By Pamela Burke

A local environmental leader is speaking at Worsham Theater tonight about where UK stands in its efforts to become a more sustainable community.

Tom Kimmerer, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, based in Lexington, will be giving a lecture at 7:30 p.m. on current trends of sustainability across campuses in the United States.

His presentation, which celebrates the United Nations’ Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, is sponsored by the UN’s Division for Sustainability Development, Bluegrass Chapter; Transylvania’s Student Environmental Organization; and UK Greenthumb.

“The goal is to educate people on exactly what sustainability is,” said Brittany Zwicker, co-coordinator of Greenthumb.

Kimmerer will talk about the UN’s efforts on sustainability education, and a discussion session will follow, Zwicker said.

UK recently joined AASHE, which offers member colleges and universities assistance on sustainability programming.

Because UK is now a member, its students and employees can log on to the association’s Web site (www.aashe.org) for free, said Niles Barnes, AASHE’s administrative and public relations assistant.

Students, faculty and staff can use their UK e-mail accounts to gain access to restricted elements of the site’s resource center.