Upcoming Events
Past Events
Toxics Management Spreadsheet
Participants will get an overview of the Toxics Management Spreadsheet as used in NPDES permit development including it’s inputs, calculations and results.
Presenter: Maria Schumack is an Environmental Engineer Manager and the section chief for NPDES Permitting. She has worked for the NPDES permitting program at PA DEP for the last 11 years. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Environmental Systems Engineering.
Registration Deadline: July 14, 2023
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The purpose of the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals is to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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July 18, 2023
July 18, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Offshore Wind: Area Identification to Operations
The development of offshore wind is well underway in the U.S. despite many years of attempting to get the industry off the ground. Europe and other parts of the world had proven that offshore wind is a viable alternative source of energy, but it appeared to be elusive for the U.S. until this year. On August 22, 2023 the Biden Administration announced its approval of the fourth offshore wind project located about 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith, Rhode Island.
The process from wind energy area identification to approval involves many stakeholders at every level of government, representing every portion of the industry pipeline and specialists ranging from Avian Biologist to Meteorologist and everything in between; and most importantly, a public-included decision-making framework, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This presentation will serve to educate attendees on the U.S. Offshore Wind project approval process from “identification-to-operations”.
Presenter: Angel McCoy is a Senior Offshore Wind Regulatory Expert at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO where she focuses on the advancement of the offshore wind industry. Prior to joining NREL, she had a short stint as an Offshore Wind Project Manager; however, the majority of her career to date was at the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in the Office of Renewable Energy Programs. She supported the environmental, engineering and technical review of ocean-based renewable energy facilities. Her responsibilities included wind resource analysis for wind energy area identification, radar impacts mitigation, wind facility lighting design review and approval, and COR for research studies to name a few. She authored the “Guidelines for Lighting and Marking of Structures Supporting Renewable Energy Development”, a significant accomplishment in her Federal service career.
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The purpose of the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals is to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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September 12, 2023
September 12, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Science Meets Community Engagement:
The Delaware River Watershed Initiative
For over a decade, almost 100 organizations have been working together on a wide-ranging project to protect and restore the watersheds of the Delaware River Basin (DRWI). A science-guided program funded by the William Penn Foundation, the DRWI has brought together researchers, practitioners, advocates, and communities to take steps to improve water quality for one of the most important river systems in the Eastern U.S. Roland Wall, leader of the Academy of Natural Science’s work on the DRWI and one of the original planners of the project, will outline how the DRWI has progressed and grown.
Presenter: Roland Wall has led the Patrick Center since 2016. He manages the Academy’s environmental research projects, leading the interdisciplinary science team that works on a variety of basic and applied research projects. He serves on the Academy’s Senior Management Committee and was part of the team that coordinated the integration with Drexel University. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Patrick Center as well as its day-to-day operation.
In the past 24 years, Wall has worked in a variety of positions for the Academy of Natural Sciences. Moving from an earlier career in social services, he started at the Academy on Dr. Ruth Patrick’s staff, writing and producing the Know Your Environment publication. He then developed and managed the Academy’s Town Square program and led the Academy’s involvement in the Urban Sustainability Forum. In 2007, he initiated the Center for Environmental Policy, spearheading the Academy’s involvement in policy and sustainability issues. In 2012, he directed the Academy’s participation in the William Penn Foundation’s watershed protection planning, resulting in the launch of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in entomology and applied ecology, both from the University of Delaware. He is an adjunct faculty member of Drexel’s Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, and served as the Academy’s Associate Research Dean.
Registration Deadline: October 20, 2023
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP but by the presenters themselves.
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October 24, 2023
October 24, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
DELEP101
Kathy will provide an overview of the Delaware Estuary Program and highlights of work that the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is leading in Pennsylvania.
Presenter: Kathy Klein joined PDE in 1997 and served as the Executive Director until 2007. Before her return to PDE in 2018, she was the Executive Director of the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin and worked as a strategic planning consultant with the Philadelphia Water Department.
Throughout her 35-year career, Kathy has worked to improve environmental health in the Delaware River Watershed and served as a development and program director for several other regional organizations.
Kathy has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado. She currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware and spends the weekends enjoying the Delaware River in Stockton, New Jersey.
Registration Deadline: October 30, 2023
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members however you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP but by the presenters themselves.
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November 1, 2023
November 1, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Abiotic and biotic factors affecting restored
pollinator habitat in solar installations
In the United States, land dedicated for solar energy installations is increasing rapidly to meet renewable energy goals. However, multi-acre utility-scale solar energy have potential adverse effects caused by large-scale landscape transformation (Trainor et al. 2016; Hoffacker et al. 2017). An increasingly popular solution to mitigate negative environmental effects of solar sites involves using the space between panels as restored pollinator habitat. Planting and maintenance of pollinator-friendly plant communities in these spaces pose unique challenges that make consideration of both abiotic (e.g. soil type, nutrients, and climate) and biotic (e.g local pollinator community, hardiness of plant species) factors for long-term success. We investigated the roles of soil nitrogen and plant species on pollinator preference.
In one experiment, three cultivars of Brassica rapa (Brassicaceae) were grown under high and low nitrogen levels to determine the effects of soil conditions on pollen production and attractiveness to bumble bees (Bombus impatiens). A two-way, mixed model ANOVA was used to evaluate effects of nutrient level and plant type on plant biomass, pollen grain area, and number of pollen grains. When given 100% of recommended nitrogen, plants had a higher production of pollen grains than plants grown with low levels of nitrogen. Size of pollen grains was not affected by soil nitrogen, but rather by cultivar. These differences in size and number of pollen grains can be important for bee foraging preferences, although we found that genotype was only a marginally significant factor in bumble bee foraging preferences of these plants.
In a second experiment we evaluated the relative attractiveness of 10 species and cultivars of mints from two plant genera, Mentha and Pycnanthemum, at two semi-natural study sites known to support diverse a pollinator community in central Pennsylvania (Russo et al. 2013). Linear mixed effects models were used to examine the fixed effects of selected factors on abundance of visitors within an insect order, total visitor abundance, and diversity of visitors. The native M. arvensis had the greatest abundance of pollinator visitors, but all species and cultivars showed similar diversity of pollinators. The two mint genera also served as generalist plants within this plant-pollinator network, attracting pollinators from the insect orders Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera. Generalist plant species are important to pollinator communities as they can attract and provide resources for generalist pollinators (those that visit a variety of plant genera/families) as well as specialists (those that visit only a select number of plant genera/families) (Martín González et al. 2010; Ollerton 2017). Thus, native Mentha and Pycnanthemum may be good additions to restored pollinator habitat at solar sites, where attractive, low-maintenance, fast-growing, hardy, and short statured plants are preferred.
The results from both studies revealed the importance of choosing the right plant species to support pollinator communities. Our results also provide better understanding into the importance of soil nutrition on pollen floral resources and ultimately the plant’s attractiveness and utility to pollinator species. Ultimately, we hope these insights will help to improve the quality of restored pollinator habitat.
Presenter: Sarah Kania is an early career entomologist/pollination ecologist. She completed her master’s at Penn State in entomology, focusing on plant-pollinator interactions and pollinator habitat restoration. She currently works for Penn State conducting wild bee research and has more recently joined ASA as a scientist to help develop pollination-related services to ASA’s clients.
Registration Deadline: January 12, 2024
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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January 17, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Evaluating Ecological Risk Under
Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program
Thursday, February 15, 2024
at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern
Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program, or “Act 2,” encourages the cleanup and reuse of contaminated commercial and industrial sites across the state. Many of the sites that have or will enter this program provide, or are adjacent to, valuable habitats to ecological receptors. This presentation will discuss the process of identifying and evaluating potential impacts to ecological receptors at sites in the Act 2 program. A discussion of the Act 2’s statewide, background, and site-specific standards for ecological receptors and how a practitioner determines which standard would be attained for a site will be provided. Data requirements, process of completing an ecological risk assessment for the various standards, and a case study will be discussed as well.
Presenter: Sean Weatherwax is a Senior Scientist at Roux Associates, Inc. He has fourteen years of experience focused on risk assessment, sediment remedial investigations, and environmental project management. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois and Master of Science in Environmental Science and Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Mr. Weatherwax’s risk assessment experience includes human health risk assessment (HHRA) and ecological risk assessment (ERAs) for projects that fall under federal, state, and international jurisdictions. He has also served as an instructor for Montclair State University’s “Risk Assessment in Remediation” course and as a session chair for the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North American conferences.
Registration Deadline: February 9, 2024
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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February 15, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Achieving A Sustainable Future Together: The Future of District Energy for Achieving Carbon Reduction Goals
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern
Vicinity Energy’s Philadelphia Operations
Along with 18 other networks in 11 other cities nationwide, Vicinity owns and operates the district energy system that serves Philadelphia’s Center City. The steam Vicinity delivers is used for heating, cooling, process, and sterilization—essential services to mission-critical customers, including all of the major Philadelphia hospitals.
In Philadelphia, Vicinity owns and operates the Grays Ferry Cogeneration Facility (Grays Ferry), located at 2600 Christian Street. Grays Ferry is the largest baseload Combined Heat and Power (CHP) – or cogeneration – plant in the Commonwealth. Through a network of over 41 miles of underground pipes, Vicinity transports recaptured waste heat from its 170 MW CHP plant to deliver low carbon steam to over 100 million square feet of commercial and institutional space – the equivalent of approximately 61 Comcast Towers – throughout Center City and West Philadelphia, including hospitals, universities, government, life sciences, and commercial buildings. The CHP-generated steam delivered to customers has significantly less carbon per unit of energy than onsite gas boilers or the electric grid.
The Grays Ferry Cogeneration facility is also a power plant and an essential piece of the electric system reliability in Eastern Pennsylvania. The facility is connected to the PJM Interconnection at a constrained portion of the grid, known as the Mid-Atlantic Area Electric Reliability Council region. Because of its location, this facility helps ensure consistent service to end-use customers in Center City and the neighborhoods of South Philadelphia. This “dispatchable” power generation asset is crucial to the proliferation of renewable non-dispatchable assets (i.e. wind and solar) and, along with energy storage, these assets must be present to provide power when renewables cannot.
In 2013, Vicinity completed a $60 million investment in its Philadelphia network, installing new rapid response boilers that more efficiently capture low carbon steam produced by cogeneration. These investments have improved the city’s critical energy infrastructure and, with Grays Ferry, avoid more than 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, compared to conventional means of heating and cooling buildings. Over the years, Vicinity has invested a combined total of over $300 million in improving safety and reliability and reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Through these significant investments and the flexibility of our existing assets, we’ve demonstrated that we well positioned to be a significant partner to the City of Philadelphia in reaching its Greenworks GHG reductions goals and the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan.
Transitioning to Net Zero Carbon
In October of 2020, Vicinity released its 2 050 Net Zero Carbon Roadmap and, with this plan in place, Vicinity will make unique and vital contributions to the Commonwealth’s carbon reduction goals. As part
of Vicinity’s 2050 Net Zero Carbon Roadmap, the company has already taken drastic steps toward the decarbonization of its operations and a migration away from carbon emitting fuels. These efforts will have a dramatic impact on the carbon footprint of the 100 million square feet of space they serve today as well as the future buildings we connect to our system.
The backbone of Vicinity’s decarbonization plan is to electrify its operations by generating steam using electric boilers and heat pumps and procuring renewable electricity from the grid as our primary fuel source. (eSteamTM: h ttps://www.vicinityenergy.us/products-services/esteam). The electrification of individual buildings in Philadelphia will be an incredibly challenging and expensive task in the time frame required. By connecting to the district energy system, building owners will have the ability to successfully meet state and local regulations and have access to 100% renewable, carbon-free thermal energy.
Electric Boilers: Vicinity is developing a plan to install renewable (or zero carbon) powered electric boilers in the Grays Ferry plant, eventually eliminating natural gas as a fuel source. Electrifying Grays Ferry offers the City and Commonwealth a considerable opportunity to accelerate decarbonization. Commercial buildings are the second largest contributor to a region’s carbon footprint and Philadelphia is no exception. According to the United Nations’ 2020 Global Status Report For Buildings and Construction, buildings accounted for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally in 2019. According to Philadelphia’s own Climate Action Playbook, buildings alone emit a whopping 75 percent of the city’s total carbon footprint—triple the total emissions from all modes of transportation. This is why there has been a policy focus in recent years to electrify existing buildings as an essential critical strategy for overall decarbonization. However, electrifying buildings (i.e., tearing out combustion fueled technologies such as onsite gas combustion boilers and chillers and replacing that infrastructure with electric technologies) on a building-by-building basis is very expensive, logistically challenging and takes a very long time. But an electrified Grays Ferry facility can convert all buildings on Vicinity’s system with the flip of a switch. Over time, Vicinity will have the ability to electrify one hundred million square feet of building space with no additional infrastructure costs to building owners.
Industrial-scale Heat Pumps: Vicinity has completed the preliminary design for a large industrial-scale heat pump complex at its Cambridge, MA, CHP facility. These heat pumps operate on the same principle as any residential heat pump, but on a massive, industrial scale. The industrial-scale heat pump complex will use the heat “lifted” from the Charles River to preheat the water and generate steam. This will be a first of its kind complex in North America and Vicinity has studied replicating this approach at Grays Ferry, extracting energy from the Schuylkill River. This would further significantly reduce Philadelphia’s carbon footprint in the near term by dramatically reducing the amount of hydrocarbon fuel consumption or by being an incredibly efficient use of imported renewable electricity.
Molten Salt/Silica Thermal Batteries: Vicinity is also studying the use of molten salt thermal batteries at its plant. Molten salt batteries are unique energy storage battery that uses molten salts as a conductor. Recent advances in silica based thermal batteries also provide an even higher capacity thermal energy storage device. This type of battery offers very high energy density (i.e., the amount of energy stored in any given system per unit of volume) and high-power density (i.e., the amount of power per unit of volume). Because of the size and materials involved, such batteries must be located in secure industrial facilities like the Grays Ferry facility and are not feasible in any commercial building.
With such a grid-scale battery, the Grays Ferry facility will become the largest battery storage facility in the region. This would allow for the efficient use of intermittent solar and wind power to generate steam, significantly reducing the demand from grid generation units, at times of highest demand.
Without peak shaving, the grid authority must call up or dispatch extremely carbon-intensive generating assets that are usually dormant. Avoiding having to fire up these generating units significantly reduces overall grid carbon emissions.
Presenters:
Matt O’Malley, Chief Sustainability Office – As the company’s first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, Matt is responsible for leading the company’s decarbonization efforts and guiding the execution of V icinity’s Clean Energy Future, Net Zero Carbon plan. Reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Bill DiCroce, Matt officially joined the company in January 2022, following his term on the Boston City Council as President Pro Tempore.
Serving on the Boston City Council for the past 11 years, Matt passed aggressive environmental initiatives, including setting bold net zero carbon building standards, delivering community choice energy, eliminating gas leaks and single-use plastic bags, and diverting organics from landfills through curbside composting in the City of Boston. He also authored both the Building Energy Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) and the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO 2.0).
As an environmental expert and advocate, Matt holds over 18 years of focused and visionary leadership in the public, private, and issue advocacy arenas. Matt earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English at The George Washington University. He serves on the Charles H. Farnsworth Housing Corporation board, is a Trustee of the Boston Latin School Association, and has served on the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund. He has also raised money as a member of Boston Marathon teams for Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston, Project Hope, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Jeannie Morris, VP of Government Affairs – Jeannie joined Vicinity in October of 2021 where she serves as Vice President of Government Affairs, responsible for leading the company’s government and industry relations strategy, including policy alignment with Vicinity’s Net Zero Carbon plan. Jeannie represents the legislative positions and policies of Vicinity before the Executive and Legislative branches of the local and state governments for Vicinity’s 19 district energy networks nationwide.
Prior to joining Vicinity, Jeannie was a Senior Manager for State Government Affairs for Exelon Generation/Constellation. Jeannie began her career in the legislative office of Pennsylvania State Senator Connie Williams and has worked as a government affairs representative for Public Affairs Strategies and Aqua America.
In her spare time, Jeannie has taught courses in American National Government at Montgomery County Community College. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. Jeannie received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Texas A&M University – Commerce and Master of Arts in Political Science from Villanova University.
Registration Deadline: March 8, 2024
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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March 12, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Protecting Pennsylvania’s Aquatic Ecosystems from Thermal Discharges in an Era of a Warming Climate
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern
| The aquatic ecosystems of Pennsylvania are home to many types of organisms that are sometimes physiologically challenged by external environmental fluctuations, including those from anthropogenic sources. While many of us are familiar with ecological risk of exposure to chemical pollutants in our waters and lands, this presentation will focus on the potential impacts of water temperature, or more specifically, the effects of additional heat from single-point discharges of effluent produced by power generating, manufacturing, or other industrial facilities. An overview will be given on the water quality standards and water temperature criteria established under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to assure the protection and propagation of a “balanced”, “indigenous” population (BIP) or community (BIC) of shellfish, fish, and wildlife in and on the receiving water body. An owner or operator of a facility can exceed one or more of the water quality standards for temperature by obtaining a thermal variance as allowed by §316(a) of the CWA, which requires demonstrating those applicable effluent limits are more stringent than necessary to protect the BIP. The approach of the predictive and/or retrospective assessments used in §316(a) demonstrations will be discussed. Since the initial guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency was given in 1977, the concepts, approaches, and criteria for §316(a) demonstrations have not been updated over decades of environmental change. Such changes that will be discussed include increasing climate warming, invasive species or stocking programs, habitat improvements and degradation, cumulative effects, and a valid non-stationary baseline.
Presenter: Chris Gurshin is a Vice President and Principal Scientist at ASA Analysis & Communication, Inc. He has extensive background in fisheries research and environmental impact assessments of aquatic ecosystems, with over 20 years of experience related to the Clean Water Act §316(a) and (b), National Discharge Pollutant Elimination System, underwater construction compliance monitoring, and conservation. He has delivered cost-effective and data-driven solutions in government and industry sectors, including nuclear power and fossil-fuel power plants, offshore wind projects, port facilities, subsea cable transmission and hydroelectric facilities. He has extensive operational leadership experience in fisheries surveys, aquatic compliance monitoring, and benthic surveys. His technical expertise includes quantitative techniques in fisheries assessments, fishery acoustics, and statistical programming. Dr. Gurshin received his Bachelor of Science in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Tampa, Master of Science in Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures from Auburn University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. Registration Deadline: April 19, 2024 Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection. PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register. Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar. “The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves. |
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April 24, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
An Economist, a chemist, and an engineer are stranded
on a desert island: What good is the economist?
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern
Because no one should be forced to listen to a talk about economics for 50 minutes, this talk will focus on three economics-adjacent topics. First, why do economists want to discount the future, and what implications do their choices about discounting have on the global issues of our day? Second, what is environmental justice and why won’t it go away? Third, why can’t economists ever just tell me what something is worth: a primer on social benefit-cost analysis? The goal of the discussion will be to provide some insight into the inner workings of an economist’s mind and, perhaps, to illustrate how economists can occasionally be useful.
Presenter: Dr. Jeffrey Wakefield is formally trained in Economics, Marine Biology, and Biochemistry. He has over 20 years of experience conducting social benefit/cost analysis, financial assurance, and resource damage assessments. Throughout those 20 years, his goal has been to help policymakers and stakeholders make decisions that consider all dimensions of a problem.
Registration Deadline: April 26, 2024
Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.
PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.
Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.
“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.
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May 7, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm