One-Meter Rise in Sea Level Would Destroy Coastal United States Topic of Renowned "Green" Architect's Lecture at Pitt's Science2007 Oct. 11

PITTSBURGH-People often fail to appreciate the potential calamity of climate change, but a mere one-meter rise in sea level would weave a tapestry of havoc across the United States, as internationally renowned "green" architect Edward Mazria will describe during the Provost Lecture at the University of Pittsburgh's seventh annual celebration of science and technology, Science2007: Collaborate, Innovate, Transform.

A noted author, lecturer, and educator on environmentally sound building design and construction, Mazria will speak 4 p.m. Oct. 11 in the 7th-floor auditorium of Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave. The Provost Lecture is presented by Pitt's Office of the Provost.

In his lecture, "Nation Under Siege," Mazria will emphasize the impending crisis of climate change by describing the mass flooding and evacuation of American coasts, an area of more than 12,000 miles where 53 percent of Americans live-from a sea-level rise of only one meter, or approximately 3 feet. The lecture draws from an impact study report produced by his nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization Architecture 2030, which seeks to reduce fossil fuel consumption in architectural design and building construction. The report portrays large-scale destabilization of the nation's coastal regions from New England, along the Southeast into the Gulf Coast, then along the West Coast and out to Hawaii. For more information, visit the Architecture 2030 Web site at www.architecture2030.org.

Mazria is senior principal at the architecture and planning firm Mazria Inc. He graduated from New York's Pratt Institute in 1963 and spent two years in Peru as a Peace Corps architect. He has taught architecture at the universities of New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado at Denver, California at Los Angeles, and Nebraska at Lincoln. His latest initiative, The 2010 Imperative: A Global Emergency Teach-In, brought together 250 million people from 49 countries to discuss the science and effects of global warming and their relationships to building construction.

Science2007 showcases the University of Pittsburgh's academic strengths in science, medicine, engineering, and computation, and the growing potential they hold as catalysts for economic development in the region. This year's theme, "Collaborate, Innovate, Transform," emphasizes the capacity of new technology and contemporary research for driving the development of innovations in medicine and technology.

The other plenary speakers for Science2007 are Carol W. Greider of Johns Hopkins University, a pioneering researcher in the growth of stem and cancer cells; Mario R. Capecchi, a University of Utah scientist known for his work in gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells to better understand important human genetic diseases; and Laurie H. Glimcher of Harvard University, an immunologist known for her studies of the molecular pathways that regulate the development and activation of T helper cells.

Also on the program will be spotlight sessions presented by scientists from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University; a technology showcase highlighting recent inventions now available for licensing; a career development workshop for emerging scientists; and various networking and social events.

Complete details about Science2007 and registration information can be found online at www.science2007.pitt.edu.

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