UC Berkeley College of Engineering Dean S. Shankar Sastry will join a new United Nations Scientific Advisory Board that will provide counsel on international decisions regarding sustainable development.

Sastry received notice of the appointment Sept. 27, three days after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced his intention to create the board in an effort to further integrate science into policy discussion.

The 26-member board, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, will have two United States representatives — Sastry and Susan Avery, director of a nonprofit marine-science research institution.

“I’m honored, really honored,” Sastry said. “It’s humbling to be included in this group.”

Sastry said the appointment is in line with a long history of work on sustainable development at UC Berkeley. As examples, he pointed to his 2008 meeting with former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and the work of colleagues such as UC Berkeley professor of energy Daniel Kammen.

“There are a lot of people on campus who have a lot to say, and so I think it’s really a pleasure to sort of bring to voice a lot of what we’ve been talking about on campus,” Sastry said. “I do think it will help us get the Berkeley message out to an international forum.”

Kammen said Sastry has pushed for many sustainability research projects on campus. Sastry’s record includes his work on Berkeley-India Joint Leadership on Energy and the Environment and his position as faculty director of the Blum Center for Developing Economies.

The creation of the board, Kammen said, also fits with what he sees as Ban’s respect for science’s ability to inform policy.

“It’s really consistent with what I think the U.N. is doing right, and that is emphasizing what science and technology can offer in the process of sustainable development,” Kammen said.

Although Sastry acknowledges the extra time commitment joining the board entails, he sees the role as harmonious with his other jobs, calling them “synergistic.” Additionally, College of Engineering Associate Dean of Research Jeffrey Bokor noted that Sastry’s experience on the board can influence his work on campus.

“It brings him a visibility of what UNESCO is up to in a way that he could not otherwise have had,” Bokor said. “What Dean Sastry will learn from serving on this board will come back to the university.”

Other board appointees include Ahmed Zewail, a Nobel laureate in chemistry and Linus Pauling Chair professor of chemistry at California Institute of Technology, and Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to Sastry.

“(The board is) really a way to engage the whole world, because the planet that they have to save is ours — is all of ours,” he said.

Contact Melissa Wen at mwen@dailycal.org.

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DEAN IGNACIO/Staff

Today is Arbor Day! The holiday is a celebration of trees and tree-hugging enthusiasts, so we at the Clog wrote a special tribute to the eco-minded at Berkeley.

“But Clog,” you ask us, “I really don’t know a lot about Arbor Day. How can I celebrate Arbor Day here at Berkeley? Can you provide a short but thorough list to speed things up?”

Sure.

Why Arbor Day is not Earth Day

The first Arbor Day was celebrated as a city planting movement in 1872 for the then treeless Nebraska City. Compared to Earth Day, which was born after a 1969 San Francisco UNESCO conference, Arbor Day’s historical origins are born from a more localized time.

Arbor means “tree” in Latin. The goal is that every person plants at least one tree by the end of the day. To celebrate Arbor Day, everyone needs a shovel, a small sapling and plenty of energy. Although every state celebrates the day in its own way, only Nebraska made Arbor Day a civic holiday.

Earth Day is a celebration of environmentalism and environmental protection. Unlike the down-in-the-dirt Arbor Day, Earth Day typically is celebrated in large fairs and conventions. Moreover, Earth Day is overseen by the Earth Day Network, an international mobilizing organization.

On Earth Day, phrases like “carbon-neutral” and “fossil fuels” are tossed around. On Arbor Day,  terms like “alkaline soil” and “pruning” spring up.

We at the Clog like to think of Earth Day as the “preach” and Arbor Day as the “practice.”

Make Berkeley a Tree City

In 2010, Berkeley was named an official member of Tree City USA. Last year, Berkeley fell off the list. To up the attitude, the Clog gathered some tree-planting opportunities.

The University of California Botanical Garden offers plenty of tree-planting opportunities with its extensive volunteer program. Volunteers are asked to clean seeds, prepare specimens for research and propagate needy plants. Rewards come for those who celebrate Arbor Day all weekend. Volunteers who put in 30 hours receive a nifty Garden Badge (and a 20-percent discount at the garden store).

Just want to admire trees instead? Check out this interactive map of historic trees on Cal’s campus.

Contact Alex Mabanta at amabanta@dailycal.org.

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