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Plastics vs Public Health Moving from Personal Responsibility to Corporate Accountability

Plastics vs Public Health Moving from Personal Responsibility to Corporate Accountability

Plastic is everywhere. The air we breathe, the foods we eat, the homes we live in, and the bodies we occupy are filled with micro- and nanoplastics. As plastic continues breaking down into tinier pieces, it infiltrates every element of our world. How is this toxin affecting our bodies and the bodies of our children?

Participants

Matt Simon | An Island Press author
Matt Simon

Matt Simon has been a science journalist at Wired magazine for nine years. He covers a range of beats, including biology, robotics, climate change, and of course, microplastic pollution. He is the creator of Wired’s Absurd Creature of the Week column, which ran from September 2013 to March 2016. This later turned into the weekly web video series Absurd Creatures, which was then adapted into the hit Netflix series Absurd Planet, which premiered in April 2020. Matt is the author of two previous books.

Kristina Marusic | An Island Press author
Kristina Marusic

Kristina Marusic is an award-winning journalist who covers environmental health and justice for Environmental Health News. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of San Francisco, and her personal essays and reporting on topics ranging from the environment, LGBTQ+ equality, and politics to feminism, food, and travel have been published by outlets including CNN, Slate, Vice, Women's Health, the Washington Post, MTV News, The Advocate, and Bustle, among others.

Inclusive Transportation -- Rethinking Transportation Planning and Engineering

Inclusive Transportation -- Rethinking Transportation Planning and Engineering

In June 2023, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, declared “in each of America’s most influential cities and states, policymakers developed a strategic plan to make transportation accessible for all and they executed it. We must expand transportation options across our state to ensure all Marylanders can get from where they live to where opportunity lies no matter their background, zip code, or income.”

Participants

Lynn Peterson | An Island Press author
Lynn Peterson

Lynn Peterson is currently the Oregon Metro Council President, leading the nation’s only elected regional government, which oversees regional affordable housing, parks, tourism and cultural venues, garbage and recycling, and, of course transportation and land use planning. Prior to her current elected role, Lynn was the first elected Chair of Clackamas County Commission, and on the Lake Oswego City Council.

Veronica O. Davis | An Island Press author
Veronica Davis

Veronica O. Davis is Director of Transportation & Drainage Operations for Houston, Texas, leading the team responsible for maintaining and improving the infrastructure that spans Houston’s 671 square miles. Veronica has nearly 20 years of experience in engineering and transportation planning. She is an Entrepreneur and Civil Engineer, co-founding Nspiregreen, LLC., which manages Community, Multimodal Transportation, and Environmental planning and consulting. While at Nspiregreen, she led the Vision Zero Action Plans for Washington, DC and the City of Alexandria.

The Blue Revolution

The Blue Revolution

The Blue Revolution: Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age by Nicholas Sullivan

Participants

Nicholas Sullivan | An Island Press Author
Nicholas Sullivan

Nicholas P. Sullivan is a writer and editor focusing on the impact of business and technology on international development. The Blue Revolution is his fourth book. It follows Money, Real Quick: Kenya’s Disruptive Mobile Money Innovation; You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones Are Connecting the World’s Poor to the Global Economy; and Computer Power for Your Small Business.

Inclusive Transportation: Celebrating the Diverse Tapestry of America’s Biking Culture

Inclusive Transportation: Celebrating the Diverse Tapestry of America’s Biking Culture

The United States is a diverse nation: however, the people responsible for creating our country’s transportation infrastructure have nearly always been White men. How can we confront this history of inequitable transportation and ensure that everyone in America is able to access transit systems and bike lanes? 

Participants

Veronica O. Davis | An Island Press author
Veronica Davis

Veronica O. Davis is Director of Transportation & Drainage Operations for Houston, Texas, leading the team responsible for maintaining and improving the infrastructure that spans Houston’s 671 square miles. Veronica has nearly 20 years of experience in engineering and transportation planning. She is an Entrepreneur and Civil Engineer, co-founding Nspiregreen, LLC., which manages Community, Multimodal Transportation, and Environmental planning and consulting. While at Nspiregreen, she led the Vision Zero Action Plans for Washington, DC and the City of Alexandria.

Discussion of "A New War on Cancer" by Kristina Marusic

Discussion of "A New War on Cancer" by Kristina Marusic

Recording of PSR Pennsylvania's May 4th webinar "Discussion about a New Book - A New War on Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention" by Journalist & Author Kristina Marusic, moderated by Julie Becker, M.A., Ph.D., M.P.H.

Participants

Kristina Marusic | An Island Press author
Kristina Marusic

Kristina Marusic is an award-winning journalist who covers environmental health and justice for Environmental Health News. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of San Francisco, and her personal essays and reporting on topics ranging from the environment, LGBTQ+ equality, and politics to feminism, food, and travel have been published by outlets including CNN, Slate, Vice, Women's Health, the Washington Post, MTV News, The Advocate, and Bustle, among others.

The Key to Building Great Communities: Listening for Understanding

The Key to Building Great Communities: Listening for Understanding

When Lynn Peterson began working as a transportation engineer, she was taught to evaluate roadway projects based only on metrics related to driver safety, allowable speed for the highest number of cars, project schedule, and budget. Involving the community and collaborating with peers were never part of the discussion.

Participants

Lynn Peterson | An Island Press author
Lynn Peterson

Lynn Peterson is currently the Oregon Metro Council President, leading the nation’s only elected regional government, which oversees regional affordable housing, parks, tourism and cultural venues, garbage and recycling, and, of course transportation and land use planning. Prior to her current elected role, Lynn was the first elected Chair of Clackamas County Commission, and on the Lake Oswego City Council.

Elizabeth Doerr | An Island Press author
Elizabeth Doerr

Elizabeth Doerr is a writer and expert in community engagement and experiential education. Her journalism has appeared in publications such as CityLab, Portland Monthly, and Baltimore City Paper.

Making Healthy Places

Making Healthy Places

Can we design and build places that are beneficial to people’s physical, mental, and emotional health, while also advancing equity and protecting the health of the planet? Yes!

Participants

Nisha D. Botchwey | An Island Press author | Photo credit: Bruce Silcox
Nisha D. Botchwey

Nisha D. Botchwey, PhD, MCRP, MPH is the Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and the Russell M. and Elizabeth M. Bennett Chair in Excellence in Public Affairs. She previously served as Associate Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of City and Regional Planning, adjunct professor of Public Health in Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and Associate Dean of Academic Programs at Georgia Tech Professional Education. She coauthored Health Impact Assessment in the United States and multiple peer reviewed publications.

Andrew L. Dannenberg | An Island Press author
Andrew L. Dannenberg

Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH, is an affiliate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he teaches courses on healthy community design and on health impact assessment. For the past decade his research and teaching have focused on examining the health aspects of planning and designing our built environment including land use and transportation.

Howard Frumkin | An Island Press author
Howard Frumkin

Howard Frumkin, MD, DrPH is Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land, and professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he was Dean from 2010-2016.  He was previously head of Our Planet, Our Health at the Wellcome Trust, director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR), and Special Assistant to the CDC Director for Climate Change and Health, and Professor and Chair of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory Univ

Understanding Disaster Finance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future

Understanding Disaster Finance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future

The frequency and intensity of natural disasters—such as hurricanes, floods, and storms—are on the rise, threatening our way of life and our livelihoods. Insurance, an often confusing and unpopular tool, is critical to recovery from these crises. Yet, as it becomes ever more essential, insurance markets are under stress, many are uninsured, and insurance often seems divorced from efforts to improve the resilience and sustainability of our communities. How can we improve insurance to provide consistent and sufficient help following all disasters?

Participants

Carolyn Kousky | Island Press Author
Carolyn Kousky

Carolyn Kousky is Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund. Prior to joining EDF, she was the Executive Director at the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where she founded and directed the Policy Incubator. Dr. Kousky’s research examines multiple aspects of disaster insurance markets, disaster finance, climate risk management, and policy approaches for increasing resilience.

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