Public Health Impacts of Traffic Congestion

Dr. Katherine von Stackelberg coathored a recent journal article in Environmental Health on the public health impacts of traffic congestion. USA Today ran a story about the article, which predicts the number of expected deaths nationwide as a result of exposure to tailpipe emissions during congestion.

Dr. Williams Joins Adjunct Faculty at the Colorado School of Public Health

Dr. Williams recently joined the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Colorado as a Clinical Assistant Professor.

Systematic Review of Environmental Burden of Disease in Canada

E Risk Sciences, LLP recently completed a review of the environmental burden of disease in Canada on behalf of the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Agency of Canada (www.ncceh.ca). The purpose of this report is to better inform practitioners and policymakers about the contribution of different environmental exposures to public health risks in developing countries, such as Canada, and to identify key data gaps and areas in need of additional research.

Residential Use of Wood-Burning Appliances in Canada: Emissions, Health Effects, and Intervention Strategies

E Risk Sciences, LLP recently completed a review of woodsmoke emissions, exposures, and health effects due to residential wood-burning as well as public education programs and intervention strategies adopted in Canada on behalf of the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Agency of Canada (www.ncceh.ca). The purpose of this report is to better inform practitioners and policymakers about potential health risks or other concerns associated with residential wood-burning as well as useful mechanisms for addressing or mitigating these risks.

Dr. Williams Wins Chauncey Starr Distinguished Award

Dr. Williams was awarded the 2009 Chauncey Starr Distinguished Award, granted by the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) in recognition of excellent contributions to the field of Risk Analysis. This award is for outstanding achievement by a young risk analyst in science or public policy relating to risk analysis and exceptional promise for continued contributions to risk analysis. Dr. Williams is also the 2007 recipient of the Joan M. Daisey Outstanding Young Scientist Award, granted by the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) in recognition of outstanding contribution to the science of human exposure analysis by a young scientist.

Best Practices in Research and Development Prioritization, Management, and Evaluation: A Science of Science Policy Workshop

toolbox5 Dr. von Stackelberg was an invited panelist to a recent Science of Science Policy workshop jointly sponsored by the US EPA and USDA and held at the Center for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University.

Biofuels: What Do We Really Know?

At the 2009 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) annual meeting, Dr. Williams organized and chaired a symposium session on Biofuels Research Needs: A Call for Risk and Decision Analysts. Dr. Williams and colleagues at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) also recently published a paper in the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) related to what is known or anticipated about environmental and sustainability factors associated with next-generation biofuels relative to conventional biofuels in the United States.

Spatial Modeling and Decision Analysis Workshops

Dr. Katherine von Stackelberg is participating in a spatial modeling workshop to improve modeling tools used to support risk assessments by developing spatially-explicit exposure estimates. She will be participating in a program to extend and verify the FishRand-Migration model (a spatially-explicit, probabilistic aquatic bioaccumulation model). Dr. von Stackelberg is also leading the effort to support the US EPA Office of Research and Development in using decision analysis tools to support environmental decision making. She recently organized and participated in a workshop at EPA Decision Analysis: Supporting Environmental Decision Makers. Dr. von Stackelberg organized Day Two of the workshop and will be authoring a workshop summary report on behalf of the Board of Scientific Counselors on which she currently serves.