Kristin Shrader-Frechette (born 1944) is O'Neill Family Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Philosophy, at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. She has previously held senior professorships at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Most of Shrader-Frechette's research work analyzes the ethical problems in

risk assessment Broadly speaking, a risk assessment is the combined effort of: # identifying and analyzing potential (future) events that may negatively impact individuals, assets, and/or the environment (i.e. hazard analysis); and # making judgments "on the ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, or

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...

- especially those related to radiological, ecological, and energy-related risks. Shrader-Frechette has received the Global Citizenship Award, and the ''

Catholic Digest ''Catholic Digest'' was an American Roman Catholic monthly magazine founded in 1936. By the 1950s ''Catholic Digest'' was publishing articles by such well-known Catholic authors as Fulton J. Sheen, Frank Sheed and Dorothy Day. In 2016 it was rea ...

'' named her one of 12 "Heroes for the US and the World".

Education

Kristin Shrader-Frechette studied physics at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

and graduated (summa cum laude) in 1967. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the

in 1972. Shrader-Frechette also did post-doctoral work relating to biology, economics, and hydrogeology.

Publications

Shrader-Frechette has published more than 380 articles and 16 books/monographs, including ''Burying Uncertainty: Risk and the Case Against Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste'' (1993); ''Method in Ecology'' (1993); ''The Ethics of Scientific Research'' (1994), ''Technology and Human Values'' (1996), ''Environmental Justice: Creating Equality, Reclaiming Democracy'' (2002), ''Taking Action, Saving Lives: Our Duties to Protect Environmental and Public Health'' (2007), and ''What Will Work: Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy, Not Nuclear Power'' (2011). Her books and articles have been translated into 13 languages. Shrader-Frechette is currently working on two new volumes: ''Risks of Risk Assessment'' and ''Philosophy of Science and Public Policy''. Shrader-Frechette's 2011 book ''What Will Work'' says that nuclear power is not an economic or practical technology:

This book uses market data, scientific studies, and ethical analyses to show why we should pursue green energy and conservation, and not nuclear fission, to address global climate change. Chapter 6 uses classic scientific studies from Harvard, Princeton, and the US Department of Energy to show how improved conservation and energy efficiency—along with increased use of wind and solar-PV power—can supply all energy needs while costing less than either fossil fuels or nuclear fission.

Professional membership

Shrader-Frechette has been a member of many boards and committees at the International level. She has been invited to address the National Academies of Science in three different countries. She has served as an advisor to numerous governments and international organizations, including the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. Associate Editor of BioScience until 2002, Shrader-Frechette is Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford University Press monograph series on Environmental Ethics and Science Policy and spent two terms on the US EPA Science Advisory Board. She also serves on the editorial boards of 22 professional journals.

Awards

In 2004 Shrader-Frechette received the World Technology Award. In 2007, ''

'' named her one of 12 "Heroes for the US and the World" because of her pro-bono environmental justice work with minority and poor communities. In 2011,

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

gave her the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award.

References

External links