This Week in EPA Science

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By Kacey Fitzpatrick

research_recap_250Science was celebrated around the world this week as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made the first ever visit to Pluto, sending high resolution pictures of its surface billions of miles back to earth.  And science was happening here on the ground too!

Check out the EPA science we’re highlighting this week!

Making it Easier to Be Green
EPA recognized the winners of the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards for innovative green chemistry technologies that turn climate risk and other environmental problems into business opportunities. Winning technologies are responsible for annually reducing the use or generation of more than 826 million pounds of hazardous chemicals, saving 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminating 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent releases to air.

Read more about the awards in the EPA Connect blog American Innovators are Cracking the Code to Solve Environmental Problems.

Food-Energy-Water Nexus
EPA’s Director for Sustainable Development Alan Hecht will join other distinguished experts on a public webinar to discuss “Mega Trends and Food-Energy-Water Nexus.” The webinar will explore emerging trends and the challenges and opportunities in meeting food, water and energy goals in developed and developing nations on a changing planet.

Read more about the webinar in the blog NEXUS-FLEXUS: Exploring the Intersection of Big Challenges and Innovative Solutions.

If you have any comments or questions about what I share or about the week’s events, please submit them below in the comments section!

About the Author: Kacey Fitzpatrick is a student contractor and writer working with the science communication team in EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

EPA Research Photo of the Week

EPA’s Russell Long installs a small air quality sensor on the NOAA Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower in Erie, Colorado.

While not quite as distant as New Horizons, EPA’s Russell Long did have to go pretty high up in July, 2014 to install a small air quality sensor on the NOAA Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower in Erie, Colorado. The work was part of a collaborative air quality study called DISCOVER-AQ, conducted with NASA and other research partners. Image by EPA photographer Eric Vance.