April 21, 2010
Contact:
Jeremy Craig, 404-413-1357
University Relations
ATLANTA — Georgia State University will host a U.S.-China environmental conference April 24 to address the pressing international problems of energy and the environment in the 21st century.
The 2010 Sino-U.S. Environmental Protection and Energy Summit and Expo will be held at the Speaker’s Auditorium at the Student Center building, 44 Courtland St.
The aim of the summit is to address energy and environmental challenges on a global scale, and between the two countries, said Sidney Crow, professor of applied and environmental microbiology and director of the GSU Environmental Research Center, a co-sponsor of the event.
“The conference is a unique opportunity to talk with people from around the world as we try to resolve global problems,” Crow said. “There are significant environmental issues in both countries and being able to interact with our counterparts can really help us to get a step beyond.”
The sessions will bring together representatives from local universities, state and federal agencies from the U.S., as well as institutes, associations and governmental agencies of China.
Seminar and exhibition topics focus on renewable energy, waste water resource management, solid waste management, air quality, sustainable development, and strategic planning for policy in environmental protection and energy.
Participants will interact in workshops, project showcase seminars, panel discussions and tours demonstrating green building, water conservation, biofuel projects, and water quality management.
Georgia State’s Environmental Research Center investigates environmental problems from the standpoint of applied environmental and molecular biology, and has focused on indoor air quality, bio-remediation of pollution, as well as the use of biofilms — communities of microorganisms attached to surfaces. Crow said the goal is to view environmental problems just as a biologist would approach disease.
“A lot of the technologies which apply to disease can also apply to the environment,” he said. “Pollution is a disease of the environment. It’s not farfetched that when you have an organism in the human body, that organism is producing toxins similar to pollutants in the environment. The same kinds of technologies might be applicable.”
The conference is organized by numerous organizations, including Georgia State University’s Environmental Research Center, the Association of Chinese Professionals in Atlanta, the Federation of Association of Chinese Professionals in Southern America, the Chinese Association of Professionals in Science and Technology, the Sino-U.S. Cooperation Center for Environmental and Economic Development, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the Environmental Protection Bureau of Hubei Province, China.
Co-organizers include the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, the China State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the city government of Suzhou, China, the Suzhou International Trade Center for Environmental Products and Technologies, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, and the Shanghai International Finance Research Center.
For more information about the summit, visit www.2010eese.com.