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About the Author (email the author: cfmoore@wisc.edu)
Colleen F. Moore is
Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where
she has been a member of the faculty since 1978. She received her Ph.D.
from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in Psychology, with
emphasis on Developmental Psychology and a minor in quantitative
research methods. She currently teaches graduate courses in the design
of psychological experiments and developmental psychology. She has been
teaching an undergraduate course on the Psychology of Environmental
Issues for 10 years. Her research currently addresses several topics
including prenatal influences on later behavior (in collaboration with
Prof. Mary Schneider), and how environmental attitudes are related to
risk perceptions, ethical reasoning, and other aspects of judgment and
decision making.
The author is available for speaking engagements
related to the contents of Silent Scourge for a small honorarium plus travel expenses.
Please contact by email (cfmoore@facstaff.wisc.edu) or phone (608
249-7511; best time to call mornings 7:30-9:30 am, 5-9 pm or leave a
message). Local speaking engagements (Madison area) are without charge
as a public service.
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Speaking
Engagement Topics:
1) Why Pollution Matters for Children's
Psychological Development
Pollution matters because exposure to
certain pollutants can affect children's intellectual functioning,
their social interactions and behavior, and their stress responses.
This presentation provides the basics of what the research shows about
how exposure to pollution affects children's behavior and psychological
development. Examples will be drawn from the "best science" on exposure
to lead, mercury, PCBs, noise, and community pollution disasters.
(Audience:
Members of the public).
2) Social Inequities in Children's Exposure to
Pollutants that Alter Psychological Development
Who is affected most by pollution and
why? Social inequities occur in children's exposures to certain
pollutants that can alter behavioral and psychological development
(lead, mercury, PCBs, pesticides, noise and toxic waste). What are the
effects of these pollutants, and what can we do to redress
environmental
inequities? (Audience: Members of the public)
3) Why Cholinesterase-inhibiting
Pesticides Need Study: An analogy from findings on early exposure to
nicotine
In this presentation I argue that it is important
that the psychological effects of insecticides be studied. Many
insecticides inhibit cholinesterase, a key chemical involved in
transmission of nerve impulses. Cholinesterase is also a gene signaler
during the early development of the nervous system. Altering the level
of cholinesterase has been shown to modify the development of the
nervous system in subtle ways. Most American children are exposed to
these insecticides, but there have been no studies of their
psychological effects. Nicotine has some effects on the nervous
system that are similar to cholinesterase-inhibition (specifically,
nicotine increases the activity of acetylcholine, a chemical that is
also the target of cholinesterase). We have at least 3 decades of
research evidence that nicotine has negative effects on children's
psychological development. Because cholinesterase-inhibiting
insecticides and nicotine have some similarity of chemical mechanisms
in the brain, it
is possible that cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides have effects on
child
development that are similar to the effects of nicotine. For these
reasons,
it is essential that the psychological effects of
cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides be studied, but funding for
large-scale studies is apparently not available. (Audience: The general
public, and scholars from a wide range of disciplines; of special
interest to developmental psychologists, neuroscientists, and those in
agriculture).
4) U.S. Noise Policy and Children's
Development
This presentation gives an overview of findings on
the effects of transportation noise on children's academic performance
and stress responses. Research controversies in transportation noise
annoyance are outlined and traced to decision criteria embedded in the
research. It is shown that U.S. noise policy is inconsistent with
recent guidelines for school classroom acoustical environments.
(Audience: The general public and scholars from a wide range of
disciplines. Of special interest to teachers, highway planners, airport
administrators, developmental psychologists, speech and hearing
professionals, and active members of
Parent-Teacher Organizations).
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