History
Solar Cookers International was founded in 1987 as Solar Box Cookers International by several supporters residing in the Central Valley of California. Among the founders were:
- Bev Blum: first president and executive director of SCI from 1989–1999 and 2003-2006. She developed a mass-producible, foldable box cooker in 1992, and coordinated the development of the CooKit solar cooker. In 2009 she was the secretariat of the Solar Cookers World Network.
- Barbara Kerr: co-developer of the Kerr-Cole solar box cooker built from two nested cardboard boxes. She co-founded the Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center in Taylor, Arizona, US. She received the "Women in Solar Energy" award from the American Solar Energy Society in July, 2006.
- Bob Metcalf: professor of microbiology at California State University at Sacramento and was selected as the 2000-2001 Outstanding Teacher in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He is known for his work on solar water pasteurization.
SCI produced and distributed manuals describing construction and use of solar box style cookers. They became advocates of how solar cooking could be incorporated into development and relief agency programs. SCI's role evolved into networking with other solar cooking organizations worldwide. They hosted forums for dialog including co-sponsoring three international solar cooking conferences with the University of the Pacific, US, in 1992, the National University of Costa Rica in 1994 and the deemed university, Coimbatore, India in 1997.
SCI also administered a series of solar cooking field projects. Since 1995, SCI has managed or co-managed solar cooking projects in the Nyakach district, Kenya; in the Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya; in the Aisha refugee camp, Ethiopia; in various communities, Zimbabwe; and in Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya.
SCI supported the development of the CooKit, a mass-producible, foldable solar cooker in the 1990s.
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