Lois C. Levitan, Ph.D. has directed the Environmental Risk Analysis Program (ERAP) since its inception in 1998. ERAP began as a program of the Cornell University Center for the Environment. Since Spring 2003 has been part of the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell.

ERAP seeks out projects and develops resources consistent with its mission to "help citizens and policy-makers interpret scientific information about environmental risks and make informed decisions that balance levels of concern with levels of risk and social impact."

In addition to providing technical assistance on a range of environmental risk issues and developing environmental risk education and communication tools, Dr. Levitan's longtime interests are in problems at the interface between natural and social systems. These have recently included investigating relationships between public health and environmental risk factors, analysis of risks from resource overuse and degradation, the development and application of pesticide risk indicators, biohazard preparedness, and options for agricultural plastics recycling .

Lois Levitan studied anthropology at the University of Chicago, received her BS in Forest Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York, and her graduate degrees (MS, PhD) from Cornell's Department of Natural Resources--with concentrations in Natural Resource Policy, Systems Ecology, Forestry, Rural Sociology, and Forest Economics. She began her career in field biology and environmental policy working as a research entomologist and beekeeper.

Lois Levitan can be reached by email (LCL3@cornell.edu), by telephone (607-255-4765), or by mail sent to 311 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

© 1999-2006 Cornell University Environmental Risk Analysis Program