Energy, Air, Healthy Cities

Topic Description:

The consumption of energy for residential and commercial buildings, transportation and industrial activity has a significant impact on urban air pollution in all regions of the world. As air quality issues are becoming a greater concern for human health and welfare, there is a great need to consider air quality impacts associated with transformative changes in the energy sources and urban infrastructure that are directed climate change mitigation and urban sustainability. This session will discuss the linkages between the consumption of energy, air pollution, and the human health impacts of air pollution and how the transformations of power generation, transportation, and industrial sources and their emissions can benefit human health and welfare.

Speaker Bios:

Jamie Schauer (Moderator)
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jamie Schauer is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and serves as the Director of the Water Science and Engineering Laboratory. Schauer’s research focuses on the use of advanced chemical analysis and air pollution sampling techniques to understand the chemical composition of source emissions and atmospheric pollutant concentrations. These methods are being used to understand the origin of impact of air pollutants in the urban atmosphere, human health, the ecosystems, and global climate change.

Ted Russell
Howard T. Tellepsen Chair Professor of Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Ted Russell is the Howard T. Tellepsen Chair and Regents’ Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, having expertise in air quality engineering with particular emphasis in air quality modeling, air quality monitoring, and analysis. Russell has been a member of a number of National Research Council committees, including chairing the Committee to Review EPA's Mobile Model, chairing the committee on Carbon Monoxide Episodes in Meteorological and Topographical Problem Areas, and serving on the Tropospheric Ozone Formation and Measurement, Ozone Forming Potential of Reformulated Fuels, and the Risk Assessment of Hazardous Air Pollutants committees. He has also been a member of EPA’s CASAC and the FACA Committee on Ozone, Particulate Matter and Regional Haze.

Pat Kinney
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Director, Columbia Climate and Health Program

Patrick Kinney is Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He has a broad background in climate, air pollution and health. He was a lead author on the fifth assessment report of the IPCC, evaluating emerging findings on climate and health in North America. He also serves on the New York City Panel on Climate Change, which advises the Mayor on climate resiliency planning. Patrick founded the Climate and Health Program at Columbia in 2008, which coordinates research and training on the health impacts of climate variability and change, and examines the human health dimensions of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.  He received his masters and doctoral training in environmental health sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Jeffrey Jaeckles
Director, Safety and Environmental Affairs, Madison Gas and Electric

Jeff’s leadership at Madison Gas and Electric Company includes governance and sustainable aspects of environmental management including their ISO 14001 certification, environmental management system, and Green Tier agreement. Under Green Tier Jeff manages the citizen environmental advisory group that provides citizen input to MGE on sustainability and environmental matters. He chairs the Wisconsin Utility Association Environmental Subcommittee, is a graduate of Leadership Greater Madison, and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Jeff serves as a member of the Yahara WINs Strategic Planning Workgroup, WDNR’s Air Management Study Group, and Dane County Clean Air Coalition. Jeff has a BS Degree in Chemical Engineering, a MS Degree in Environmental Chemistry & Technology, both from UW-Madison, and is a registered professional engineer.

Mark Werner
Section Chief, Health Hazard Evaluation, DHS Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health

Mark Werner is the chief of the Health Hazard Evaluation Section in the Wisconsin Division of Public Health’s Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health. He received his doctoral degree in environmental health from the University of Minnesota, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in occupational respiratory disease epidemiology at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. He holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health and the Zilber School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Kristen Malecki
Assistant Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kristen Malecki is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She serves as the Associate Director for the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, overseeing survey implementation efforts and ancillary study development, as well as co-Investigator for a Centers for Disease Control funding grant exploring a health impact assessment framework for addressing climate change impacts in Wisconsin.