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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Marine scientist Barry Costa-Pierce leads monumental 18-volume 'Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology'

A University of New England professor has edited and co-authored a pioneering work on sustainability.  

Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., Doherty Professor and director of the UNE Marine Science Center, served as an editor of 18 papers and as author of four chapters in Springer Science's Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, released Nov. 27, 2012.

Three years in the making, the encyclopedia is a monumental work of 18 volumes and 12,555 pages produced by approximately 1,000 scientists and peer reviewers, available in bound volumes and on a searchable web interface.

Costa-Pierce was one of 41 editors from throughout the world who oversaw the content of the 38 topical areas of sustainability science, such as oceans and human health; climate change; renewable energy science; environmental economics; pollution mitigation; and the future of fossil fuel technologies.

Overseeing the work were 19 senior scientists including five Nobel Laureates and a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for climate change research.

Costa-Pierce, who wrote four chapters in the volume he edited on Ocean Farming and Sustainable Aquaculture Science and Technology, says, "This 18-volume set is an extraordinary database of pioneering, globally important sustainability science. I'm very honored to have helped many global leaders share their science, visions, and life's works in this amazing compilation."

In addition to its academic audience, business leaders and decision-makers in local, national, and international governments will benefit from this resource. Costa-Pierce adds, "This extraordinary body of knowledge will have far-reaching impacts around the world. The great issues of our common future - food, energy, water, waste, shelter, climate change - are not just discussed in these 18 volumes, they are presented as real, achievable visions and with many action items."

The encyclopedia is accessible on the web, and will be updated and revised regularly as new knowledge and breakthroughs occur.

Barry Costa-Pierce

Costa-Pierce, who is also chair of the UNE Department of Marine Sciences, has authored over 150 publications, including 25 peer-reviewed books and monographs in aquaculture, fisheries, aquatic ecosystems, and sustainability science. 

For the past 13 years he has been an international editor of Aquaculture, the top science journal in the field. He is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists. 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.