Univ. launches environmental council to solve global issues

Starting next semester, faculty across the campus will unite in the university's new Council on the Environment to promote environmental sustainability beyond the campus borders.

Unlike other university environmental initiatives that look to improve eco-friendliness on the campus, the new council — which will draw on university researchers and faculty from different departments — will work to solve global environmental issues, such as climate change.

The university announced the creation of the coalition Nov. 14, although no council members have been selected yet. Atmospheric and oceanic science professor Antonio Busalacchi, who will chair the body, said he is in the process of meeting with college deans to determine who will sit on the council, and he hopes its members will be finalized by January.

The council will provide a forum to incorporate the multidisciplinary collaborations the university has to offer on environmental issues, Busalacchi said.

"The university has a tremendous amount of expertise and excellence across the natural, physical and social sciences as they pertain to the environment," Busalacchi said. "It's really to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts."

While the council will address some local and campus-level environmental issues, University Vice President for Research Patrick O'Shea said it will be important for the council to ultimately focus on broad-based, global environmental issues.

"We all share a common environment," O'Shea said. "This council is not just focused on the local issues for the campus; it's meant to be globally engaged."

In addition to bringing together researchers across the campus, Busalacchi said the council will help the university better take advantage of existing partnerships with state and federal agencies looking to solve environmental issues, such as NOAA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

"In some sense we have a responsibility to utilize and nurture those relationships," Busalacchi said.

The council will report to O'Shea and Provost Ann Wylie, and O'Shea said the combination of federal agencies and university experts would be critical in putting the university at the forefront of global environmental initiatives.

"We've got broad-based expertise on campus, but nearby we have the largest concentration of earth scientists in the world," said O'Shea. "We have some unique strengths at the university and in the region we want to take advantage of."

However, university and federal experts will not be the only ones involved with the new council — Busalacchi said students will also be critical to its success.

One of the major goals of the council will be to assess gaps in different college curricula to determine how to teach all students more about local and global environmental issues, Busalacchi said.

"We want to look at what programs in terms of education we need to put in place so our students can be more competitive and conscientious," Busalacchi said.

Busalacchi also said the council will look into holding a public lecture series to involve the university community in discussions about environmental issues and controversies.

"We want to raise the level of discourse on environmental issues across campus," Busalacchi said.

Outside of the university, O'Shea said the council will play a critical role in helping solve global environmental issues that can't be ignored.

"One thing for sure is the climate and the environment are changing, and we need to be able to adapt," O'Shea said. "The environment we live in is fundamentally important for our future."

Busalacchi said the council's launch demonstrated the university's strong commitment to addressing problems associated with the environment at both local and global levels.

"It's making a strong statement about the university's commitment to the environment," Busalacchi said. "The university sees this as a serious issue for the campus and going up and out of the campus to the state, nation and internationally."

saravia@umdbk.com