November 1996

Highlights and Initiatives

Conferences. Gary Davis, director of EERC's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies (CCPCT), played a lead role in organizing a workshop on extended product responsibility (EPR) held October 21-22 at the White House Conference Center. EPR is an emerging principle that involves extending manufacturers' responsibility for the environmental impacts associated with their products to encompass the products' creation, use, and disposal. Davis also served as keynote speaker at the workshop, which drew more than 100 participants from the United States and abroad. EERC Senior Research Associate Catherine Wilt participated as a facilitator in the event, which was co-sponsored by The President's Council on Sustainable Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Joyce Smith has joined the CCPCT staff and will serve as acting project manager for the Life-Cycle Design Project. The project, which is funded by UT, EPA, and Saturn Corporation, will help automobile designers incorporate environmental, energy, and economic factors into their designs. Smith, who earned a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Duke University, has 10 years of experience in industrial management, design, and pollution prevention and development of methods for evaluating the environmental performance of industrial technologies.

Publications. Research Leader Mary English published "The Role of Mutual Trust in Siting Controversial Facilities" in the August 1996 edition of Geotimes. The article, which served as the lead commentary essay for a special edition on low-level radioactive wastes, addresses the challenges that lie between a determination that a waste-disposal facility is needed and actual establishment of such a facility. In particular, the article examines the pivotal role played by mutual trust the trust technical experts, policymakers, and lay citizens place in each other.

Appointments. Assistant Research Professor Jonathan Rubin has been asked to serve on the editorial council of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. The council helps direct the journal's scholarly mission, and members are selected based on contributions to the field. Rubin will review papers being considered for publication in the journal.

Senior Research Scientist David Feldman will serve as symposium coordinator for Policy Studies Journal. In that capacity, Feldman will collaborate with scholars from universities, government agencies, and national think tanks to develop symposia that synthesize existing knowledge and identify unresolved issues in important public-policy arenas. Feldman has served on the journal's editorial board since 1992.

Presentations. Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, director of EERC's Center for Geography and Environmental Education, served as plenary-session speaker for the Conference on Environmental Education convened by the state of Missouri in October. In her presentation, McKeown-Ice reflected on her recent research on defining environmental literacy and identifying major national trends that may affect environmental education into the next century. McKeown-Ice shared plenary-session speaking responsibilities with Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, a nationally renowned expert on global climate change.