Resiliency Center Director Marty Matlock Named Chair of National Council's Leaders' Alliance

Courtesy of Marty Matlock

Marty Matlock has been elected to chair the Leaders' Alliance of the National Council for Science and the Environment.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Marty Matlock, executive director of the University of Arkansas Resiliency Center, was recently elected to chair the Leaders' Alliance of the National Council for Science and the Environment.

The council is a nonprofit organization established in 1990 and based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to improve the scientific basis of environmental policy- and decision-making. The council works collectively with its community of more than 120 member universities and engages scientists, educators, policymakers, business leaders and officials at all levels of government to strengthen the role and increase the use of science in policy-making.

The U of A Resiliency Center is an interdisciplinary research, education and outreach center hosted by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, in collaboration with the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the College of Engineering at the university. The Resiliency Center works to inspire, integrate and transform water, food and community systems to ensure resilient human prosperity.

Matlock is also a professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the university. As chair of the Leaders' Alliance, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment. The NCSE Leaders' Alliance, composed of representative deans, directors and academic leaders from around the world, works with the NCSE Board of Directors to develop and implement programs and partnerships.

"I am honored by the confidence of my colleagues in selecting me to this leadership position," Matlock said. "The role of our universities in informing policies at the local, state, federal and international levels has never been more important. We have 10 years to make significant progress on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations — including no poverty, no hunger, good health and well-being.

"Human activities that are driving climate change must be stopped if we are to achieve these important goals," he said. "The NCSE community of scholars is fully engaged in understanding what policies will be most effective at achieving our common goals, and how to implement those policies."

The National Council for Science and the Environment programs include Project RISE, a community resiliency initiative to co-create a knowledge exchange platform focused on the scholarship, tools and early response strategies that universities can deploy before, during and after extreme weather disasters. The NCSE recently launched a French-American Research Partnership on Plastic Pollution with the Embassy of France, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the GDR (Groupement de Recherche) Polymers and Oceans of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

The National Council for Science and the Environment also coordinates communities of practice between member institutions to create common frameworks and strategies for addressing complex challenges in education, research and outreach.

The U of A Resiliency Center hosted the council's summer board meeting in Fayetteville in June 2019.

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals can be found on its website.