Sen. Beverly Gard has been a champion of the environment for nearly two decades while serving in the Indiana Senate. Her efforts have not only helped the state of Indiana; they’ve garnered national attention as well.

Sen. Gard has appeared before a group at the White House in Washington, D.C., on environmental-related concerns. Not long ago, she was invited by Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) to testify before his subcommittee in the U.S. Senate on the need for federal multi-emissions legislation. She has also led national discussions on causes and preventions of lead poisoning.

A former biochemist in the health care industry, Sen. Gard is currently chairwoman of the Indiana Senate Committee on Energy and Environmental Affairs, as well as the chair of both the Senate Public Health Subcommittee and the Environmental Quality Service Council.

In the last legislative session, Gard was a catalyst for agricultural marketing efforts as she led passage of a corn check-off program. She also worked hard to preserve open access to government through her serial meetings legislation, which ensured electronic technology would not circumvent public access and governmental accountability.

Sen. Gard also sits on several national committees, including the National Conference of State Legislatures Advisory Committee on Energy as well as the Council of State Governments Energy Task Force. She has served in various capacities to shape policies that ensure cleaner manufacturing processes and has authored legislation to clean up Indiana’s brownfields.

Just as important as her work in shaping policy is Sen. Gard’s outreach to citizens. She has literally built a bridge between her own policy weaving and the people those policies will ultimately affect. She continues to serve on the Policy Consensus Initiative Board of Directors and is also active with the Improving Kids’ Environment Board. In fact, she received the U.S. E.P.A. Environmental Health award in 2005.