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Proclamation honoring Patricia M. DeMarco, PhD for winning the 2019 Carnegie Science Award in the Environmental category.
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WHEREAS, every year, the Carnegie Science Center gives out the Carnegie Science Award which recognizes and celebrates innovative and inspiring leaders in western Pennsylvania who are on the cutting edge of the science and technology industries. By awarding those individuals, they are given an opportunity to celebrate the talented individuals present in western Pennsylvania’s science community; and
WHEREAS, this year, Patricia M. DeMarco, PhD was announced as the 2019 winner of the Carnegie Science Award in the Environmental category for her achievements as a member of the Forest Hills Borough Council; and
WHEREAS, as a professor, mentor, author, and radio host, Dr. DeMarco has found herself at the front of the environmental movement in the Pittsburgh region; and
WHEREAS, with a doctorate in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. DeMarco has spent her thirty-plus year career dedicated to energy and environmental policy in both private and public sector; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, Dr. DeMarco moved to Alaska where she was the President of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. While in Alaska, she served as a Commissioner of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, with jurisdiction over all electric, gas, water, refuse utilities, and oil and gas pipelines. From 2002 to 2005, she served as Associate Dean for the College of Business and Public Policy at the University of Alaska Anchorage; and
WHEREAS, upon returning to the Pittsburgh region, Dr. DeMarco was named Executive Director of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association and Director of the Rachael Carson Institute at Chatham University. Inspired by Rachel Carson’s environmental ethic, Dr. DeMarco wrote a book titled “Pathways to Our Sustainable Future - A Global Perspective from Pittsburgh” and is the Executive Producer of a documentary film with Mark E. Dixon, “The Power of One Voice- A 50 Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson”; and
WHEREAS, after her election to Forest Hills Borough Council in 2016, Dr. DeMarco conducted a lifecycle cost analysis for a solar photovoltaic system to be included in the new borough building. The building design has a geothermal heating and cooling system with an average annual net zero energy performance. As a member of council, Dr. DeMarco helped re-establish the borough’s Environmental Advisory Council, which offers public awareness programs on recycling, plastics, energy efficiency and the importance of community clean up; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, Allegheny County Council Members Anita Prizio and DeWitt Walton, do hereby recognize and honor Patricia M. DeMarco, PhD for winning the 2019 Carnegie Science Award in the Environmental category, and we thank her for her unwavering dedication to energy and environmental policy.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto caused the Seal of the County of Allegheny to be affixed this 9th day of April 2019.