College Park, MD - March 25, 2009 -- Maryland's environmental leadership was showcased yesterday at the University of Maryland's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) as leaders from 40 organizations joined the Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership's (MD-AEP) third Environmental Leadership Series Forum. The forum helped to showcase ESSIC, one of Maryland's and the nation's, great environmental assets. The Center's reputation for scientific excellence has been well established through its collaborative partnerships with the Chinese Academy of Science, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, DOE and NOAA.

The ESSIC Center is located at the University's M Square Research Park, where a new cluster of U.S. government earth science observation and modeling activities are centered. Within a 5-mile radius of ESSIC, the co-located DOE Joint Global Change Research Institute, the adjacent NOAA National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction and the NASA Flight Center will soon represent the "largest concentration of earth scientists in the world," according to Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, Founding Director of ESSIC. "By coalescing scientific data from key U.S. government agencies and University Departments, ESSIC can now provide scientists and decision makers across the globe with the holistic set of observational data and predictive tools so that governments and corporations can accurately plan for the impact of climate change," said Busalacchi. "Such predictability will help save lives and guide investment decisions," he said.

"Congratulations to the Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership and the University of Maryland's ESSIC Center for hosting an excellent event," said Jonathan Malay, Director of the Northeast Region of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Director of Civil Space and Environment Programs at Lockheed Martin Corporation. "The forum provided an interesting cross-section of communities and my own awareness was nicely raised regarding the UM ESSIC facility's extensive capabilities and some new ways of looking at climate," he said.

The forum entitled, "Adapting to Future Climate Change," featured presentations from ESSIC scientists, led by Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, and Dr. Raghu Murtugudde, Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science/ESSIC at University of Maryland. Attendees also heard an industry perspective on how defense and space technology from the private sector play a key Earth observations role from Jonathan Malay, of Lockheed Martin Corp and views from the U.S. government including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration between of U.S. Department of Energy and the University of Maryland.

MD-AEP's Environmental Leadership Series is aimed at showcasing Maryland's environmental assets and connecting science, technology and government to build environmental business partnerships in addressing Asia's massive water, energy and climate change needs. "We understand that Asia needs holistic solutions given the future impact of climate change on Asia's economies and we believe that ESSIC can be of great value," said Peter Gourlay, President of the MD-AEP. "ESSIC's climate change resources represent a fantastic Maryland asset, and could provide an important economic development and risk mitigation tool, both here in the U.S., and, in Asian nations as they plan for sustainable development," he said.

The forum was held in partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Maryland Governor's Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Maryland Space Business Roundtable, the Alliance for Earth Observations, the Global Environmental Strategies Group and the Maryland China Business Council.

"With ESSIC being surrounded by DOE, NOAA and NASA Earth science efforts at our Research Park at M Square , Maryland's global leadership on climate change is firmly cemented," said Brian Darmody, Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of Maryland. M Square is a 128-acre research park adjacent to the University of Maryland. It offers partnerships with the university, and proximity to federal agencies and major laboratories. When completed, M Square will be the largest research park in the region.

About The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership:
MD-AEP is a private sector initiative which is mobilizing resources and expertise from industry, science, governments and multilateral banks to address Asia's massive energy and water resource needs. Throughout Asia, government officials are grappling with major environmental management and resource concerns at the national and local level. What is often lacking is a holistic approach to address the gamut of lessons learned and appropriate resources for future sustainable development planning needs. MD-AEP acts as a unique catalyst to bring key stakeholder groups together for sustainable environmental solutions in Asia.

Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership

Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership

The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) is a newly formed, private sector initiative which is mobilizing resources and expertise from corporations, Maryland universities, U.S. and Asian government agencies and multilateral banks to address Asia's massive energy and water resource needs. Throughout Asia, government officials are grappling with major environmental management and resource concerns at the national and local level. What is often lacking is a holistic approach to address the gamut of lessons learned and appropriate resources for future sustainable development planning needs. We provide a unique catalyst for sustainable environmental solutions. MD-AEP functions as an environmental research, technology and services hub to connect Maryland's lessons learned, know-how and resources to countries in Asia. MD-AEP takes a sophisticated approach to its business engagement as we look to bridge Maryland-Asia public-private partnerships from a local country standpoint and solve environmental problems with sustainable business outcomes.

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