Conference explores environmental law, public health

Event Date: 
Friday, September 27, 2013 - 8:00am to 4:00pm
Location: 
Hutchins Hall 1000

A one-day conference titled Environmental Law and Public Health explores the relationship between environmental protection and public health.

The conference explores more deeply the relationship between environmental protection and public health and how it should inform  efforts to become better stewards of the environment. It  begin with a panel discussion about environmental values and whether the extent to which the country focuses on public health issues under our environmental laws strikes the right balance in meeting our broader obligations to maintain a healthy planet. Should environmental laws focus even more than they already do on public health benefits, so that we might reclaim bi-partisan support for environmental protection efforts? Or have we focused on human health to the detriment of preserving bio-diversity and healthy ecosystems?

The talk and conference are co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Society and the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law.

Friday, Sept. 27, 2013

8-9 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast: Outside South Hall Room 1225
 
9 a.m.: Welcoming Remarks
David Uhlmann, Jeffrey F. Liss Professor from Practice and Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program, University of Michigan Law School
 
Panel I: Environmental Protection and Public Health Values
Moderator: David M. Uhlmann, Jeffrey F. Liss Professor from Practice and Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program, University of Michigan Law School
Panelists :
  • Tracy Bach, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
  • Hari M. Osofsky, Professor of Law, 2013-2014 Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs, and Director of the Joint Degree Program in Law, Science & Technology, University of Minnesota Law School
  • Zygmunt J.B. Plater, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School
  • Jedediah Purdy, Robinson O. Everett Professor of Law, Duke University Law School
 
10:45-11 a.m. Morning Break

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Panel II: Pollution and Children's Health:
Moderator: Marie Lynn Miranda, Dean and Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan
Panelists:
  • Dana Dolinoy, Searle Assistant Professorship in Public Health, Assistant Professor in Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigam
  • David E. Jacobs, Research Director at the National Center for Healthy Housing; Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health; and Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
  • Tom Neltner, Chemical Engineer and Attorney, Washington, D.C.
  • Pamela Shubat, Supervisor, Health Risk Assessment Unit, Minnesota Department of Health 
 
Lunch: 12:30-12:45 P.M. 
Pick up box lunches and head to breakout sessions.
 
12:45-2 p.m. Breakout Sessions
 
1. Industrial Siting, South Hall Room 0220
Moderator : Alicia Alvarez, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Community and Economic Development Clinic, University of Michigan Law School
Panelists:
  • Rhonda Anderson, Environmental Justice Organizer, Sierra Club Detroit
  • Adam Babich, Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Clinic, Tulane University Law School

2. Urban Agriculture, South Hall Room 1225
Moderator : Kristina Daugirdas, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Panelists:
  • Mary Jane Angelo, Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental & Land Use Law Program, University of Florida Levin College of Law
  • Kathryn L. Underwood, Senior Planner, City of Detroit Planning Commission
 
3. Pesticides and Product Liability: Risk Assessment in the Common Law, South Hall Room 0225
Moderator, Sara Rollet Gosman, Lecturer, University of Michigan Law School
Panelists:
  • Diana Bowman, Assistant Professor, Risk Science Center and the Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health
  • Susan Kegley, Principal and Chief Executive Officer, Pesticide Research Institute, Berkeley, California
  • Alexandra B. Klass, Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School

2-2:15 p.m.: Afternoon break

2:15-3:45 p.m.: Panel III: Sustainable Communities
Moderator, Gregg D. Crane, Professor of English Language and Literature and Director of the Program in the Environment, University of Michigan
Panelists
  • Rebecca Bratspies, Professor and Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, CUNY School of Law
  • Lisa Goldman, Senior Attorney and Counsel, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
  • Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
  • Wendy Collins Perdue, Dean and Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law
 
3:45 p.m.: Closing remarks
Student Symposium Committee Members

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