University of New England

UNE symposium to discuss Bush administration's environmental and human health policies April 10th

 "The Bush Administration: Changing Values and Goals for Environmental and Human Health” is the topic of a symposium hosted by the University of New England’s Department of Environmental Studies on Monday, April 10, 2006 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Ludcke Auditorium on the Westbrook College Campus, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland.

This event is free and open to the public.

The purpose of the symposium is to help foster, in a nonpartisan way, critical analysis of the Bush Administration’s environmental and human health policies. Differences of opinion about important policies are to be expected, and the Department of Environmental Studies hopes that a healthy debate will inform people and foster democratic principles and ideals.

The symposium will feature speeches by three notable scholars: Roger G. Kennedy, author of Wildfire and Americans, will speak on “Why John Muir and Gifford Pinchot were both Correct: Passion, Science, Competence and Democracy;” Owen Hoffman, Ph.D., president and director of SENES Oak Ridge, Inc. Center for Risk Analysis, will discuss “Research on the Public Health Legacy of the Cold War Era: Scientific Integrity and Openness;” and John Lemons, Ph.D., professor of biology and environmental science at UNE, will speak on “The Need to Assess Environmental and Human Health Policies of the Bush Administration.”

There will also be a panel discussion and question and answer period.

Keynote Speaker Biographies

Roger G. Kennedy served from 1993-1997 as director of the U.S. National Park Service. He has also served as director of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, and as vice president for the Ford Foundation. As a television presenter and producer, he covered the White House for NBC, and appeared on his own radio program on NBC, as well as on his own television series on the Discovery Channel. He is associated with the Center for the Environment at Harvard University, and is also teaching at Stanford and Yale Universities.

Owen Hoffman, Ph.D., has more than 30 years experience on the evaluation of the dose to humans from the release and transport of radionuclides and chemicals in the environment, and has been nationally recognized for his contributions to the development and evaluation of mathematical models for environmental transfer and human risk assessment. He has published more than 80 scientific publications.

John Lemons, Ph.D., has written more than 100 articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics including national parks, biodiversity and sustainable development. In the past he served as editor-in-chief of The Environmental Professional.

For more information or to register, please contact Cheryl Lebrecque at clabreque@une.edu or 207-602- 2626.

(Press release issued March 7, 2006)