He may well have been speaking to the choir, for here at Vanderbilt researchers throughout the University are seeking to learn about environmental damage, from predicting it to preventing it to correcting it.

Even as I write this, geologist Molly Miller is somewhere deep in the heart of Antarctica, furthering her studies on what fossils millions of years old can tell us about global climate change, while Miller's colleagues Jay Noller and Lisa Wells make ready for their return to the Peruvian Desert to further their research on El Niño and the impact the weather phenomenon has on modern life.

While field researchers like Miller, Noller and Wells devote years of their lives to putting the pieces of the puzzles together, other researchers like Bob Pitz and Richard Duschl work to pass the knowledge on, through projects like the proposed Clean Air Research Center and a new educational curriculum developed for grades K-12.

One aspect of environmental work that has for years stymied public policy makers is how much the public is willing to pay to protect our natural resources. Clifford Russell and his team are trying to answer those questions through more thorough public surveys, while physician Philip Edelman points out the need to learn far more about the economic and public health impacts weather and climate changes have on us all.

In this issue of Research at Vanderbilt, you'll find articles on these subjects and more. These are a representative sampling of the important interdisciplinary research to which Vanderbilt scientists have devoted themselves to help make the world a better place.