Big Names to Grace IH Industry's Biggest U.S. Stage
The 2010 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo is set to reach new heights this year, not least because it will take place at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver, the Mile-High City, May 22-27. Co-sponsored by the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the event's 71st outing will feature an impressive lineup of speakers, educational sessions and professional development courses (PDCs), and new programming, all supporting this year's theme: New Frontiers in Science and Practice.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., one of TIME magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" and Rolling Stone's "100 Agents of Change," will present the opening session keynote from 8-9:30 a.m. on May 24. His message -- honed from his work as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, president of Waterkeeper Alliance, and the environmental advisor to Napo Pharmaceuticals -- is titled "A Contract with Our Future." Afterward, Kennedy, the author of Crimes Against Nature, The Riverkeepers, and several other titles, will hold a book signing at the AIHA Booth (623).
If Kennedy is one of the nation's most well-known crusaders against environmental damage caused by certain types of coal mining, Cecil Edward Roberts, Jr., president of the United Mine Workers of America, is one of the country's most prominent proponents for mining's benefits. In a rare speaker billing and fine balancing act--and an AIHce first--Roberts will take the stage for May 25's General Session from 8-9 a.m. The sixth-generation coal miner is currently a member of the executive committee of the AFL-CIO's Executive Council and chair of the Executive Council Committee on Safety and Health.
Wednesday's General Session, from 8-9 a.m., teams OSHA chief David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, and NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., MPH, JD, for a conference-themed discussion on "New Frontiers in Science and Practice." Fresh from moderating "OSHA Listens" in March, Michaels will be making his first appearance at AIHce since being sworn in as Labor Secretary in December. As with Trumka's session, the audience will have an opportunity to contribute questions on current and future OEHS issues that may be answered during the session, so organizers encourage attendees to come prepared with questions or to e-mail them to [email protected]. Following the session, the discussion continues in an open-forum Ask the Expert session.