NSF PR 95-66 - October 2, 1995
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Mary E. Hanson |
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New Research Center to Improve Environmental Decision-Making
The National Science Foundation has announced the award
of $5 million to the Joint Institute for Energy and
Environment (JIEE) of the University of Tennessee
to create a National Center for Environmental Decision-Making
Research. The center is intended to improve the environmental
decision-making process in both the public and private
sectors by making scientific environmental research
more relevant and useful to decision makers.
"Public support for protecting the environment continues
to be strong, and there is widespread agreement that
past environmental legislation and regulation have
been effective in correcting and preventing environmental
problems," said Bill Butz, NSF's division director
for social, behavioral and economic research. "At
the same time, both critics and supporters of past
policy are struggling to define new directions for
environmental policy that will be effective, but less
burdensome and more affordable. This center will be
an important resource in this ongoing process."
The award to JIEE -- a collaboration of the University
of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the
Tennessee Valley Authority -- is for $1 million per
year for up to five years. The center will be directed
by environmental analyst Milton Russell, head of the
JIEE and a former assistant administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Russell will lead interdisciplinary research teams
representing economics, urban planning, policy analysis,
sociology, geography, mathematics, ecology, psychology,
political science and computer science. The teams
will synthesize existing research, perform case studies,
assemble a "toolkit" of processes and techniques,
and design an information system for decisionmakers.
The center will increase understanding of how environmental
decisions are made. "Public, not-for-profit and private
organizations regularly make decisions that affect
and are affected by the environment," explained Butz.
"We need to understand better the processes that produce
these decisions, and thus learn how to encourage the
desirable ones. This coordinated, multidisciplinary
and long-term research effort can help answer that
need."
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