Research Day on Global Health and Infectious Disease
Sustainable Development Panel |
| Jeffrey Griffiths, William A. Masters, Elena Naumova, Peter Walker |
| Moderated by: Peter Uvin |
Sustainable Cities Panel |
| Doug Brugge, Justin B. Hollander, Colin Marks Orians, Kent E. Portney |
| Moderated by: Sheldon Krimsky |
Keynote Presentation and Luncheon |
| Barbra Batshalom, Executive Director, Sustainable Performance Institute |
Sustainable Policy Panel |
| Timothy Griffin, Gilbert E. Metcalf, George Saperstein, Richard M. Vogel |
| Moderated by: Christopher Swan |
Sustainable Technology Panel |
| Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Albert Robbat, Jr., Aleksandar Stanković |
| Moderated by: Linda Abriola |
Sustainable Development |
| The Longterm Returns from Water and Sanitation Improvements Jeffrey Griffiths |
| Africa’s Turnaround: Towards Sustainable Growth in African Agriculture William A. Masters |
| The Use of Novel Information Technologies for Global Disease Surveillance Elena Naumova |
| Sustainable Development in Protracted Crises Peter Walker |
| Moderated by Peter Uvin |
Sustainable Cities |
| Sustainability Policies and Programs in U.S. Cities: What City Governments are Doing and Why Kent E. Portney |
| Cardiovascular Health and Near Highway Pollution: The CAFEH Study Doug Brugge |
| Maximizing the Benefits of Green Roofs in Urban Landscapes Colin Mark Orians |
| Can a Shrinking City be “Sustainable”? Justin B. Hollander |
| Moderated by Sheldon Krimsky |
Sustainable Policy |
| Linking Farm and Food Policy to Sustainability Timothy Griffin |
| The Challenge of Assuring Food Safety for Locally Produced Livestock Products: The Azuluna Brands Example George Saperstein |
| Climate Change Policy: The Role of Economics Gilbert E. Metcalf |
| Approaches to Sustainability Evaluation Richard M. Vogel |
| Moderated by Christopher Swan |
Sustainable Technology |
| Deployment of Cleaner Energy Technologies Kelly Sims Gallagher |
| Sustainable Environmental and Economic Development Based on Analytical Technologies Albert Robbat, Jr. |
| Nanocatalysis for Sustainable Energy Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos |
| Energy Networks as Enablers of Sustainable Energy Systems Aleksandar Stanković |
| Moderated by Linda Abriola |
| Barbra Batshalom, LEED AP | ||
 | Founder and Executive Director of The Green Roundtable and Sustainable Performance Institute. GRT is an independent “not-just-for-profit” organization whose mission is to transform the paradigm of the built environment so that natural systems and human systems thrive in synergy. Under her direction, GRT organizes and facilitates a forum for proactive dialogue among diverse professions and provides resources and expertise to the development, design and construction community. GRT is also active with legislative and policy initiatives so that eventually, sustainable strategies become “business as usual”. Barbra is an educator, design and policy consultant and works with a wide range of governmental, institutional and private sector clients. | |
| Doug Brugge, PhD, MS | ||
 | Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine. His research has largely employed the model of community-collaborative research and methodologically has involved focus groups, oral histories, surveys, environmental sampling, and health outcome assessment. His research includes studies of asthma, the impact of culture and language on health communication, the health effects of traffic-related air pollution and environmental tobacco smoke, motor-vehicle-related injuries, and the impact of uranium mining and processing on Native Americans. He is director of the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health study which is a community-based participatory research project funded by NIH, EPA, and HUD. | |
| Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, PhD | ||
 | Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability, Tufts University School of Engineering. She directs the Nano Catalysis and Energy Laboratory in the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering which uses heterogeneous catalysis principles to solve problems in the production of clean and efficient energy. Specifically, she investigates properties of nanoscale metals and oxides as catalysts and sorbents for fuel processing and the production of hydrogen for fuel cell applications. Since 2002, Prof. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos has served as Editor ofApplied Catalysis B: Environmental. | |
| Timothy Griffin, PhD | ||
 | Associate Professor and Director, Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. His primary research interest is the intersection of agriculture and the environment and the development and implementation of sustainable production systems. Current research includes: development and implementation of equitable food systems at the local to regional scales, environmental impacts of agriculture (nutrient flows, carbon retention and loss, and climate change), and impacts of policy on adoption of agricultural practices and systems. | |
| Jeffrey Griffiths, AB, MD, MPH&TM | ||
 | Associate Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine; Adjunct Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Engineering; Adjunct Associate Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. His research focuses on the human, animal, and environmental epidemiology of the emerging pathogen Cryptosporidium; development of an ultrastable, unrefrigerated measles vaccine for use where there is no refrigeration; and the influence of malnutrition and environmental factors on common infectious diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia. | |
| Justin B. Hollander, PhD | ||
 | Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. He has worked in land use and environmental planning at the local, regional, and federal levels, most recently for the Public Buildings Service of the U.S. General Services Administration. His research has focused on the role of planning and public policy in managing land use and environmental changes associated with shrinking cities. His research has been supported through grants from the Urban Land Institute, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Government of Canada, and the Appraisers Research Foundation. | |
| William A. Masters, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Food Policy and Applied Nutrition Program, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Will Masters teaches and conducts research on food policy and agricultural development, especially in Africa. He is an editor of Agricultural Economics, the journal of the International Association of Agricultural Economics, and co-author of the recent textbook Economics of Agricultural Development (Routledge, 2nd ed. 2010). His research focuses on markets, trade and productivity as determinants of household income and child nutrition outcomes. Recent articles include “Effects and determinants of mild underweight among preschool children across countries and over time” (Economics and Human Biology, 2010), and the chapter on economic development in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Food Consumption and Policy. | |
| Gilbert E. Metcalf, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Department of Economics, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. His current research focuses on policy evaluation and design in the area of energy and climate change. He has analyzed cap and trade programs to address climate change and written extensively on carbon taxation and green tax reforms in which revenues from taxes on pollution are used to lower taxes on labor supply and capital investment. In June, Metcalf will take a position in the U.S. Department of the Treasury as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy leading the office responsible for developing, coordinating, and executing the Treasury Department’s role in the domestic and international environment and energy agenda of the United States. He will be on leave from Tufts while in government service. | |
| Elena Naumova, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering; Director, Tufts Initiative for Forecasting and Modeling of Infectious Diseases (InForMID); Faculty Director, Health and the Environment, Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE); Adjunct Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; Adjunct Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; Adjunct Professor, Christian Medical College, India. Her area of expertise is in methodology development for modeling of transient processes with application in environmental epidemiology, infectious diseases, and public health. She is using remote sensing data and satellite imagery for a better understanding of the nature and etiology of diseases on local and global scales. | |
| Colin Mark Orians, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Department of Biology, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences; Director, Environmental Studies Program, Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE). His research centers on ecology and plant/herbivore/environment interactions. He sees a broad intersection between environmental issues and other topics – including conservation, health, socio-economic disparities, engineering, communications, and international relations. His research played a big part in the design of the Tisch Library Green Roof Collaborative, which illustrates the social, economic, and ecological benefits of having green spaces incorporated into urban environments. | |
| Kent E. Portney, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Department of Political Science, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. His research interests include methodology, judicial politics, political behavior, public administration, survey research, and environmental politics. He is fascinated by the role of government and politics in determining the kinds of outcomes that we get in public policy. Some of his research looks at the role of local non-profit organizations and how they indirectly provide the political support for protecting our environment in general and the climate in particular. He has been directly involved with green cities initiatives on a national level and has published books on how economic development impacts the environment. | |
| Albert Robbat, Jr., PhD | ||
 | Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. His primary expertise is in analytical instruments, sampling tools, and data analysis software, including mass spectral deconvolution algorithms, 1- and 2-dimensional gas and liquid chromatography systems, ultrafast resistively heated GC columns, field mass spectrometers, aimed at improving human and environmental health. An area of focus is chemical hazards that pose immediate and long-term threats to the nation’s security. The research is focused on developing a real-time, remote sensor and rapid, quantitative GC/MS measurements of environmental pollutants, pesticides in food, as well as explosives and chemical warfare agents. | |
| George Saperstein, DVM | ||
 | Amelia Peabody Professor of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Environmental and Population Health, International Veterinary Medicine, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. His current research focuses on sustainable agriculture, preservation of germplasm from endangered breeds of livestock, antibiotic susceptibility diagnostics, congenital and hereditary diseases of large animals, and staphylococcal mastitis in cows and goats. He is also encouraging regional livestock producers to participate in a local premium livestock branded product program aimed at bringing local farmers added revenue streams by changing the way they raise livestock and market their products. | |
| Kelly Sims Gallagher, AB, MALD, PhD | ||
 | Associate Professor, Energy and Environmental Policy Program, The Fletcher School at Tufts University; Director – Energy, Climate, and Innovation Program, The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Her research focuses on energy and climate policy in both the United States and China. She is particularly interested in the role of policy in spurring the development and deployment of cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, domestically and internationally. She is interested in the processes of technological innovation (especially the role of public policy) with a particular emphasis on the deployment of advanced energy technologies, including the transfer of technologies from one country to another. | |
| Aleksandar Stanković, PhD | ||
 | Alvin H. Howell Professor in Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering. His research is on electric energy processing and applications for power systems. He is interested in finding a way to improve the integration of new sources and loads by using analytical and experimental work involving modeling, control, and estimation. His work uses electronics to efficiently condition energy sources for practical uses and strives to develop new ways to utilize resources for energy-conscious consumers. | |
| Richard M. Vogel, PhD | ||
 | Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering; Director, Water: Systems, Science and Society (WSSS) at Tufts University. His primary expertise is in the areas of hydrology and water resource engineering with emphasis on hydrologic, hydraulic, and statistical methods for analyzing water resource systems. His current research program focuses upon the areas of watershed modeling and management, water quality, regional hydrology, environmental statistics, and the new field of hydromorphology. Hydromorphology deals with improving our understanding of how hydrologic systems have evolved due to influences including climate change, water infrastructure, and urbanization. | |
| Peter Walker, PhD | ||
 | Director, Feinstein International Center at Tufts University; Rosenberg Professor of Nutrition and Human Security, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. He has worked for a number of British-based NGOs and environmental organizations in several African countries, as well as having been a university lecturer and director of a food wholesaling company. He is interested in humanitarian crises with a special focus on organizations’ adaptation to future global stress and recovery from crisis, as well as environmental concerns such as climate change and soil drainage. His work is published widely on subjects such as famine early warning systems to the role of military forces in disaster relief. | |