NIU received a $24,726 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help teach pollution awareness.

Among the EPA’s many responsibilities, it tries to educate United States citizens about pollution.

Murali Krishnamurthi, director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at NIU and an associate professor of industrial engineering, wrote the grant and was excited about receiving it.

“The money is for design development of a proactive approach to managing pollution,” Krishnamurthi said.

These proactive approaches are better known as environmental management systems. The systems help stop pollution before it occurs.

One system at NIU is the recycling program.

The National Environmental Education Act makes these grants possible.

The act was passed in 1990 to help educate people on the environment through designs, demonstrations and communication projects of local organizations.

Out of about 100 applicants, NIU was one of 20 to receive a grant.

Krishnamurthi and other staff members will devise techniques to identify how to stop pollution. They will teach this primarily to high school science teachers during the summer.