|
Speakers
Nancy B. Grimm, Arizona State University
Urban Ecosystems: A Challenge for Sustainability Science
 For the first time in the history of humanity, most of the people on Earth are living in cities. This transformation from rural to urban living will continue to accelerate, yielding startling projections for the number of new cities, many of them in the developing world. Urban ecosystems pose unique problems for sustainability because activities that produce, consume, pollute and otherwise modify the environment are concentrated there. However, they also hold great potential for sustainable solutions as human innovation and creativity are also concentrated in these locations. The best solution to the problems that appear from rapid urbanization is one that incorporates multiple perspectives and multiple disciplines and blends a respect for the ecological processes in the natural world with recognition of the power of human innovation.
Dr. Grimm is Professor of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Science at Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences. She also is co-director and lead principal investigator of the Central Arizona/Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project, a study of the Phoenix metropolitan area that is one of the first comprehensive investigations into an urban ecological system, where she oversees and coordinates the research of over 100 scientists and more than 10 schools. Grimm's research is on the structure and function of ecosystems in arid lands, in particular, the transportation, recycling and retention of the element nitrogen. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on these themes and served on review panels and advisory boards for the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.
Robin D. Rogers, University of Alabama
The Past, Present, and Future of Ionic Liquids: From Designer Solvents to Advanced New Materials
 Rogers has had an influential role in the expansion of interest and research of ionic liquids (ILs) which show promise as “green” solvents. Academic and industrial interest in ILs has been high, due to growing social and economic pressures for green technologies. According to Rogers, what has been overlooked in the rush to study ILs is that they are a complex mixture of cations and anions. Systematic screening and development of theoretical models, based on high quality data are needed whenever new properties or applications are under investigation or development. This presentation will select from ongoing projects in the Center for Green Manufacturing to illustrate the potential of ILs as new materials and as agents for fundamental insight into new chemistries.
Dr. Rogers is the Robert Ramsay Chair of the Chemistry Department and a Distinguished University Research Professor at the University of Alabama and director of the University of Alabama's Center for Green Manufacturing. Rogers holds seven issued patents as well as current research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Air Force. He has published over 550 papers on a diverse array of topics including structural chemistry, green separation science and technology, pollution prevention, radiochemistry and environmental inorganic chemistry. In 2005, Rogers was awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (Academic Division) for work related to the use of ionic liquids in sustainable technology.
Steve Polasky, University of Minnesota
Desperately seeking alternatives: Where will sustainable energy supply come from?
 The world economy runs on fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal). In the United States, fossil fuels currently account for approximately 86 percent of energy supply, with small portions accounted by nuclear, hydro and renewable energy sources. Concerns about limited supplies of oil and natural gas, and environmental concerns about climate change and air pollution from burning fossil fuels require that we replace a large share of fossil fuels with some alternative energy source in the near future. Where will future energy supply come from? How much potential lie with renewable sources such as biomass energy, solar and wind? What are some of the more promising long-term potential alternatives? These things will be evaluated in terms of potential to increase supply or decrease demand, cost competitiveness and environmental impacts.
Stephen Polasky holds the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Ecological/Environmental Economics at the University of Minnesota and is a professor in the university's Departments of Applied Economics and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. Polasky has also held faculty positions in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at Oregon State University and the Department of Economics at Boston College. In 1998–99, he was the senior staff economist for environment and resources for the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He currently serves on the Science Advisory Board for the Environmental Protection Agency and is co-chair for bioSustainability for DIVERSITAS, an international program of biodiversity science. His research interests include biodiversity conservation, endangered species policy, common property resources, game-theory and environmental regulation.
|
 |
|
