April 26, 2004

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Office announced today the appointment of Mr. Keith G. Harrison, Executive Director of the Michigan Environmental Science Board (MESB) and Special Project Coordinator for the Department of Environmental Quality, as one of seven members to the new SAB subcommittee of the Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (Council).

The new subcommittee will assist the Council in providing advice to the USEPA regarding assessments of ecological effects related to the impacts of implementing the Clean Air Act (CAA). Section 812 of this act calls for the Council to: (1) review data to be used for any analysis required under section 312 of the CAA; (2) review the methodology used to analyze such data and make recommendations on the use of such methodology; and (3) prior to the issuance of a report to Congress required under section 312 of the CAA, review the findings of the report and making recommendations concerning the validity and utility of such findings. The USEPA's Office of Air and Radiation has expressed particular request for the assistance in characterizing ecological effects related to control of air pollutants.

Mr. Harrison, a veteran of state government for 24 years and executive director of the MESB for the last 12 years, obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1972 in fisheries and wildlife biology from Michigan State University and a Master of Arts degree in 1974 in biology (ecology) from Western Michigan University. He has been licensed since 1978 as a Registered Sanitarian, and certified since 1981 as an Ecologist by the Ecological Society of America.

Mr. Harrison's professional research and work have resulted in over 90 governmental and professional scientific publications addressing a wide variety of environmental, environmental health, natural history, and natural resources management topics. His areas of expertise include terrestrial ecology, environmental science, environmental health science, and environmental indicators. He currently serves as Michigan’s science representative to the USEPA Region 5 Regional Science Council’s State Tribe Science Network.

Other members of the new Subcommittee include: Dr. Charles T. Driscoll, Jr., Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University (Subcommittee Chair); Dr. Elizabeth Boyer, Assistant Professor, Forest and Natural Resource Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York; Dr. Mark Castro, Associate Professor, Appalachian Laboratory, Center for Environmental Science, University System of Maryland; Dr. Christine Goodale, Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University; Dr. Scott Ollinger, Assistant Professor, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire;, and Dr. Ralph Stahl, Principal Consultant, Corporate Remediation Group, Dupont. The first meeting of the new subcommittee is scheduled for April 28, 2004.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised April 26, 2004 by Peggy Webster