Energy, Environment and Resources Center

Jack Barkenbus, Executive Director

Center For Clean Products and Clean Technologies

Gary A. Davis, Director

Office of Communications and Publications

David Brill, Director

Center for Geography and Environmental Education

Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Director

Oak Ridge Technology Research and Development Program

Sheila Webster, Director

Systems Development Institute

Donald Alvic, Director

Pro-Dialogue

Mary R. English and David L. Feldman, Directors

Water Resources Research Center

Tim Gangaware, Associate Director

For more information call Gail Farris at 865-974-4251 or write to EERC, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134.

Visit our Web site at: http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/

Lectures.  The EERC is once again distributing to UT faculty a list of guest lecture topics as a means of nurturing collaborative relationships and contributing to the university’s educational mission. Along with this month’s Highlights and Initiatives page, we are providing background information on several of our professional staffers and highlighting their areas of expertise. If you would like to arrange for a guest lecture, please contact the appropriate researcher at the phone number provided.

International News.  In June, Gary Davis, director of EERC’s Center for Clean Products and Clean Technology (CCPCT), and CCPCT Senior Research Associate Maria Socolof conducted a workshop in Tokyo, Japan, for manufacturers who had provided data for CCPCT’s Computer Display Project. Davis and Socolof presented preliminary results of the project, which compares life-cycle environmental impacts of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors. As a follow-up to the study, the CCPCT researchers proposed formation of an international research committee on the environmental performance of LCD monitors.

Presentations.  Research Leader Mary English was invited to address the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) International Symposium on Risk and Governance, which was held in June at Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia. English’s paper, “Environmental Risk and Justice,” will compose a chapter in a book resulting from the symposium. English and other leaders in risk-related fields from 30 countries are laying groundwork for the first World Congress on Risk Analysis planned by the SRA for June 2002 in Europe.

In August, Graduate Research Assistant Jeff Duncan will present “Assessing the role of Debris Dams in Urban Stream Restoration and Management” at the American Water Resources Association’s International Conference on Riparian Ecology and Management in Multi-use Watersheds to be held in Portland, Oregon. Duncan’s paper discusses the capacity of streams to retain coarse organic materials that improve not only aquatic habitat but also stream conditions, through nutrient retention, cycling, and transport.

Workshop.  The EERC sponsored a one-day colloquium, “Electronics Recycling: The Next Generation for Environmental Stewardship and Clean Products,” at the UT Conference Center in July. The colloquium centered around contractors’ final reports to the Department of Energy on the disposition of electronic goods. Researchers from George Mason University, Cheyney University, and West Virginia University were among participants making presentations. The Oak Ridge National Center for Electronics Recycle also participated. In addition, EERC’s Gary Davis and Maria Socolof presented the results of their EPA-sponsored research on the environmental life-cycle impacts of chemicals and materials used in the production, use, and disposal of computer monitors. This research may prompt industry to reduce or eliminate elements such as mercury or lead in future monitor production.