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CEI was founded in response to a 1973 New York Senate Committee hearing in Rochester, chaired by Senator Bernard Smith, that was seeking public comment from a range of groups in the region about needs for environmental education. Liz Thorndike who represented the Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley at that hearing and was a member of the environmental education committee of the Monroe County Environmental Management Council, prepared a proposal to establish a center for environmental information to serve as a clearinghouse, a forum, and a credible source of information on environmental matters for the region.
The Junior League of Rochester, in 1974, provided a $5000 grant and volunteers to organize and administer the programs and services of the Center for Environmental Information. Their support was followed by a grant of $5000 from the Gannett Foundation and funds from the Monroe County Environmental Management Council to support the publication of a regional newsletter about the environment. With a nine member Board of Directors, chaired by Arthur Crapse, and an office in the Jonathan Child House (where CEI remained for 14 years) CEI was launched as a homegrown organization, four years after the first Earth Day in 1970.
Since then, CEI staff and volunteers have responded to tens of thousands of environmental information queries. CEI has enrolled thousands in its educational programs and conferences, produced and disseminated hundreds of issues of various environmental publications and launched programs on energy conservation, lake watershed, environmental risk communication, acid rain, global climate change and the Rochester Green Business Network.
CEI has received awards and grants from many federal and state agencies and foundations, including U.S. EPA, the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the NYS Department of State, NYSERDA, Gleason Foundation and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. We are also supported by membership dues, program fees and contributions.
Take a look at CEI's achievements over the past 30+ years.