Citizen Science is SustainUS's program aimed to integrate science, policy, and youth to promote Sustainable Development. Youth ages 13-26 were invited to submit original scientific research or position papers to the Citizen Science Technical Board for the 2009 Citizen Science Paper Competition! Winners will, in addition to publication, have the chance to present their work at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UN CSD), convening at the United Nations Headquarters (NYC) from May 4-15, 2009.

Click the link below to read their bios!

Maura Allaire, Graduate Category Winner: Maura Allaire is currently an Energy Policy Research Assistant at Resources for the Future, a natural resources think tank in Washington, DC. Her project areas include energy efficiency, renewable energy, access to oil and natural gas, and China climate policy. Maura earned a B.S. in Geology and Economics from Tufts University in May 2006. While on a Fulbright Scholarship in Ghana, she evaluated  groundwater and surface water interactions around small irrigation reservoirs. The International Water Management Institute hosted Maura in Ghana and her field work contributed towards better planning and management of small reservoirs. Maura was also recently selected to be on the SustainUS Agents of Change delegation to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development this May at UN headquarters in New York.

Mara Gittleman, Undergraduate Category Winner: Mara is a senior at Tufts University majoring in Environmental Studies and American Studies. For two and a half years, she was a leading officer of Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO), one of the only environmental advocacy groups on campus. She was also advertising manager of Oxfam Café, a café on campus run entirely by student volunteers that prides itself on selling fair trade and organic products when it can at an affordable rate for students, and where all profits go to Oxfam America. During the summer of 2006, she worked as assistant director, field manager, and campaign coordinator for the Princeton and New Brunswick, NJ offices of Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), where her responsibilities included hiring, training, managing, and directing a crew of canvassers going door-to-door, fundraising, giving speeches, and petitioning for environmental campaigns.  Mara has conducted research related to environmental and social sustainability in three locations, including Boston, Massachusetts, for which she is writing a senior honors thesis about urban agriculture and food security, San Ramón, Costa Rica, where she researched and worked with communities experiencing water scarcity conflict, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she researched the effect of urban expansion on agriculture in the city and on urban food security. 

Sara Asad, High School and Under Category Winner: Sara is a rising sophomore at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States early in my childhood.   She enjoys reading and writing in her free time and loves to swim and play badminton.  Her extracurricular activities include Model United Nations and volunteering at a daycare. Sara is fascinated by the latest developments in the field of science and technology that enhance our community and world, and hope to be part of such a project one day.