E&EM doctoral student Nick Martin currently works at GETF. In his article below, he portrays the institution and explains his work experience.
The Global Environment & Technology Foundation:
Leaders in Environmental Management Systems
The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation located in Annandale, Virginia with the aim of promoting the development and use of innovative technology to achieve sustainable development. The Foundation works with a mission to help other institutions:
- Build interconnected information and educational networks to facilitate the spread of best practices and best ideas;
- Promote new technologies and practices that enable individuals and institutions to make breakthrough improvements in both the quality and environmental impact of what we produce and consume; and
- Establish lasting communities of interest among key institutions and people that have not historically worked together. These alliances and partnerships for sustainable development will last after GETF's involvement ends.
GETF continues to make enormous progress toward this mission by building on five priority service areas: Technology Deployment, Energy and Climate, Environmental Security, Information Networks, and Partnership Development. We are able to accomplish this through an atmosphere of in-house harmonization, combining both subject and Information Technology expertise. In addition, GETF has been able to successfully leverage this unique ability to establish and maintain cooperative relationships with a variety of federal, state, and local government entities from the White House to tribal councils, as well as a number of influential domestic and international non-governmental organizations.
My role at GETF is that of a Project Coordinator with a focus on the promotion of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Although I do assist with other projects, such as the Department of Energy Long-term Stewardship Initiatives, my main responsibilities fall under the umbrella of the National Public Entity Environmental Management System Resource Center (“PEER Center”) program. The National PEER Center evolved through a series of initiatives funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The program has established itself as a leader in the EMS field, serving as a central clearinghouse for practical EMS information specifically tailored towards public entities. The base of information was collected from the experiences of 23 government entities that participated in GETF-led EMS implementation initiatives. GETF has been able to expand upon these initiatives in developing follow-up, focused projects, as well as a variety of EMS implementation manuals, guides, and informational tools. With EMS interest on the rise throughout both the public and private sectors, as well as Executive Orders mandating EMS implementation in many facilities, we believe that this is only the beginning of EMS developments and that EMS will become increasingly valuable to organizations of all shapes and sizes over the next few years.
article by:
Nick Martin
(E&EM DSc Student)