AIR POLLUTION IN U.S.-MEXICO BORDER REGION FOCUS OF STUDY.

The Border Ozone Reduction and Air Quality Improvement Program has selected Dr. Alberto Mendoza of the Center for Environmental Quality at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) to carry out a comprehensive study to address the pressing need to reduce air pollution in the international border region between Mexicali and the Imperial Valley. Until now, studies have focused on isolated air quality issues in the region. Dr. Mendoza's study examines air pollutants in the region without regard to geographic boundaries.

Dr. Mendoza is conducting the 27-month project with a team of researchers from ITESM, Aerodyne Research, Inc., the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The project has three main components as follows:

-- Cataloging and examining the substantial work already undertaken by U.S. and Mexican researchers in previous air quality studies involving the Mexicali-Imperial Valley region.

-- Conducting an in-depth source-receptor study to identify pollutants transported to the border region from major urban centers in the United States and Mexico.

-- Characterizing pollutant emissions from stationary and mobile sources using a high-tech mobile unit already employed in Mexico City that detects in real time the type of tiny, invisible pollutants that are the most harmful to human health.

The Border Ozone Reduction and Air Quality Improvement Program was established in late 2002 as the result of an initial $2 million seed grant to LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas by InterGen, an international power generation firm owned by Shell and Bechtel. LASPAU is actively pursuing additional funding for the program from foundations and public sector institutions on both sides of the border.

The principal objective of the program is to contribute to binational air quality improvement policies by awarding a series of applied research grants for projects that will reduce ozone and air toxins in the international border region between Mexicali and the Imperial Valley. The Mendoza study complements these efforts by providing new scientific data that helps to focus future investments in air pollution mitigation.

LASPAU, an organization affiliated with Harvard University, has forty years of experience in designing and implementing academic and professional exchange programs to address the social, technological, economic, and environmental challenges facing the Americas. LASPAU-administered programs sponsored by U.S. and Latin American government agencies, academic institutions, multilateral banks, foundations, and corporations have provided grants for study and research to over 16,000 individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 1992, LASPAU has implemented a number of programs supporting sustainable development. InterGen's grant to LASPAU is an example of a new approach to collaborative efforts between universities and corporations to address environmental concerns.

For more information, call 617/495-0562 or visit http://www.laspau.harvaard.edu.