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October 2011

Innovate or Perish – Ford’s Director of Sustainability on innovation and sustainability

October 31, 2011

Last month, John Viera – Ford Motor Co.’s Director of Sustainability – kicked off the 2011 Risk Science Symposium with a great presentation on why innovation and sustainability are critical to the economic and social growth of the 21st century.  This is the transcript of that talk. Innovate or Perish Why Innovation and Sustainability are [...]

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Sickness, Sleep, and the Workplace: Occupational Stress in Uncertain Times

October 29, 2011

Despite the popularity of the aphorism that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” evidence continues to mount that organizations are unwilling or unable to successfully integrate preventative solutions into their occupational health strategies. Earlier this month, a study released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), an HR research [...]

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Governing Novel Technologies – James Wilsdon, September 21, 20011

October 27, 2011

One of this year’s Risk Science Symposium highlights was James Wilsdon’s keynote speech on the UK’s approach to governing novel technologies. Dr. Wilsdon is Director of the Science Policy Center at the Royal Society. The transcript of his talk is below. James Wilsdon. Governing novel technologies – a UK Perspective. 2011 Risk Symposium from UM [...]

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Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation – Symposium videos now available on-line

October 21, 2011

Videos of all the keynotes and panel discussions from the recent 2011 Risk Science Symposium are now available on-line at: http://vimeo.com/channels/2011risksymp/ This is a great resource for anyone interested in the challenges and opportunities of developing safe and sustainable technology-based solutions in an increasingly complex world.

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Risk Rage – Unplugged

October 18, 2011

Why do smart people sometimes believe dumb things? It’s a question that constantly bothers risk professionals as they try to help people understand the world through rational eyes.  And it bothers them even more when it turns out they themselves aren’t immune from the occasional bit of irrational thinking. On November 1, the Risk Science [...]

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Risk Perception ‘Fallout’ from Tokyo’s Radiation Hotspots

October 15, 2011

Today’s New York Times includes a report that citizens groups in and around Tokyo have been performing radiation testing separate from government efforts. Of concern, these groups are finding hot spots of radiation, including several spots with levels of radioactive cesium comparable to those observed in areas near the Chernobyl reactor in Russia. There is [...]

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New models needed to master technology trends – World Economic Forum

October 11, 2011

In his opening remarks at this year’s Summit on the Global Agenda, World Economic Forum founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab placed the need for new models to support effective use of technology innovation firmly on the table. This is the fourth year I have participated in the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Summit – [...]

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Perhaps, It Gets Better (Maybe): The Legacy of Social Media?

October 7, 2011

One year ago, if you will recall, our country began to seem to be a locale where teen suicides were of epidemic proportions.  Furthermore, it seemed that there was a strong link between these teen suicides and bullying based on hatred of particular sexual orientations.  Raymond Chase, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, [...]

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Public Health Fairytales

October 5, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I gave my students an exercise in designing a poster presentation.  Rather than focus on the usual stuff of readability, use of logical sections, figures etc, I wanted to start off with narrative, and how you use it to convey your ideas to your audience effectively – telling stories through [...]

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New Risk Science Center Coordinator announced

October 3, 2011

I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Hilda McDonald will be working full time for the Risk Science Center as the Center’s Coordinator, and will be the primary point of contact for all Center activities and business. Hilda has been supporting the Center as part of her duties for over two years, and over [...]

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