National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Appendix A: Study Request Letters
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

Appendix B

Committee Biographical Sketches

Paul A. Locke (Chair), an environmental health scientist and attorney, is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Toxicology. He holds an M.P.H. from Yale University School of Medicine, a Dr.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Dr. Locke’s research and practice focus on how decision makers use environmental health science and toxicology in regulation and policy making and how environmental health sciences influence the policy-making process. His areas of study include designing and evaluating radiation protection initiatives and radiation policies, especially in the areas of low-dose radiation science, radon risk reduction, safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste, and use of computed tomography as a diagnostic screening tool. Dr. Locke directs the School’s Doctor of Public Health program in Environmental Health Sciences. He was a member of the National Research Council Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board from 2003 to 2009, and has served on five National Research Council committees. He is also a member of the editorial boards of Risk Analysis: An International Journal and the International Journal of Low Radiation and is on the Board of Directors of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. He is admitted to practice law in the states of New York and New Jersey, the District of Columbia, the Southern District Court of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Corby Anderson is the Harrison Western Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Anderson is an expert in the fields of mineral processing, chemical metallurgy, and waste minimization

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

and recycling, has an extensive background in industrial-oriented research, and has more than 30 years of academic and applied experience in mining, chemical, and materials engineering. In 2008, he received the Milton Wadsworth Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration for his contributions to advance the field of chemical metallurgy. Dr. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in mining engineering–metallurgy from the University of Idaho, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a Master’s degree in metallurgical engineering.

Lawrence W. Barnthouse is the president and principal scientist of LWB Environmental Services, Inc. His consulting activities include 316(b) demonstrations for nuclear and nonnuclear power plants, Superfund ecological risk assessments, natural resource damage assessments, risk-based environmental restoration planning, and a variety of other projects involving close interactions with regulatory and resource management agencies. Dr. Barnthouse has authored or coauthored more than 90 publications relating to ecological risk assessment. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Hazard/Risk Assessment Editor of the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and founding editorial board member of the new journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. He has served on the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology and on several National Research Council committees, and was a member of the peer review panel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment. Dr. Barnthouse holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Chicago.

Paul D. Blanc is Professor in Residence and Endowed Chair of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Blanc also has secondary appointments to the Department of Medical Anthropology, Social Medicine, and History of Medicine and the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at UCSF. His current research interests include the epidemiology of occupational lung disease, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease outcomes, and occupational toxicology. Dr. Blanc previously served on the Institute of Medicine Committee to Review the NIOSH Respiratory Disease Research Programand the Committee on Poison Prevention and Control. He has an M.S.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health and his M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Blanc serves as the University of California designee and California State Senate appointee to the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants for the Air Resources Board of the State of California. He is the author of How Everyday Products Make People Sick (University of California Press).

Scott C. Brooks is senior scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Brooks’ research focuses on the biogeochemistry

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

of advecting fluids in the subsurface and the geochemical factors influencing the fate and transport of solutes. He has conducted numerous experiments at the laboratory and field scales, studying the fate and transformation of radionuclides in the environment. He has Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.

Patricia Buffler (IOM) is professor of epidemiology and holds the Kenneth and Marjorie Kaiser Chair in Cancer Epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Buffler’s research interests include the environmental causes of cancer, especially gene–environment interaction and childhood cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, brain cancer, and breast cancer; epi-demiological research methods; and the uses of epidemiological data in health policy. She has served on numerous committees of the National Research Council, including the Committee on Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation, and Committee on Emerging Issues and Data on Environ mental Contaminants. Dr. Buffler was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1994. She received a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michel Cuney is director of the research team, Genesis and Management of Mineral Resources for the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Henri Poincaré University in Nancy, France. He has worked mainly on the geochemistry of uranium in various geological environments since 1972. He has visited and/or worked on most major uranium deposits of the world, and has published about 180 scientific papers in this disciplinary area. Dr. Cuney is one of the world’s experts on the genesis of uranium deposits and uranium geology, and he will provide invaluable insights concerning mining techniques that would be used to extract uranium from deposits in Virginia as well as the possible effects on the local environment. Dr. Cuney received his Docteur es Sciences (Ph.D.) degree from Henri Poincaré University.

Peter L. DeFur is president of Environmental Stewardship Concepts, LLC (ESC), an independent private consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia. He is also an affiliate associate professor at the Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, where he conducts research on environmental health and ecological risk assessment. Dr. DeFur has over 30 years’ experience providing technical services regarding the cleanup of contaminated sites to community organizations across the country. Dr. DeFur received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Calgary.

Mary English is a senior fellow at the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is a social scientist who is familiar with the environmental effects of mining and related regulatory issues.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

Her work has focused on energy and environmental policy and has included research on mechanisms for involving stakeholders in public policy decisions, how “the community” should be defined within the context of community-based environmental efforts, information gathering and analytical tools to improve environmental decision making, and guidance on conducting socioeconomic impact assessments. She previously served on the National Research Council Board on Radioactive Waste Management as well as the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. Dr. English has an M.S. from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Keith N. Eshleman is a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science based at the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland. Dr. Eshleman’s professional expertise is in the field of watershed hydrology, having completed his Ph.D. in water resources at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1985. Dr. Eshleman also holds a B.A. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia (1978) and an S.M. in Civil Engineering from MIT (1982). Dr. Eshleman has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and dozens of technical reports in his career and is coauthor of an undergraduate textbook entitled Elements of Physical Hydrology (with former colleagues from the University of Virginia, where Dr. Eshleman served on the faculty from 1988 through 1995). Dr. Eshleman’s research interests are in the areas of watershed and wetlands hydrology, groundwater–surface water interactions, biogeochemical processes in upland and wetland ecosystems, hydrochemical modeling, and ecosystem responses to disturbance and land-use change. Recent research projects have focused on the hydrological impacts of acid deposition, forest disturbances, and surface mining activities in the Appalachian Mountain region.

R. William Field is a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health. He is also a professor of toxicology and health informatics within the Graduate College at the University of Iowa. In addition, he serves as the director of the Occupational Epidemiology Training Program at the National Institute for Occupational Safety an Health Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety, and director of the Pulmonary Outcomes Cluster, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center. Dr. Field has been active in numerous national and international collaborative radiation-related epidemiolgical projects and has served on the editorial boards of several national and international scientific journals. He is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, Radiation Advisory Committee, and was appointed by President Obama in 2009 to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. Dr. Field

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

received his Ph.D. in preventive medicine from the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.

Jill Lipoti is director of the Division of Water Monitoring and Standards at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to assuming this position, she was director of the Division of Environmental Safety and Health with responsibility for directing the state’s radiation protection programs. Dr. Lipoti also serves as adjunct assistant professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, specializing in radiation exposure and preparedness for chemical and radiological emergencies. She has provided advice to the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding radiation safety and security, and has chaired the Radiation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board. She has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental science from Rutgers University.

Henry A. Schnell holds the position of technical authority (senior expert) in the Expertise & Technical Department, Mining Business Unit, with AREVA NC Inc. In his role as technical authority for uranium, he is responsible for review and support of existing operations and new projects worldwide, and for final technical authorization of plant design and modifications. Mr. Schnell has 41 years of experience in management, plant operations, plant design, engineering, and research and development in mining and ore treatment, and 21 years of this has been specializing in uranium metallurgy, operations, and mining projects. He has a B.S. (Honours) from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and other extensive training in metallurgy and project management.

Jeffrey J. Wong is deputy director of the science, Pollution Prevention and Technology Program for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) at the California Environmental Protection Agency and serves as DTSC’s chief scientist. This program’s activities include environmental measurements, biological and exposure monitoring, toxicology and risk assessment, and green chemistry and pollution prevention. Before his current appointment, Dr. Wong served as chief of DTSC’s Human and Ecological Risk Division. He served by presidential appointment on the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board from 1996 until 2002. Dr. Wong has served on several National Academies committees, including the Committee on Risk-Based Approaches for Disposition of Transuranic and High-Level Radioactive Waste, the Committee on Environmental Remediation at Naval Facilities, the Committee on Remedial Action Priorities for Hazardous Waste Sites, and the Panel for Review of the DOE Environmental Restoration Priority System. Dr. Wong received his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of California, Davis.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF

David A. Feary is a senior program officer with the National Research Council’s Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. He earned his Ph.D. at the Australian National University, before spending 15 years as a research scientist with the marine program at Geoscience Australia. During that time, he participated in numerous research cruises—many as chief or co-chief scientist—and was co-chief scientist for Ocean Drilling Program Leg 182. His research activities have focused on the role of climate as a primary control on carbonate reef formation, and improved understanding of cool-water carbonate depositional processes. He also holds a joint appointment as research professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

Stephanie Johnson is a senior program officer with the Water Science and Technology Board. Since joining the National Research Council in 2002, she has served as study director for 12 studies, including congressionally mandated reviews of Everglades restoration progress. She has also worked on National Research Council studies on desalination, water reuse, contaminant source remediation, the disposal of coal combustion wastes, and water security. Dr. Johnson received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in chemistry and geology and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.

Courtney R. Gibbs is a program associate with the National Research Council Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. She received her degree in graphic design from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute in 2000 and began working for the National Academies in 2004. Prior to her work with the board, Ms. Gibbs supported the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board and the former Board on Radiation Effects Research.

Nicholas D. Rogers is a financial and research associate with the National Research Council Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. He received a B.A. in history, with a focus on the history of science and early American history, from Western Connecticut State University in 2004. He began working for the National Academies in 2006 and has primarily supported the board on a broad array of Earth resources, mapping, and geographical sciences issues.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 318
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 319
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 320
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 321
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 322
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Committee Biographical Sketches." National Research Council. 2012. Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13266.
×
Page 323
Next: Appendix C: World Nuclear Association Basic Principles »
Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $64.00 Buy Ebook | $49.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been prohibited since 1982 by a state moratorium, although approval for restricted uranium exploration in the state was granted in 2007. Uranium Mining in Virginia examines the scientific, technical, environmental, human health and safety, and regulatory aspects of uranium mining, milling, and processing as they relate to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of assisting the Commonwealth to determine whether uranium mining, milling, and processing can be undertaken in a manner that safeguards the environment, natural and historic resources, agricultural lands, and the health and well-being of its citizens. According to this report, if Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element. The authoring committee was not asked to recommend whether uranium mining should be permitted, or to consider the potential benefits to the state were uranium mining to be pursued. It also was not asked to compare the relative risks of uranium mining to the mining of other fuels such as coal. This book will be of interest to decision makers at the state and local level, the energy industry, and concerned citizens.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!