Year of Science 2009: EPA Celebrates May as Sustainability Month

Washington, D.C. - EPA scientists will celebrate Sustainability Month, part of the Year of Science 2009, by connecting with the public through blogs, podcasts and demonstrations of the importance of sustainability in our communities. The Year of Science 2009 was created by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) to engage the public in science by showing why science matters in their communities and everyday lives.

Sustainability is defined internationally as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For the U.S. EPA, this includes conserving natural resources by using alternative renewable energy sources, recycling used materials into new products, and finding alternative to toxics used in manufacturing or products that could pollute the environment.

“Sustainability Month is a great opportunity for EPA scientists to share their knowledge and commitment on how to better conserve and reuse valuable natural resources with the public, and to hear from citizens their ideas for a sustainable future,” said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “We’re going to keep the momentum from Earth Day going with lots of activities, particularly ones that will engage children and encourage them to study science.”

May activities:

* Science of sustainability photo project on Flickr:http://www.epa.gov/yearofscience/sustain_photo.htm
* EPA scientists including Dr. Alan Hecht will blog on sustainability on
* Greenversations under Science Wednesdayhttp://blog.epa.gov/blog/category/sciencewednesday/ and http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_sustainability/celebrate/
* On May 8, EPA staff will give hands on science demonstrations for Math and Science Day at the Maryland Six Flags Amusement Park. Staff will also microblog at the event: http://twitter.com/greenversations
* Dr. Diane Bauer of EPA will be featured on “Meet the Scientist” on COPUS Year of Science Web site: http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_sustainability/meet-scientists
* On May 18, EPA will host a science of biofuels session at the American Institute of Biological Sciences
* EPA podcasts on science issues: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/multimedia.html
* On May 19, research staff will microblog from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair http://twitter.com/greenversations


More information on the EPA Year of Science: http://www.epa.gov/yearofscience
More information on COPUS and The Year of Science 2009: http://www.yearofscience2009.org