Kimberly Gray to speak on "Modern Day American City"

Kimberly Gray, (photo) professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering and chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University, will discuss “The Modern American City: Can We Ever Make It Sustainable?” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26th, in Laurie Auditorium, as part of the Trinity University Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The short answer to this question is “not at the rate that we are going.” So, what’s stopping us? Dr. Gray will discuss various perspectives on sustainability—a term that means very different things to different people—and why this is a pressing issue.

She will explain the requirements and feasibility of developing truly renewable energy sources, consider the role of technology in finding solutions to the problem of sustainability, and stress that technology alone will not supply the answers. Examples will include re-engineering the water cycle and a 100-year vision for the city of Chicago. She also advocates addressing equity issues concerning sustainability and the definition of prosperity across our own society, as well as across the globe.

Dr. Gray’s areas of expertise are environmental catalysis and physicochemical processes in natural and engineered environmental systems with particular focus on energy and sustainability applications. Her research focuses on how to harness light energy to catalyze reactions to attack pollutants or make chemical fuels, tracing chemicals through food webs in the Great Lakes, and figuring out how wetlands work.

She has authored more than 80 scientific papers and lectures widely on energy and environmental issues. Her awards include a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, the 2007 McCormick Excellence Award in Research, Teaching and Citizenship, and a 2008 Leopold Leadership Fellowship from the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University.

The Trinity University Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series is made possible through an endowment created by Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Brown of San Antonio. For more information, contact Mary Anthony at 210-999-8441.