r. Albert S. Matlack, longtime president of the Society of Natural History of Delaware, is the 2003 recipient of Delaware Audubon's Conservation Award. The award was presented at Delaware Audubon's annual dinner Thursday, May 1, 2003.

As the Society of Natural History's president, he has organized monthly trips to educate the public about environmental issues. He has arranged trips to explore such phenomena as superfund sites, invasive plant species in Delaware, landscaping with native plants, the advantages of cluster housing, sustainable sources of energy, the pitfalls of beach replenishment and visits to the varied habitats of Delaware.

To many people, the words "green" and "chemistry" would seem to be at odds with each other. Dr. Matlack not only finds nothing contradictory in the terms, but is one of a growing number of green chemistry's formidable and vocal proponents.

He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Chemical Society. Originally from Virginia, he moved to Delaware after graduate school.

Reflecting on a lifetime of work and service which includes more than 130 U.S. and foreign patents, Dr. Matlack regards the publication of Introduction to Green Chemistry as his greatest achievement. He wrote the textbook for his students at the University of Delaware.

Green chemistry had its start in 1990 with the passing of the Pollution Prevention Act. The American Chemical Society website calls this, "the first environmental law to focus on preventing pollution at the source rather than dealing with remediation or capture of pollutants at the end-of-the-pipe."

Introduction to Green Chemistry states, "In the glorious days of the 1950s and 1960s chemists envisioned chemistry as a solution to a host of society's needs." Dr. Matlack feels their scientific work was "done innocently, for the betterment of society, but they didn't realize [the harm of] DDT and such things as egg-shell thinning and the resistance of insecticides." Today, he says, "Many people are looking for ways to reduce toxicity, reduce hazardous waste, and do so with a minimum of energy." He says the biggest challenge is "getting people to use this information after it is found."

His facility with facts and figures does not preclude his having an artist's appreciation for the beauties of nature and a preservationist's heart. Dr. Matlack advocates the idea of "collecting by camera," especially in the botanical realm, since "few wildflower fields remain" – a practical solution in lieu of physical specimens.

This sensitivity to nature has been an awareness he has had since his early years as a Boy Scout. Through scouting, he was inspired by the outdoors and saw "the need for conservation in action." His concern has only deepened over a lifetime of watching urban sprawl.

The blending of science and nature has been a tradition in the Matlack family. Dr. Matlack's late father, also a chemist, had an extensive personal library of chemistry, gardening, and natural history books. That intellectual environment provided the perfect medium in which to nurture the budding Boy-Scout-cum-scientist, and also explains the following: Dr. Matlack has two sons. One is a plant ecologist and the other a cell biologist.

Thanks to Dr. Matlack's efforts, and those of others, the next generation of peacemakers has arisen in what Rachel Carson called "man's war against nature."

• Complete list of Conservation Award recipients

| Home | Birding | Action | Links | Contact |
Last modified on May 3, 2003.