The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Category: Environmental policy

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Environmental policy Events Grants Science, technology & society

U.N. Environmental Project Concludes; CPPA Looks to Continue Science Policy Initiatives

On June 17, a morning of presentations, panel discussions and small group brainstorming celebrated the conclusion of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s collaboration with the Museum of Science in Boston on the international environmental project known as World Wide Views on Biodiversity. But those gathered also discussed ways that the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) and the museum can continue developing forums for public deliberations around issues related to science and technology in our state and globally. Held at the museum, the morning’s activities were sponsored by a UMass Public Service Endowment grant.

During the wrap-up event, Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) discussed the importance of citizen participation in technology assessment and global governance, and introduced Gregory Watson, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources, who talked about his experience with community engagement initiatives that succeeded due to the inclusion of diverse voices.

The museum’s planetarium director, David Rabkin, also spoke of how and why his organization first got involved in facilitating public deliberations of science policy issues. CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano then highlighted the results of World Wide Views on Biodiversity.

That project brought together last September more than 3,000 citizens in 34 different discussions, throughout 25 countries, to consider how their own governments and world leaders might strengthen regulations that affect biodiversity. World Wide Views organizers then delivered to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity a report that highlighted the consensus of participants from around the world: Political action should be taken in order to stop the planet’s decline in biodiversity.

Those assembled earlier this month at the Museum of Science agreed that projects like World Wide Views are valuable tools in our modern democratic society, as they provide a unique forum in which people can have educated discussions based on scientific research and facts. And thanks to the partnership that World Wide Views had with the U.N., participants felt empowered knowing that their voices would become part of an international policy discussion.

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Environmental policy Events

Pollution, Human Health and Public Policy: A Talk by Yale Environmental Health Expert

Yale University environmental health professor Michelle Bell will speak about how air pollution affects human health during a lecture and webinar on Friday, April 26 at 10 a.m.

Bell’s presentation, titled “The Impact of Airborne Particulate Matter on Human Health: Current Scientific Evidence and Remaining Challenges,” will highlight recent scientific evidence from epidemiological studies on how particles affect human health, using national datasets related to weather, air pollution and health. This talk will be presented in Auditorium 119 in the UMass Amherst Engineering Lab II. It will simultaneously be offered as a webinar.

Particulate matter is estimated to cause more than 3.7 million deaths a year worldwide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that benefits of the Clean Air Act were more than 30 times higher than costs, with a large portion of those benefits from averted mortalities due to decreased levels of particulate matter. Still, more than 74 million people in the U.S. live in areas with higher particulate matter levels than health regulations allow. While there is strong and consistent evidence that particulate matter affects health, many questions remain, such as which types of particles and sources of particles are most harmful; which populations are most susceptible or vulnerable; and how these health impacts will be affected by climate change.

Bell teaches in Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She researches the impact that atmospheric systems, including pollution and weather, have on human health. Bell intends for her research to be relevant to public policymakers and hopes that her work can contribute to constructive decision-making to better protect human health. She has won several awards, including the National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s Outstanding New Environmental Scientist award in 2006.

This event is co-sponsored by the Northeastern Climate Science Consortium; the Environmental Working Group; and the Center for Public Policy and Administration.

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Environmental policy Events

Union of Concerned Scientists President Visits CPPA

Earlier this week the Center for Public Policy and Administration hosted an informal question-and-answer session with UMass alumnus Kevin Knobloch (’78), president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and a leader in the environmental policy and advocacy movement.

During an hour-long conversation at Gordon Hall, Knobloch spoke about his work leading the Union of Concerned Scientists, which uses thorough and independent scientific research to offer technical analysis and smart advocacy on a range of issues, including climate change, clean vehicles, and food and agriculture. Knobloch, who studied journalism as an undergraduate at UMass, also spoke about how his previous career as a journalist has helped him craft messages in ways that are relevant to and understood by diverse constituencies.

He was on campus as an Eleanor Bateman Alumni Scholar and also gave a university-wide talk titled “Needed: Skillful Capitalists to Lead us to a Low-Carbon Future.”

CPPA is the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at UMass Amherst.

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Alumni news Environmental policy Events

Environmental Policy Guru Knobloch to Meet with CPPA Students

On Monday, March 11, CPPA faculty and students have the opportunity to meet UMass alumnus Kevin Knobloch (’78), president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) since 2003. This reception is a rare opportunity to talk and network with one of the leaders of the environmental movement. The informal reception will include light refreshments and will take place in Gordon Hall 302 at 2:30 p.m.

This veteran leader in the environmental policy community holds more than 30 years of experience in U.S. government and media advocacy. He has led several UCS delegations to the United Nations International Climate negotiations and currently oversees all UCS programs and operations. After starting his career as a newspaper reporter in Massachusetts, Knobloch worked on Capitol Hill as a press secretary, legislative assistant and then legislative director. He then became director of conservation programs for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Boston and co-founded the Arlington (MA) Land Trust.

Knobloch earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from UMass Amherst. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, with a focus on natural resource economics and environmental management.

On Tuesday, March 12, Knobloch will present a public lecture hosted by the Alumni Association titled “Needed: Skillful Capitalists to Lead us to a Low-Carbon Future.” Goodell Hall, 4 p.m.

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Environmental policy Science, technology & society

Gano Speaks about Public Engagement in Science Education during National Conference

Earlier this month CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano addressed the American Association for the Advancement of Science during an annual meeting session titled “In the Eye of the Beholder: Engaging the Public in Societal Implications of Science.” Gano, who is also a research affiliate with the UMass Amherst Science, Technology and Society Initiative, used the recent World Wide Views on Biodiversity deliberations as an example of how informal science institutions can get involved in public engagement activities linked to policymaking.

The session in which Gano spoke also featured two other projects aimed at expanding informal science education and science communication practices to include the benefits of science as seen through the eyes of the public, not only the scientific community. In the first presentation, representatives from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISEnet) described how they train educators to build real-life implications for society and public policy perspectives into science museum exhibits and programs; NISEnet collaborates on that project with Arizona State University’s Center for Nanotechnology in Society. Later, session participants learned of emerging efforts to better engage everyday people in conversations with scientists and academics about synthetic biology.

For the last year, Gano has co-directed the Massachusetts branch of World Wide Views on Biodiversity, an environmental policy project affiliated with the United Nations. Gano and two CPPA students worked throughout the summer and fall to recruit 100 participants from across Massachusetts for a day-long discussion about environmental regulations and policies. The Massachusetts event, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place that day in 25 countries around the globe. Results from all of the sessions were then compiled into a report, which was released in October at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

CPPA was able to participate in this innovative global project thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, a CPPA-affiliated endeavor that conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

The Center for Public Policy and Administration is the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Environmental policy Science, technology & society

Lights, Camera…Invasive Species Training Videos!

The Nature Conservancy has awarded Jared Starr, a research associate with the National Center for Digital Government (NCDG), a contract to develop a series of insect pest identification videos.

Starr, a master’s student in the Environmental Conservation department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, secured the funding thanks to the positive response environmental professionals have given earlier invasive plant videos that he created with fellow NCGD research associates Lena Fletcher and Nate Bush. Those videos were created for the Outsmart Invasive Species project, which enlists the help of “citizen scientists” to identify and report invasive species using smartphone technology.

The new videos will be part of the Nature Conservancy’s Healthy Urban Trees Initiative, a nationwide project that aims to keep urban trees healthy and prevent widespread destruction by invasive insects. Starr’s videos will target the Asian longhorned beetle, the emerald ash borer, the hemlock woolly adelgid, the winter moth and the gypsy moth.

To watch Starr’s earlier training videos and a commercial he created advertising the Outsmart Invasive Species app, visit www.youtube.com/user/OutsmartProject.

The Outsmart project is a collaborative effort led by Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) and Jennifer Fish, director of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Service Forestry program. It is funded through a Forest Service grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

NCDG was created with support from the National Science Foundation to develop research and infrastructure for the emerging field of information technology and governance. It is housed at the Center for Public Policy and Administration, the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at UMass Amherst.

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Environmental policy Events Faculty Research

Brandt to Discuss Traffic, Pollution and Smart Growth in Faculty Colloquium

On Feb. 4, Sylvia Brandt will discuss her recent work in a talk titled “The Costs of Traffic-Related Pollution in Los Angeles: Implications for Smart Growth.”

Brandt is an associate professor of resource economics and public policy. Her research focuses on two areas where traditional economic theories have failed to solve difficult problems in the allocation of public goods: fisheries management and chronic illness. Brandt also considers how policymakers can increase public welfare by increasing economic efficiency, policy effectiveness, or distributive fairness.

This lecture is part of CPPA’s spring 2013 Faculty Colloquium series, which consists of informal talks, often about works-in-progress, with presenters providing a significant amount of time for audience discussion and feedback. All talks will be in Thompson 620, from noon to 1 p.m. They are open to the public and brown bag lunches are welcome.

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Environmental policy Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Social inequality & justice

Brandt’s Asthma Paper Named Among Top Environmental Health Research of 2012

A paper published last year in the European Respiratory Journal and co-authored by Associate Professor Sylvia Brandt (resource economics and public policy) has been named by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as one of the top research papers of 2012.

In the paper, “Costs of Childhood Asthma Due to Traffic-Related Pollution in Two California Communities,” Brandt and her fellow researchers estimate that childhood asthma associated with air pollution in Long Beach and Riverside, Calif., costs $18 million each year. This study not only examined direct health care costs related to childhood asthma, as many previous analyses have done, but also calculated the indirect costs of caring for a child with asthma. “The authors found that including this data almost doubled the estimated economic cost for these two communities alone,” according to the NIEHS. The biggest portion of this cost comes from parents and other caregivers missing work — and therefore losing income — when a child is absent from school because of asthma.

Researchers estimate the total annual cost per childhood asthma case is $3,819 in Long Beach and $4,063 in Riverside. “The fact that together these two communities account for only 2 percent of the population of California suggests that the statewide costs are truly substantial,” wrote Brandt in the report. The researchers further noted that nationwide, the total cost of childhood asthma is a serious economic burden on families, falling disproportionately on those living near busy traffic corridors.

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Environmental policy Governance Science, technology & society

Feb. 8 Panel to Discuss Public Engagement in Biodiversity Governance

NOTE: This event has been canceled due to Friday’s expected blizzard.

The Science, Technology and Society Initiative at the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) will host a panel discussion titled “Governing Biodiversity: Citizen Voices on the Global Stage” on Friday, Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Gordon Hall 302-304. Panelists will use the recent World Wide Views on Biodiversity project as an example of how the general public can be effectively engaged in environmental policy discussions.

As part of the World Wide Views project, CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano and two CPPA students worked last summer and fall to recruit 100 participants from across Massachusetts for a day-long discussion about environmental regulations and policies. The Massachusetts event, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place in 25 countries around the globe. Results from all of the sessions were then compiled into a report, which was released in October at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity. CPPA was able to participate in the project thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative.

Next month’s panel will include Gano? David Sittenfeld, Forum program manager at the Museum of Science, Boston? Richard Worthington, professor of politics and chair of the Program in Public Policy Analysis at Pomona College? and Darlene Cavalier, contributing editor for Discover Magazine and founder of the citizen science site SciStarter. Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) will moderate.

CPPA is the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Environmental policy Events Science, technology & society

Gano to Represent CPPA’s STS Initiative at Wilson Center Forum

CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano will speak next week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars about engaging the public in evaluating technology use in science and in social decision-making.

This forum, titled “Technology Assessment and Public Participation: From TA to pTA,” will be webcast live from the Wilson Center on Thursday, Dec. 6, from noon to 2 p.m. Gano and other speakers will explore ways to change the current paradigm whereby everyday people pay for technology through taxes and consumer purchases, but rarely are involved in assessing that same technology in a meaningful and influential way. The recent World Wide Views on Biodiversity project will be used as an example of how the public can be effectively engaged in these kinds of discussions.

As part of the World Wide Views project, Gano and two CPPA students worked last summer and earlier this fall to recruit 100 participants from across Massachusetts for a day-long discussion about environmental regulations and policies. The Massachusetts event, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place that day in 25 countries around the globe. Results from all of the sessions were then compiled into a report, which was released in October at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

CPPA has been able to participate in this innovative global project thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, a CPPA-affiliated endeavor that conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

Other speakers at next week’s event include David Rejeski, director of the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program; Richard Worthington, professor of politics and chair of the Program in Public Policy Analysis at Pomona College; Darlene Cavalier, founder of Science Cheerleader and SciStarter and contributing editor of Discover Magazine; David Sittenfeld, Forum program manager at the Museum of Science, Boston; Tim Persons, U.S. Government Accountability Office; and Mikko Rask, head of research at Finland’s National Consumer Research Centre.