PITTSBURGH - As part of its 101st Annual Conference & Exhibition, the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) is challenging undergraduate and graduate students to try their hands at solving the types of environmental questions faced by professionals in the industry.

The Environmental Challenge International (ECi) requires students to build an interdisciplinary team of no more than five people to study a true-to-life environmental problem based on the experiences of A&WMA members. The 2008 problem asks teams to consider how sustainable energy sources could replace a proposed fossil-fuel-based Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in the Pacific Northwest, which was denied a permit. Teams will examine the issues surrounding the problem, discuss approaches to solving its challenges and draft a presentation that will offer their potential solutions to judges during A&WMA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition in Portland, OR, June 24-27, 2008. Visit www.awma.org/ACE2008/eci.htm for more information.

The A&WMA has also issued a call for abstracts for the 2008 Symposium on Air Quality Measurement Methods & Technology, to be held Nov. 3-6, 2008, in Chapel Hill, NC. The conference will feature current advances in measurement technology covering all aspects of air quality, including ambient air, indoor air, point sources and area sources. Both laboratory and field studies will be accepted. Abstracts are due July 11, 2008. To learn more, visit www.awma.org/go/measurements08