PREVIOUS IDT SUSTAINABILITY AWARD WINNERS

Dr. Patricia Tavormina is a research scientist and the 2016 IDT Sustainability Award keynote speaker. Dr. Tavormina works toward a more environmentally friendly future as a genomics advocate through her research on methane. She examines the processes of Methane Oxidizing Bacteria (MOBs) in order to better understand how we might reduce our own methane footprint or even create solutions to reduce fossil fuel reliance. As 2015 IDT Sustainability Award first prizewinner, Dr. Tavormina’s research examined MOB trends at the Porter Ranch natural gas leak, the largest one in U.S. history. Watch a short clip from Dr. Tavormina’s 2016 Sustainability Award speech to learn more about her work on Methane Oxidizing Bacteria.

Dr. Tavormina is an associate research scientist at the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Matthew Niemiller is an ecologist and 2016 IDT Sustainability Award first prizewinner. Dr. Niemiller's genomics advocacy is helping us understand vital aspects of groundwater environments. These environments, known as karst topography (any landform composed of soluble bedrock) make up over 20% of Earth’s surface and provide key ecosystem services, such as water purification. However, as they can be difficult to access, relatively little is known about the creatures that reside there. In order to overcome this, Dr. Niemiller uses environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques to uncover the rare faunal biodiversity of these hard-to-reach places. Learn more about Dr. Niemiller’s biodiversity work in karst and cave environments with this short clip from his 2016 IDT Sustainability Award speech.

Dr. Niemiller is an associate ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ARE YOU DOING RESEARCH LIKE THIS?

You may qualify for our 2017 Sustainability Award. This award recognizes innovative research in biodiversity that has the potential to make a global impact. Three top prizes of IDT credit will be awarded.

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