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Risk Experts Convene on Environment, Engineering and Security

Newswise - Nearly 1,000 international scientists and risk analysis practitioners from a wide range of disciplines will gather in Charleston, South Carolina, in early December to present new studies and scientific approaches to support decision making on chemical, food safety, public health, communications, engineering, bioterrorism, climate change and other risks facing human health, infrastructure and the environment.

Addressing risks ranging from climate change to environmental toxicants to food safety, the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) "is the premier annual event for risk analysis," said SRA President-Elect Ann Bostrom of the University of Washington. "Prominent experts from around the world - including scientists and engineers from academia, government, the private sector and the nonprofit world - are gathering to discuss the key risk issues of today and the future."

Keynote speakers will include Margaret Davidson, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, who will address "Extremes: in weather and risk" on the morning of December 5th, and Admiral Thad Allen, former National Incident Commander of the BP oil spill and Senior Analyst at Rand, who will speak in the morning of December 6 on "Reducing risks of oil spills from the Exxon Valdez to Deepwater Horizon." Admiral Allen will address national attempts to reduce the risks of future events following the Exxon Valdez spill and how these actually played out in the Deepwater Horizon Spill. Professor M. Granger Morgan, Department Chair of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University will host a tribute to the recently deceased nationally prominent economist and risk analyst Lester Lave at the Wednesday December 7th plenary.

The 2011 SRA annual meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites North Charleston Hotel and Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina. As evidenced by members spanning many disciplines including economics, environmental science, engineering, policy, communication, social psychology and the law, "SRA members value the perspectives offered by different scientific and engineering disciplines and share a commitment to high quality risk analysis methodology, practice and decision support," said current SRA President Rachel Davidson of the University of Delaware. Representing academia, government, industry, non-governmental organizations, private firms and themselves, SRA members recognize the importance of collaboration across disciplines and sectors.

With the overall theme of "Risk Analysis on the Coast," nearly 100 plenary and technical sessions will be featured on diverse subjects including exposure to toxicants, oil spill prevention, climate change, regulatory impact analysis, homeland security, terrorism assessments, nanotechnology, emergency response, international toxics laws, natural disasters and emerging contaminants. For example, Monday November 6 sessions include a focus on transportation disruptions, synthetic biology, the microbial safety of fresh produce from farm-to-table, and a President's Roundtable on the relationship between risk analysis and sustainability. Tuesday November 7 conference offerings include sessions on climate change perceptions, risk communication about the Fukushima nuclear plant, and the exposures, hazards and risks of nanotechnology.

The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) is a nonprofit multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Risk analysis is broadly defined to include risk assessment, risk characterization, risk communication, risk management and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations and to society at a local, regional, national or global level. See www.sra.org.

Contact Information
For information on the specific sessions and topics that will be addressed at this year's conference see http://birenheide.com/sra/2011AM/program/sessionlist.php3. To secure press credentials for the conference at the Embassy Suites North Charleston Hotel and Charleston Area Convention Center, South Carolina, please contact the SRA Secretariat at: 703.790.1745, or email: sra@burkinc.com. To arrange an interview with Society for Risk Analysis representatives, contact Steve Gibb at: 202.422.5425, or skgibb@aol.com.

Source: NewsWise