Brought to you by:
Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Environmental Cleanup Program (Program) has taken pride in being a leader in environmental protection since it was established in 1989. In recent years, the Program has recognized a need to modernize to ensure it can sustainably, inclusively and holistically protect all people in Oregon from the risks associated with environmental pollution into the future. Doing so requires having a clear vision for the future of the program, and a strategic plan to achieve that vision. The Program has committed to developing a vision for the Program (2050 Vision) to achieve these goals. Through inclusive engagement, the Program plans to solicit input and ideas from Program staff and from members of the public who are most impacted by the Program’s work. This will include engaging with disproportionately impacted communities, tribes and other interested parties outside of DEQ. Program staff will incorporate input from these communities into the development of the 2050 Vision for the Program. A core goal of the project is to center feedback received from tribes and disproportionately impacted communities in the 2050 Vision and accompanying strategic plan. This is the beginning of what will be a long-term project to create meaningful and sustaining improvements to DEQ’s Environmental Cleanup Program. This presentation will provide an overview of DEQ’s Environmental Cleanup Program, describe successes and lessons learned from the early phases of the visioning and strategic planning process, and discuss next steps in the plans for engagement, visioning, and strategic planning.
More information about the speaker series is available, as are all past Toxicology and Societies recordings.
Featuring:
Dr. Blair Paulik Aguilar, Speaker
Dr. Blair Paulik Aguilar is a Senior Technical Policy Analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)’s Environmental Cleanup Program. At DEQ she leads efforts to clean up environmental pollution and develop policies to protect people and the environment from the risks associated with environmental pollution in Oregon. Dr. Paulik Aguilar earned her PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Oregon State University, where she studied how fossil fuels move through the environment and how they affect our health. Dr. Paulik Aguilar is motivated by getting science-based information about environmental health into the public’s hands, and she is committed to centering environmental justice principles and equity in her work. She has been volunteering as a Science Communication Fellow with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) since 2015; helped establish the SETAC North America Inclusive Diversity Committee in 2018 (a grassroots effort to make the field of environmental toxicology more inclusive and diverse); and has been co-chairing the Community Outreach and Engagement subgroup of DEQ’s staff-led Environmental Justice Workgroup since 2022.
Ruth Sofield, Co-Host
Ruth Sofield is a Professor of environmental toxicology and chemistry in the College of the Environment. She received her PhD and MS in Environmental Science and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Ruth's research group focuses on the effects of water and air pollution. Their current projects include the aquatic toxicity of microplastic and tire wear particles, and the use of moss as a biomonitoring tool for particulate matter. Ruth is a member of the Puget Sound Partnership Science Panel and the President of the Pacific Northwest Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Tracy Collier, Co-Host
Tracy Collier received his PhD in Fisheries Sciences from the University of Washington. He has worked for over 45 years as a toxicologist, with more than 35 of those years spent at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, where he served as the director of a science division that employed up to 100 people, covering several disciplines, including environmental toxicology, analytical chemistry, harmful algal blooms, and watershed processes. He has over 175 scientific publications, and currently is an affiliate faculty at Western.
Ian Moran, Co-Host
Ian Moran is a newly appointed Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Western Washington University. He conducted his PhD research at Oregon State University leveraging passive chemical samplers and embryonic zebrafish to investigate the occurrence, movement and toxicity of chemical mixtures at contaminated sites in Oregon and Alaska. As an alumnus of the College of the Environment Ian is excited to be back on campus to teach toxicology courses this year!
Questions and Accommodations
For inquiries or disability accommodations, contact The Foundation for WWU & Alumni at (360) 650-3353 or Alumni@wwu.edu.
Please mention special needs when registering.
There will be auto-captions for the Zoom webinar.
The views expressed by our speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.