August 27 marks the beginning of this year's Burning Man festival, held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, two hours from Reno and 12 miles from the nearest town. The week-long, annual event, started in 1986, celebrates self-expression and climaxes with a massive bonfire.
This year's festival features a "Green Man" theme, which focuses on the connections between nature and mankind. Central to festivities is the Green Man Pavilion, devoted to showcasing environmentally friendly artwork and technologies. Organizers plan to analyze closely any environmental impact from Burning Man. After the festival ends, they will look for ways to offset greenhouse gas emissions, perhaps by using clean energy sources or planting trees.
Dr. Betsy Pugel is participating in Burning Man as a science liaison. She works as a physicist and electrical engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
While at Burning Man, Pugel will talk about the great science that happens here at Goddard and about many of the technological innovations featured at the Green Man Pavilion. Pugel is also running a daily, hour-long science and technology radio show on Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR 94.5 FM, Nevada). Her interviews feature scientists Jeff Halverson, Paul Newman, Waleed Abdalati, Bob Bindschadler, and Gene Carl Feldman. The 15- to 20-minute segments will appear below with brief introductions on their subjects as they become available.
Pugel is a first-time attendee to Burning Man and would like to thank her Earth Science interviewees and other NASA folks for providing amusing advice for her travels out to Nevada.
