAE-Israel relationship “is going like gangbusters” but that the Biden administration also wanted to encourage broader cooperation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined his counterparts from Israel, the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Egypt in a March meeting in Israel’s Negev desert.

Leaf said that the United States wanted the event to be annual and to include the Palestinian Authority and Jordan — the only other Arab nation that recognizes Israel but which has seen rising tensions over the status of Jerusalem.

The meetings aim to deepen cooperation on areas including water, tourism, health and food security, Leaf said.

Israel has also found common cause with Gulf Arab states in their tense relationships with Iran’s Shiite clerical state.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

June 23, 2022

Cameroon Woos Potential Diaspora Investors, But Faces Distrust of Government

YAOUNDE — Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has for the first time sent a delegation to Europe to try to encourage well-off Cameroonians living there to invest back home. But members of Cameroon’s diaspora say undemocratic practices and corruption in Biya’s government put off investors.

Government officials say a delegation led by Youth Affairs and Civic Education Minister Mounouna Foutsou was dispatched to Germany this week to ask Cameroonians there to invest in their country of origin.

Foutsou said his wish is for all Cameroonians in the diaspora to put aside their differences and help develop Cameroon.

“The head of state reiterated his call to the Cameroonian diaspora to come and build Cameroon. We seize this opportunity to come and exchange with the whole Cameroonian diaspora here in Europe so that we can present the different opportunities offered by the president of the republic and his government so that the Cameroonian diaspora can come back and participate in the development of the nation,” said Foutsou.

Foutsou said the government will offer tax exemptions of up to 40 percent for diaspora investments in Cameroon, and loans of up to $10,000 with no interest rates for diaspora youths who return to invest in agriculture and livestock.

Kennedy Tumenta is a Cameroonian investor who lives in Germany. He said many in the diaspora find it hard to trust promises made by their government.

He said corruption, high taxes and a lack of confidence in President Biya, who has been in power for 40 years, scare investors.

“Freedom is restricted and they are afraid to move around in Cameroon and do their businesses and speak freely. Most diasporans believe that there is widespread corruption when it concerns opening businesses in the country or the Northwest-Southwest crisis is not being taken into consideration seriously by the government in place. It makes them frustrated and the only way to express this frustration is either to withdraw their investments in the country or attacking the head of state,” said Tumenta.

Separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state in mainly French-speaking Cameroon, since 2016. The U.N. says 3,300 people have died in the fighting.

Some disgruntled Cameroonians in the diaspora have become hostile to the government, and at least seven Cameroonian embassies have been attacked or ransacked since January 2020.

Felix Mbayu is a top official with Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations. He said Cameroonians taking part in such protests are hurting the country’s image.

“Those who left Cameroon unhappy and have not been able to make it there are those who would speak ill of Cameroon. Those who left Cameroon to better their lot in life and have made it there are those who come back to invest in Cameroon. That is why you see medical doctors who have built hospitals, built clinics, who bring back home medical supplies. You don’t see them in the idle marches abroad. In fact, when you talk ill of your own home, you tarnish your own image,” said Mbayu.

An estimated five million Cameroonians live abroad. The government says the largest diaspora population is in Nigeria where about two million live.

There are also high concentrations in Belgium, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Source: Voice of America