Lexington's Commissioner of Environmental Quality, Cheryl Taylor, will detail the city's current and future sustainability efforts at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 30 in room 230 of the University of Kentucky Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Taylor is the latest speaker in the UK Forestry Graduate Student Association Seminar Series. She will discuss the role of the Department of Environmental Quality in "greening" Lexington and Fayette County, as well as the ongoing roles of solid waste collection and disposal services, recycling services, sanitary sewer services and environmental compliance in the city.

Prior to becoming the city's first Environmental Quality Commissioner, Taylor served as Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, where she regulated all the state's environmental systems through her supervision of the environmental divisions of air, water, waste, enforcement, compliance assistance and laboratory. As an engineering manager for Procter & Gamble, Taylor was responsible for environmental, health and safety programs, as well as management of capital projects, utilities and facilities maintenance. She holds bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and social work from the University of Kentucky.

The Forestry Graduate Student Association Seminar Series titled "Forestry Grows Up: Integrating Policy, Science and Management," brings guest speakers to UK to talk about natural resource-related topics that have applicability to a wide audience. Natural resources management research is a varied and dynamic field, and the ongoing seminar series provides an opportunity for students and the public to learn about current research and future directions for managing our natural world.