Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability
Established in 2002, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability provides a high-level forum for sharing views, information, and analyses related to harnessing science and technology for sustainability, and then catalyzing follow-on advisory Academy work. Members of the Roundtable include leading experts from research institutions as well as senior decision-makers from government and industry who deal with issues of sustainable development, and who are in a position to mobilize new strategies and resources for sustainability.
The goal of the Roundtable is to mobilize, encourage, and use scientific knowledge and technology to help achieve sustainability goals and to support the implementation of sustainability practices. Three overarching principles guide the Roundtable’s work in support of this goal. First, the Roundtable focuses on strategic needs and opportunities for science and technology to contribute to the transition toward sustainability. Second, the Roundtable focuses on issues for which progress requires cooperation among multiple sectors, including academia, government (at all levels), business, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions. Third, the Roundtable focuses on activities where scientific knowledge and technology can help to advance practices that contribute directly to sustainability goals, in addition to identifying priorities for research and development (R&D) inspired by sustainability challenges.
The Roundtable has adopted a two-pronged strategy to address sustainability. The first part of this strategy attempts to define inter-sectoral dynamics and linkages essential to long-term science and technology approaches to sustainability. The second looks to apply these concepts to sustainability challenges.
FOCUS ON LONG-TERM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Acknowledging that sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic that crosses domains, sectors, and institutions, the Roundtable launched a series of discussions to outline the major connections between human and environmental systems. In 2013-2014, the Roundtable, in collaboration with the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems and the Water Science and Technology Board, successfully contributed to the emerging dialogue on the energy-water nexus by holding four related events. In 2015, the Roundtable will plan two events focusing on issues related to sustainability indicators and metrics.
APPLIED SUSTAINABILITY
As a second area of programmatic emphasis, the Roundtable is sharpening its focus on sustainability challenges in applied situations where STS works with specific communities within our Roundtable membership.
The Roundtable is the key component of the Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS) Program in the division of Policy and Global Affairs at the Academies. The Roundtable is being supported by the Academies’ George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science. STS is the institutional focal point within the Academies for examining sustainability science and technology issues. Sustainability leaders in the government, academia, private sector and non-governmental organizations recognize STS as a sustainability leader driving current approaches in the field.
For more information, please visit our website at: www.nas.edu/sustainability or contact Jerry Miller, Director of the Academies’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability (jlmiller@nas.edu; 202-334-2613).
Members of the Roundtable on Science and Technology For Sustainability
David Dzombak (Co-Chair) (NAE), Hamerschlag University Professor and Department Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Lynn Scarlett (Co-Chair), Managing Director for Public Policy, The Nature Conservancy
Ann Bartuska, Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture*
Steve Bergman, Principal Regional Geologist, Shell International Exploration & Production Company
Paulo Ferrão, Professor, Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon
Marilu Hastings, Vice President, Sustainability Program, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Lek Kadeli, Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency*
Michael Kavanaugh (NAE), Senior Principal, Geosyntec Consultants
Jack Kaye, Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration*
Mehmood Khan, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Global Research and Development, PepsiCo Inc.
Suzette Kimball, Acting Director, U.S. Geological Survey*
Steven E. Koonin (NAS), Director, Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University
Franklin Orr (NAE), Under Secretary for Science and Energy, U.S. Department of Energy*
Francis O’ Sullivan, Director of Research and Analysis, MIT Energy Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Prabhu Pingali (NAS), Director, Tata-Cornell Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition, Cornell University
Richard W. Spinrad, Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce*
Michael Webber, Deputy Director of the Energy Institute, Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
* Denotes ex-officio member
Program Staff
Jerry Miller, Director
Jennifer Saunders, Senior Program Officer
Dominic Brose, Program Officer
Emi Kameyama, Program Associate
Yasmin Romitti, Research Assistant
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