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NETWORK

Solving environmental health challenges requires interdisciplinary expertise. We rely on a global network of experts and organizations to collaborate on projects. This allows us to bring the best expertise to the places we work and gives people opportunities to work on challenging and rewarding projects around the world.

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James G. Crock, Ph.D.

Geochemist

James G. Crock  is a retired analytical geochemist (37 years) with the U.S. Geological Survey, Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center in Lakewood, Colorado.  Dr. Crock earned a B.S. from Mount Union College in chemistry and geology, an M.S. from  Pennsylvania State University in geochemistry, and a Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines in geochemistry.  His research focused on methods development in analytical geochemistry and environmental geochemistry. Dr. Crock has published methods for the determination of numerous elements in geological and environmental matrices using various spectroscopic methods. He also served for ten years as the Associate Director of his Science Center.

The Environmental Health Council

The Environmental Health Council (EHC)  is an international, interdisciplinary, non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, evaluating, and remediating  environmental contaminants. Presently, EHC is focusing on mercury contamination in the Andean region, specifically in the cities of Huancavelica, Peru, and Potosí, Bolivia. EHC collaborates to develop and implement innovative, integrated, culturally relevant, mutually reinforcing, and measurable programs to reduce individual and community exposures to mercury. EHC serves as a member of the Global Mercury Partnership of the United Nations Environment Program, EHC integrates the multicultural, multidisciplinary expertise of its members who share a commitment to addressing specific environmental health challenges.

Ro Afatchao, Ph.D.

Professor

Romuald (Ro) Afatchao  is a clinical professor and the Associate Director of The Martin Institute and the International Studies Program at the University of Idaho (UI) with more than ten years of experience in international development. Dr. Afatchao has a law degree and an L.L.M. in environmental law and politics  from University of Lome in Togo, an M.A. in International Studies from  University of Limoges in France, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from UI. A native of Togo, he co-founded a Togolese NGO - The National Association of Consumers and the Environment - in the late 1990s. In 2010, Dr. Afatchao founded the Institute for Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development. Dr. Afatchao  teaches courses on international studies and international development and is a frequent guest lecturer on cross-cultural issues at the University of Idaho.

Rob Hanson

Soil Scientist

Rob Hanson holds a B.S. in Soil Science and a M.S in Soil Chemistry and Fertility from Colorado State University. He retired from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in 2018 after a 29-year career where he was responsible for mine site remediation, voluntary cleanup, and general remediation programs. Mr. Hanson’s experience includes managing the Bunker Hill Superfund Site for the State of Idaho, where he negotiated settlement agreements with responsible parties and worked with the federal government to develop cleanup plans. He has managed and directed preliminary assessments, remedial investigations, feasibility studies, risk assessments, records of decision, public outreach, and risk communication programs. Mr. Hanson received recognition from the Idaho State Governor and the US federal government for his work to move complex projects forward to achieve cleanup goals.

Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem

The University of Idaho's Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem (CHHE) was established in 2017 to accelerate practices and policies that transform the lives of people and animals in Idaho and around the world through excellence in research and education on the impacts of environmental change and land and water use on health and disease. CHHE is a multidisciplinary and collaborative center for excellence at the University of Idaho with a mission of building a more sustainable human ecosystem through research, teaching, and outreach. The Center brings together experts and trainees from relevant fields to share knowledge, tools, and strategies to accelerate novel discoveries and innovative and sustainable interventions for coordinated improvements in plant, animal, and human health. CHHE establishes a working model — through symposia, courses, funded research, undergraduate and graduate education — that shows how communication and collaboration among researchers can be achieved.

Margrit von Braun, P.E., Ph.D.

TIFO Co-Founder

Margrit von Braun is an environmental engineer with degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S), the University of Idaho (M.C.E.), and Washington State University (Ph.D.). Dr. von Braun’s teaching and research at the University of Idaho (UI) were in hazardous waste management and risk assessment. She founded and directed the Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering programs at UI from 1993-2003 and served as dean of the College of Graduate Studies before retiring in 2011. She served as President of the Western Area Graduate Schools. Dr. von Braun and her husband, Dr. Ian von Lindern, founded TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc. in 1984. The company focused on remediation of hazardous waste sites. In 2012, Dr. von Braun and Dr. von Lindern co-founded TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO) as the nonprofit successor to TerraGraphics Engineering. Dr. von Braun received a 3-year leadership development fellowship from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Outstanding Faculty Award, and the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award.  In 2012, she was elected as a Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academy of  experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health.

Casey Bartrem, Ph.D.

Environmental Health Scientist

Casey Bartrem is an Environmental Scientist and TIFO's Executive Director. Dr. Bartrem has a B.S. in Environmental Biology/Zoology from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from University of Idaho. Dr. Bartrem has worked on human health risk assessments in mining/recycling communities in Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the United States. She is a visiting lecturer at the American University of Armenia’s School of Public Health where she teaches a course in Environmental Health Risk Assessment for the Master of Public Health Program. Dr. Bartrem assists Alta Science and Engineering with quality assurance/quality control and analyses of blood lead/soil lead data for the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, one of the largest contaminated sites in North America. From 2007-2009, Dr. Bartrem was a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Lesotho, working with communities on grassroots health and development projects. In November 2019, Dr. Bartrem was inducted into the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent, international academy comprised of experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health.

Jeannie Harvey, Ph.D.

Gender Specialist

Jeannie Harvey has a M.S. in Natural Resources Management and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources, International Development, and Gender Auditing. Dr. Harvey serves on TIFO's Board of Directors. She has served as a Gender Advisor with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), providing technical assistance to Feed the Future offices in Asia and Africa including training, gender analyses, consultation, and extensive field work. Previously, she served as Program Analyst for South Asia in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service. Dr. Harvey has served as a US Peace Corps Agriculture Extension Volunteer in Ecuador. She has broad experience in international development, food security, gender and agriculture development, and gender integration. Dr. Harvey has also served as Senior Manager for Gender Integration at InterAction; Director of University of Idaho Women’s Center; and Gender Advisor for USAID/Bangladesh.

Ed Galindo, Ph.D.

Educator

Ed Galindo (Yaqui, American Indian) has degrees in Animal Science and Chemistry (B.S.), Health Science (M.S.), and Education/Physics/Engineering (Ph.D.). Dr. Galindo is a TIFO Board Member, faculty at the University of Idaho, Associate Director for Education and Diversity for the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium, and affiliate faculty at both Idaho State University and Utah State University. He has worked extensively in education and research with Native American students. He was twice elected as the National Indian Teacher of the Year, awarded by the National Indian School Board Association. Dr. Galindo is currently serving as a board member with the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Most recently, Dr. Galindo was inducted as a lifetime (Sequoyah Fellow) member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).

Rebecca Witinok-Huber, Ph.D.

Environmental Health/Social Scientist

Rebecca  Witinok-Huber has a Ph.D. in Water Resources from the University of Idaho (UI). Dr. Witinok-Huber received a National Science Foundation Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship for her doctoral studies. As a conservation social scientist Dr. Witinok-Huber brings a unique background in mixed-methods approaches to community-based work. Her experiences and expertise include work with women and water groups in northern Kenya, and collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of Agriculture where she co-developed and led a USAID-funded project that involved investigating gender equity, nutrition, and agricultural extension services for over 600 smallholder Liberian farmers. She has worked as part of interdisciplinary teams in northern Idaho on lead contamination communication networks and on a climate change adaptation project with the Nez Perce Tribe's Water Resources Department. Dr. Witinok-Huber excels in inter and transdisciplinary teams working toward highly localized goals related to social and environmental sustainability and justice. Rooted in social-environmental contexts that highlight place, her work emphasizes place-based connections through spatial analysis and visualization.

Olivia Collet

Environmental Scientist

Olivia Collet is an environmental scientist with cross-disciplinary work experience in public health and humanitarian response. Ms. Collet, a Swiss national, has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Science from University of Geneva, Switzerland. She was the first person to work as an Environmental Health Project Officer in the Operations department of Médecins sans Frontières Operational Centre Geneva (MSF-OCG). In this position, she supported field teams on addressing environmental health issues, developed health and safety protocols and environmental health resources for field staff, and coordinated with external specialists and project partners. Ms. Collet has collaborated across MSF OCs to explore and develop the role of MSF in environmental health challenges related to extractive industries. She has been the focal point for the staff health and safety activities in the environmental health project in Kyrgyzstan, was the project manager for seismic and environmental disaster preparedness, and investigated how lessons learned from MSF’s Nigeria project could be applied in the Kyrgyzstan initiative.

Jerry Lee

Environmental Scientist

Jerry Lee holds B.S. degrees in Environmental Science and General Agriculture, and an M.S. in Environmental Science.  Mr. Lee was formerly President of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering (now Alta Science and Engineering), where he has over 30 years of experience planning, conducting, and overseeing a myriad of environmental investigations at hazardous waste sites throughout the US. His work supported USEPA Superfund cleanup and litigation efforts representing citizens impacted by exposure to environmental contamination and hazardous conditions from nearby sources. Contaminants of concern included inorganic and organic chemicals in the soil, groundwater, surface water, biota, and air. Mr. Lee worked closely with the State of Idaho regulators and the USEPA to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal requirements, and his work resulted in recognition and achievement awards from these entities.

Simba Tirima, Ph.D.,

Environmental Scientist

Simba Tirima, a Kenyan national, has a B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Eastern Africa, an M.S. in Agricultural Science from University of Idaho (UI), and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from UI. Dr. Tirima’s diverse professional history includes teaching Environmental Perspectives, International Environmental Issues, and Environmental Economics and Policy at UI, where he was also International Marketing Manager for the International Program Office. Dr. Tirima worked for TerraGraphics Engineering (now Alta Science and Engineering) as a Research Associate and Environmental Scientist and has been a core member of the TIFO team since the organization was founded, working as Director of Field Operations for the Nigeria project. He currently works as Deputy Head-of-Mission for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Nigeria, where he is responsible for liaising with government officials, coordinating institutional controls program in Niger and Zamfara States, and assisting with MSF’s operational programmatic needs. In 2018, Dr. Tirima received The Award of Excellence from the Vice President of Nigeria for his work addressing lead poisoning in Nigeria.

Varduhi Petrosyan, Ph.D.,

Environmental Scientist

Dr. Varduhi Petrosyan, an Armenian national, is a Professor of Health Sciences from the American University of Armenia Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health (SPH). She is the current Dean of the SPH and Director of the Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR) and  was the Associate Dean in 2007-2015. She has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, a M.S. focusing on environmental health from the University of Idaho, and a degree in biochemistry from Yerevan State University. She has successfully led health services research projects in Armenia and the region focusing on public health services, tobacco control, tuberculosis control, primary care, ophthalmic care, diabetes care, environmental health, and other important projects. In 2011-2016, she was a member of the Armenian Country Coordination Mechanism for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs. In 2012-2014, Dr. Petrosyan was the Advisor on Health Reforms to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on a voluntary basis. Currently, she is a member of the Public Council next to the Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia (MOH), the Management Council of the Health Inspectorate of the MOH, and the Working Group on Cancer Control Strategy of the MOH. She is currently the Associate Editor of the International Journal for Equity in Health. 

Norwich University CGRS and PaWC

Environmental Security Working Group

The Center for Global Resilience (CGRS) and the Peace and War Center (PaWC) at Norwich University are leading a joint initiative in Environmental Security along with the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences Foundation (AEHS). The collaborative Environmental Security Working Group recognizes the role of environmental degradation as a precursor to conflict, migration, and other social and economic insecurities. The working group strives to explore and promote the complex issue of Environmental Security, including how environmental issues including climate change intersect with sectors such as economics, politics, and the military.

Chris Eckley, Ph.D.*

Chris Eckley is a Mining Geochemist at the US EPA Region-10 office.  His work focuses on the remediation of mercury and other heavy metal contaminated sites, with a specific focus on processes effecting mercury methylation in aquatic systems.  He has a Bachelors of Science degree in environmental science from Western Washington University, an M.S. in Watershed Ecosystems from Trent University, and Ph.D. in Physical Geography from the University of Toronto. He completed a postdoc at the University of Nevada, Reno and an international visiting fellowship at Environment Canada.

Barry Green, Ph.D. 
Environmental Economist 

Barry Green is a Lecturer in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Idaho. He is a past recipient of a U. S. Fulbright Scholars Award for Bolivia (2017-2018), where he continued research on Economic Compensation for Environmental Damages in Mining in Developing Countries. Previously, he has done environmental work for the United Nations Development Programme in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Uzbekistan, conducted field work for The Earth Institute at Columbia University, in gold mines in Tanzania, and Guinea, and was the Environmental Officer for the U. S. Peace Keeping Troops in the Former Yugoslavia. Additionally, Dr. Green served in Peace Corps Response (Guyana), and Peace Corps (Ecuador and St. Lucia).

*Participation in this network does not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action.

North American Native Research and Education Foundation (NANREF)

NANREF is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides educational and research opportunities to Native American students. While encouraging life-long learning and sharing, NANREF acknowledges, respects, and shows humble gratefulness to all sacred cycles of life. The organization's goals are: to integrate learning for all disciplines while communicating and solving problems with all people; to involve students in real-world projects with deadlines, frustrations, and the beauty of true learning; and to raise the self-esteem and cultural pride of American Indian students. NANREF is founded and lead by Dr. Ed Galindo, Yaqui Indian and TIFO Board of Directors member.

Karel Van Damme

Occupational Health Physician

Karel Van Damme is a Belgian physician specializing in Occupational Health. Dr. Van Damme has dedicated his career to protecting the health and safety of workers in several capacities: as a public administrator and labor inspector, as a personal advisor to several Belgian federal ministers of work, and as a president of the Belgian Compensation Fund for Occupational Diseases. He played an important role in improving Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) protection of workers at the EU level and was involved in developing regulatory processes both nationally and internationally in the field of OSH. He is a researcher at the Center for Human Genetics at the University of Leuven. In this capacity, he leads several national and European research projects, mainly related to scientific, social, and ethical aspects of susceptibility testing and health surveillance of workers, and on epidemiological research on haemato-lymphopoietic disorders resulting from occupational and environmental exposures. Dr. Van Damme has lectured internationally on OSH and serves as an external expert for the International Labor Organization.  Dr. Van Damme is a member of the Collegium Ramazzini, an international group of experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health. In 2017, Dr. Van Damme received the Ramazzini Award for his efforts to improve the ethical basis for screening and monitoring practices in occupational medicine and for his advocacy and efforts to improve occupational safety and health protections in Belgium and internationally.

Bryn Thoms

Hydrogeologist

Bryn Thoms  is a hydrogeologist with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's (ODEQ's) Cleanup Program. He oversees  cleanup projects, including solvent groundwater plumes, legacy pesticide sites, former wood products mill sites, petroleum releases, and abandoned mine lands. He is the technical director of the Environmental Health Council, an international non-profit organization dedicated to addressing environmental contaminants.  In 2015, he became active with the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council as a result of overseeing one of the first ODEQ projects that utilized bioavailability adjustments in human health risk assessment. Mr. Thoms helped develop the Decision Section of the Bioavailability Guidance document, where his regulatory experience provided valuable perspective on incorporating bioavailability into the regulatory cleanup process. Mr. Thoms has a B.S. in geology from Oregon State University and has been an Oregon registered professional geologist since 1997.

Phil Landrigan, M.D.

Pediatrician, Epidemiologist

Phil Landrigan is a world-renowned pediatrician, public health physician, and epidemiologist. Dr. Landrigan is on TIFO's Board of Directors. His research uses the tools of epidemiology to elucidate connections between toxic chemicals and human health, especially the health of infants and children. His early studies of lead poisoning were among the first to demonstrate that lead is toxic to children even at very low levels, which contributed to the US government's decision to remove lead from paint and gasoline. His research defined children’s unique susceptibilities to pesticides and other chemicals and catalyzed fundamental revamping of US policy. Dr. Landrigan was Chair of the Department of Preventative Medicine (1990-2018) and Dean for Global Health (2010-2018) at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He was involved in the medical and epidemiological follow-up of 20,000 rescue workers from the 9/11 attack. From 2015 to 2017, he co-chaired the Lancet Commission on Pollution & Health, which reported that pollution causes 9 million deaths annually. Dr. Landrigan is the Director of the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health at Boston College.  He is President of the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academy of  experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health.

Institute for Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development

Institute for Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development (ICPSD)  is a nonprofit organization with a  mission to achieve efficacy and resiliency in communities in Africa through the convergence of local knowledge, culture, science, and technology. ICPSD was founded when Dr. Romuald Afatchao, led a group of University of Idaho students on a service trip to Ghana. Passionate about the continent of his birth and expanding the cultural competency of American students, Dr. Afatchao challenged the students to see beyond the excitement of being in a new country and to look deeper into themselves and the situations they observed and participated in. The experience led to discussions  regarding development in Africa and the impact of outside aid and influences. ICPSD was born from these observations and goals for sustainable and community-driven development on the continent.

Ed Lewis, Ph.D.

Professor, Department Head

Ed Lewis is Professor and Head of the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology  in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Co-Director of the Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem at the University of Idaho. Dr. Lewis has a B.S. from Cornell University, an M.S. from University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. from Auburn University. His research includes studies of behavior, population ecology, community ecology, and evolutionary biology within several groups of insects, nematodes, and bacteria. Dr. Lewis also pursues research in biological control of crop pests, predicting the impact of crop management on pest and beneficial organisms, and restoration ecology.  

 

Shirley Luckhart, Ph.D.

Professor

Shirley Luckhart  is a Professor in the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Professor of Biological Sciences in the College of Science and Co-Director of the Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem at the University of Idaho. Dr. Luckhart has a B.S. from the University of Florida, an M.S. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers. She is an expert in arthropod-borne infectious diseases. Her background training includes natural resource conservation, entomology, biochemistry, microbiology, parasitology and innate immunity. Dr. Luckhart’s work focuses on malaria, a disease that adversely affects low-income countries throughout the tropics. In particular, her lab has studied murine and non-human primate malaria parasite development and transmission, transmission of the human malaria parasite  under field conditions in endemic countries.

Ian von Lindern, P.E., Ph.D.*

TIFO Co-Founder

Ian von Lindern holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering from Yale University. Along with his wife, Dr. Margrit von Braun, Dr. von Lindern is co-founder of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering and co-founder of TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO). Dr. von Lindern has 38 years of US and international environmental engineering and science experience. He has directed over 40 major health and environmental investigations involving primary and secondary smelters and battery processors, landfills, and tailings at several major mining and smelting sites in the United States, as well as in Asia, Africa, Australia, and Latin America. Dr. von Lindern was the lead risk assessor for the State of Idaho on the Bunker Hill/Coeur d’Alene Basin Superfund Site for over thirty years. He has extensive experience applying exposure and biokinetic lead modeling in human health risk assessment, cleanup criteria development, and remedial design. Dr. von Lindern has served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  Science Advisory Board on five occasions, reviewing the scientific basis for domestic lead regulatory policy.

R. Denny Dobbin

Occupational Hygienist

R. Denny Dobbin has over 40 years occupational hygiene experience as an officer in the US Public Health Service and as an independent practitioner. Mr. Dobbin is President of TIFO's Board of Directors. His assignments with the Public Health Service included seventeen years with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health where he managed research programs and developed policy including a two-year assignment with the U.S. Congress in the Office of Technology Assessment. Mr. Dobbin worked on toxic chemical issues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and managed a Superfund grant program for model hazardous waste worker and emergency responder training for ten years at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Since 1997 he has worked independently on occupational, environmental, and public health policy issues for non-profit, labor, and other non-governmental organizations. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Idaho, and a M.Sc. in Occupational Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Lindsay Wichers Stanek, Ph.D.

Environmental Scientist

Lindsay Wichers Stanek is an expert in air pollution, specifically particulate matter (PM), ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and lead. Dr. Stanek serves on TIFO's Board of Directors. Her expertise in animal toxicology  was developed during her Ph.D. research at University of North Carolina on cardiovascular and pulmonary effects in rodents exposed to PM. Through her subsequent assessment work at the Office of Research and Development’s National Center for Environmental Assessment and research oversight role at the National Exposure Research Laboratory, she has developed cross-disciplinary knowledge that enables integration of scientific evidence. Dr. Stanek’s responsibilities have also entailed working across EPA’s ORD, Program Office partners, and Regional Office partners to design and execute research that is of the greatest impact to fulfill a mission of protecting public health and the environment.

Alta Science & Engineering, Inc.

Alta Science & Engineering, Inc. (Alta) believes that positive impacts can be made for communities and the environment by working together. Alta's business philosophy is simple - provide clients straightforward solutions to engineering and environmental challenges, no matter the size or complexity. Alta’s personnel have devoted more than 20 years to assisting government agencies with characterizing, evaluating, planning, designing, remediating, and restoring contaminated sites, particularly mining-impacted communities. Alta focuses on doing the right thing for employees, clients, communities, and the environment.

Shehu Muhammad Anka

Environmental Health Officer

Shehu Muhammad Anka  is a Nigerian national and employee of the Zamfara State Environmental Sanitation Agency. He has a Certificate in Science Laboratory and Technology from Federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda, a Higher National Diploma in Environmental Science from Kaduna Polytechnic, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Health from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi. Mr. Anka, a Registered and Licensed Environmental Health Officer, has trained local, state, federal, and international stakeholders in lead health risk assessment, mitigation, and communication. He worked as Assistant Project Manager on the Lead Poisoning Environmental Response in Northern Nigeria and currently coordinates the Institutional Controls Program for Zamfara State lead-impacted villages. Mr. Anka has presented at multiple conferences and workshops and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications. He has worked with international NGOs including TIFO, Occupational Knowledge International, Médecins Sans Frontières, World Health Organization, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on safer mining in ASGM, community engagement, environmental remediation, risk assessment, and project sustainability.

Mary Jean Brown, R.N., Sc.D.

Public Health Expert

Dr. Mary Jean Brown  is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and the former Chief of the Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An internationally recognized expert and leader in the field of childhood lead poisoning prevention, Dr. Brown has provided her expertise to health officials in the US, China, Kosovo, and Nigeria. She works regularly with other US public health agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development, and international organizations including the World Health Organization  and Doctors Without Borders. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, commentaries, and policy documents. Dr. Brown received a Doctor of Science degree from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000.  She is a registered nurse with a B.S. degree from Boston College in 1982.

Gregory Moller, Ph.D., F.N.A.I.

Professor

Gregory Moller has degrees in chemistry from Wichita State (B.S.) and University of California Davis (Ph.D.). For the past three decades, Dr. Moller has pursued teaching environmental toxicology and sustainability in many forums. He is a professor at the University of Idaho and faculty at Washington State University and has received multiple teaching excellence awards, including the National Excellence in College and University Teaching (2014), the Excellence in Teaching award (2007), Excellence in Outreach Award (2002), Outstanding Environmental Sciences Faculty Award (2001), and Outstanding Research Award (2010). Dr. Moller’s online digital education films have been recognized by the Yosemite International Film Festival. His research focuses on translational, trans-disciplinary sustainability solutions to water pollution and has resulted in seven patents for innovative, award winning water treatment technology.

Environmental Defender Law Center

The Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC) has worked since 2003 to protect the human rights of people in developing countries who are fighting against harm to their environment. EDLC identifies cases and enlists top lawyers to help communities stop unwanted resource development projects; bring claims against domestic and multinational corporations for past and threatened harms; and defend persecuted environmental defenders. EDLC also makes grants to fund litigation costs, and advises and provides scientific and other resources to environmental defenders and their lawyers.

Lauren Cooney, M.S., R.N. 

Lauren Cooney is a registered nurse with an M.S. in Public Health and Tropical Medicine. In addition to 10 years of clinical nursing experience in acute care settings in Australia and the UK, Ms. Cooney has 14 years of experience in international health settings in senior coordination and leadership positions. Ms. Cooney has worked in, coordinated, and advised on projects with Médecins sans Frontières, including working with TIFO on the 2010 lead poisoning outbreak in Nigeria, where she was the Project Emergency Manager.

Lubia Cajas de Gliniewicz, Ph.D. 

Lubia Cajas de Gliniewicz, a Guatemalan national, earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Science at the University of Idaho (UI) and served as the Environmental Science Program Coordinator. Her areas of interest are sustainability, environmental and social entrepreneurship, and international development. She is a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Fulbright Program, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and the Ford Foundation. Since 2009 she has coordinated programs for international students at UI. Dr. Cajas de Gliniewicz worked at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala and at the National Council for Protected Areas as the department head of the Hydrobiological section. Additionally, she was engaged in education and development programs for rural areas and indigenous communities in her home country.

Sa Liu, PhD, MPH, CIH

Assistant Professor

Sa Liu is an Assistant Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at School of Health Sciences, Purdue University. She is an exposure scientist and certified industrial hygienist. Her research focuses on assessing chemical exposure by multiple pathways in both occupational and environmental settings. She has led several occupational and environmental health studies and participated in major occupational epidemiologic studies. Dr. Liu's current projects focus on, 1) assessing workers' exposure to manganese in welding fumes; and 2) assessing community's exposure to volatile organic compounds in groundwater and related health effects through taking a community based participatory research approach. These projects are funded by NIEHS and private foundations.  

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