Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2009 - (Page 20)

SCIENCE • TECHNOLOGY • ENVIRONMENT • POLICY • SOCIETY Frank Pazzaglia Breena Holland Sarah Morgan ’09 turning SCiEnCE intO POLiCY By bringing together faculty and students from different disciplines under one roof, the new STEPS building may blow the lid off one of Lehigh’s best-kept secrets. And it’s about time, says Sarah Morgan ’09, a senior with a double major in environmental studies and environmental science. “We have great departments, great professors, and world-renowned academicians,” Morgan says. “But I don’t think a lot of students are aware of that.” Morgan has had some amazing learning experiences during her Lehigh years, including an intensive five-week independent study project on land-use policies in a coastal town in Australia. Dork Sahagian But the best, she says, have been in working with faculty such as Dork Sahagian, professor of earth and environmental sciences and director of the Environmental Initiative; Frank Pazzaglia, professor of geology; and Breena Holland, assistant professor of political science. Sahagian, who has been Morgan’s advisor and mentor, has conducted research that explores the driving mechanisms of volcanic eruptions and examines the human factors that affect the modern sea level. His expertise on global climate change positioned him to serve as a contributing author and reviewer for the last three assessment reports of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As director of the Environmental Initiative, Sahagian has been a leader in bringing together disparate disciplines into a prominent program for environmental science, technology, economics, policy, and the myriad interactions between people and the environment. That work will be enhanced by STEPS, Sahagian says—and not just because of the new building, as important as that is. “When you look at the environmental initiatives on campus, it’s what we do and how we think that matters,” he says. Morgan has worked with Pazzaglia and Holland on her senior thesis, which uses the Saucon Creek watershed as a case study on how multiple governing bodies can work together to protect a watershed. “It all came out of my interest in translating science into policy,” Morgan says. “That’s For her senior thesis, Sarah Morgan ’09 worked with professors where my passion is.” Breena Holland and Frank Pazzaglia on a study examining how juHolland, who analyzes how policy development and evaluation can be improved, has focused risdictions in the Saucon Creek watershed can create effective flood her recent research on issues ranging from water pollution to global warming and global habitat mitigation strategies. change. Through her analysis of government policy, she identifies how societies can address There are multiple local governments and state agencies inglobal concerns about the environment as a matter of domestic policy. volved, and part of Morgan’s challenge is, in her words, “to figure out Pazzaglia is part of a multinational, multidisciplinary team working extensively in the northern how unruly systems work.” Apennines in Italy to offer an alternative view of how mountains are formed using geodetic, The goal is to come up with a blueprint that will help others seismic, structural, and geologic data. The work is located mostly in the rugged topography understand how to draft a useful watershed management plan and between the historic cities of Florence and Bologna and is funded by the Continental Dynamics show what steps should be taken to see it implemented. Program of the National Science Foundation. Morgan’s thesis grew out of work she did her sophomore year analyzing land-use changes over time in the Saucon Creek watershed. 20 LEHIGH UMNIULLETIN AL B Why it matters

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Lehigh Bulletin - Winter 2009 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Teaming Up to Tackle Global Challenges Positively 4th Street A Sweet Job From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2009

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