Environmental & Public Health

A new technology in which insects are used to genetically modify crops could be converted into a dangerous, and possibly illegal, bioweapon, alleges a Science Policy Forum report released today. Naturally, the organization leading the research says it’s doing nothing of the sort.

Fellow Karen Merritt was just awarded a Rebel Blend Fund Grant for a public health/street art project for Portland, ME for next year.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing over $25 million in 26 projects to advance the cognitive and physical capabilities of workers in the context of human-technology interactions. These new awards will address critical social, technical, educational and economic needs in the workplace. The awards were issued under the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF), one of 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments announced by NSF in 2016.

Fellow Asa Bradman published recently on whether buffer zones around schools in agricultural areas will be adequate to protect children from the potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure?

Highlights

Lauren Richter has published an article in Social Studies of Science, "Non-stick science: Sixty years of research and (in)action on fluorinated compounds" about how the risks of PFASs have been both structurally hidden and unexamined by existing regulatory and industry practice. Abstract

To assess the presence of organochlorine pollutants (OCP) in Alaskan sub-Arctic latitudes, Fellow Kimberley Miner analyzed ice core and meltwater samples from Jarvis Glacier, a polythermal glacier in Interior Alaska. Jarvis Glacier is...

Really? A climate refugee? Amazing how that became a reality for my family last October after the passing of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The destruction it caused forced us to suddenly uproot our lives. Compared to others, we were very fortunate. Neither we nor anyone in our extended family lost their home, or had to survive more than three months without electricity.

Is it possible to identify and stop a climate change disaster before it happens? Kimberley Rain Miner, a National Science Foundation Fellow and Department of Defense SMART Scholar, believes it might be with the proper predictions and preparations in a broad range of scenarios.