ately following the Quecreek Mine inundation incident and rescue. Dr. Ramani is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

David Beerbower is vice president of safety at Peabody Energy Corporation, responsible for corporate-wide safety policies and programs and for compliance with federal mine safety and health laws and regulations. He has worked as a mining engineer and in various operations positions in the coal mining industry. Mr. Beerbower has served as chair of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association Health and Safety Committee, vice chair of the National Mining Association Health and Safety committee, and chair of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) Coal and Energy Division, and he is currently a board member of SME. Mr. Beerbower received a B.S. in mining engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. in manufacturing management from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jefferey L. Burgess is director of the Division of Community, Environment and Policy at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. He also serves as adjunct associate professor in the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Burgess’s research interests include respiratory toxicology in firefighters and smoke inhalation victims, reduction of mining-related injuries and exposures, environmental arsenic exposure, and hazardous materials exposures, including methamphetamine laboratories. Dr. Burgess is the principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center-funded International Program for Mining Health and Safety as well as for research projects evaluating smoke exposure and arsenic exposure. Dr. Burgess received his M.D. and M.P.H. from the University of Washington.

James W. Dearing is senior scientist at the Colorado Clinical Research Unit of Kaiser Permanente. Until 2006, he was professor and director of graduate studies for the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. Dr. Dearing also serves as a research scientist with the Michigan Public Health Institute. His primary area of expertise is empirical testing and application of diffusion of innovation theory to problems of moving evidence-based programs and policies into practice. He has led research projects about community-based health system reform, mass media agenda setting, community health promotion planning, interorganizational networks, and organizational change. Dr. Dearing is currently coordinating a national team of diffusion researchers to design and study the purposive acceleration of effective interventions in health promotion and education reform. He holds a Ph.D. in communication theory and research from the University of Southern