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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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