MONTCLAIR, N.J., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Students
joined academic, business and government leaders in Montclair today to celebrate the launch of the
PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies at Montclair State University. Funded by a
$400,000 grant from the PSEG
Foundation, the Institute will play a transformative role in
multidisciplinary sustainability-related research and education,
and spur new partnerships between academia, industry and
community.
PSEG's funding will allow Montclair
State to host a significant examination of the major issues
affecting long-term environmental practices and sustainability
issues in New Jersey. The grant,
which will be given over three years, will help fund a program that
will begin with a major international conference on sustainability
at Montclair State this fall, followed
by two years of research to address critical issues, and include a
second conference addressing areas requiring further research.
Led by Michael Weinstein, the
Institute will conduct research, education and outreach in an
effort to balance conservation and preservation of Earth's life
support systems with its production of sustainable goods and
services for human welfare. Working with the public, industry
decision-makers planners and environmental managers, the University
will incorporate these concepts into its approach to researching
the management of urban watershed-coastal ecosystems.
"Achieving sustainability is a process that involves science,
policy, corporate responsibility and public participation,"
Weinstein said. "With PSEG's help, Montclair
State will become a leader in the application of
transdisciplinary research to improve understanding of the
complexity of the urban landscape in which we live."
Research will focus on sustainability science and
landscape/urban ecology. Sustainability science differs from most
science in the way it engages scientists and practitioners,
including the corporate community, to work together to produce
knowledge and judgment that is scientifically sound.
"Sustainability is about more than the environment. It calls for
a balanced approach to people, planet and profits," said
Ralph LaRossa, president and chief
operating officer of PSE&G. "It's a way of doing business that
we've long aspired to, and as a result we've been able to create
long-term value for our shareholders, our employees and communities
we serve for well over a century. We're excited about partnering
with Montclair State to provide a
resource for students and academics who are increasingly taking
sustainability seriously."
A goal of the Institute and the conferences will be integration
across disciplines, broadening knowledge of the interplay of
environment, economy, and social systems and managing conflict. It
will extend beyond individual stakeholders and themes- to
identification of common threads and drivers of systemic change.
The conferences will offer a forum for dissemination of
cutting-edge research and an opportunity to air new approaches to
sustainability.
"We extract resources from the ecosystems that surround us
faster than they can be replaced. Consequently, our actions
threaten the very life support systems that sustain us," said
Robert Prezant, dean of Montclair State University's College of Science and
Mathematics. "The PSEG Institute of Sustainability Studies will
play an important role in addressing the need to reconcile human
dominance of the earth's resources with the planet's ability to
provide them in the long term."
A resolution was presented from the State of New Jersey in support of renaming
Earth Day to Sustainable Earth in
New Jersey. A similar
resolution was signed and presented by the president of the Student
Government Association of Montclair
State, Jonathon Preciado,
mirroring the State resolution in recognizing the importance of the
PSEGISS and affirming a commitment to support the renaming of
Earth Day to Sustainable Earth Day. "Montclair
State students are keenly aware of the need to put
sustainability principles into practice for the future of our
world."
"There is growing concern that the world's need for food, water,
land and economic opportunity must be brought into balance with the
earth's finite resources," said Eric
Svenson, PSEG's vice president of policy and environment,
health and safety. "The transition to sustainability involves
collaboration among academics, business and government leaders, and
requires us to make a fundamental shift in the way we think about
the interaction between people, the economy and the
environment."
Montclair State was recently
named by Forbes as New Jersey's
top public institution of higher education. It offers the
advantages of a large university -- a comprehensive undergraduate
curriculum with a global focus, a broad variety of superior
graduate programs through the doctoral level, and a diverse faculty
and student body -- combined with a small college's attention to
students.
PSEG (NYSE: PEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy
company headquartered in Newark, New
Jersey, and one of the ten largest electric companies in the
U.S. PSEG has been listed numerous times on the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index, and is committed to economic, environmental
and social responsibility.
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SOURCE Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)