See the program page for a complete schedule of conference events.
Please go here to access the archive of audio recordings of the conference presentations and speakers.
-
Nataliya Akulenko, Environmental Activist, Ecoclub, Ukraine.
"Living with Chernobyl"
Nataliya Akulenko was a high school student at the time of the Chernobyl accident. When the fact of the accident became known in spite of the government cover-up, she was evacuated from Kiev. Since 1995 she has been involved in environmental movement, working with many Ukrainian and international NGOs, publishing and spreading information on environmental issues, promoting renewable energy and energy conservation. She translated articles, books and TV programs on energy and environment. In 1999–2003 she coordinated the work of the Ukrainian Energy Brigades, part of a wider international network that operates in 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and strives to educate public in their countries about environment and sustainable energy, by means of practical implementation of energy conservation at public buildings such as schools and orphanages, and to influence policy and legislation in the energy sector in favor of energy efficiency and renewable energy resources.
- Maria Belodubrovskaya, Candidate for PhD in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Response to 'Chernobyl Heart'"
Maria received an M.A. in film studies from the Moscow Film School, VGIK. She is planning a dissertation on the Soviet film industry of the 1930s.
- Norma Berkowitz, National Chairperson, FOCCUS.
“The Response of National and International NGOs to Chernobyl”Norma Berkowitz founded Friends of Chernobyl Centers U.S. Inc. (FOCCUS) in the late 1990s. The organization provides support to a network of community centers on, or near, contaminated land in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The organization has received recognition by the U.S. Dept. of State and by the National Association of Social Workers. Norma served on the UW-School of Social Work faculty in teaching and administrative positions for over 25 years. Her retirement activities are focused on her work with Chernobyl.
- Evelyn J. Bromet, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Preventive Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
"Psychological and Perceived Health Effects of the Chornobyl Disaster"
Evelyn Bromet received her PhD in epidemiology from Yale University. Her research has spanned several aspects of the epidemiology of psychiatric and alcohol disorders, including occupational mental health, disaster research, and studies of special populations, particularly individuals with alcoholism and schizophrenia. She is currently conducting a longitudinal study of the psychological and psychosomatic effects of Chornobyl on mothers and children evacuated to Kyiv in 1986 modeled on her previous work on the emotional aftermath of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident. Dr. Bromet received the American Public Health Association’s Rema Lapouse Award for outstanding contributions to mental health research in 1989 and has served on several advisory boards, including the NIH Council of Public Representatives and the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation. Her current research program is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
- Kelly H. Clifton, Emeritus Professor of Human Oncology, UW-Madison.
"On Radiation, Chernobyl and the Nature of Science"Kelly Clifton received his Ph.D. in experimental endocrinology from the University of Wisconsin Zoology Department, and was among the first to use radioactive tracers on the UW campus. He served as a postdoctoral scholar and staff member of what is now the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard where he worked with Prof. Jacob Furth, a pioneer in the experimental cancer-inducing effects of ionizing radiation.
- Patricia A. Doyle, President, Chernobyl Children Project USA, Inc.
"The Response of National and International NGOs to Chernobyl."Mrs. Doyle was one of the original founders of the Chernobyl Children Project USA, Inc.(CCP) in 1994. She was one of the host families to many of the Chernobyl children; and also continues to host the adult translators and doctors from the various Chernobyl regions. As President of CCP, Mrs. Doyle is responsible for overseeing the selection of children, host family selection and training, fundraising, accounting for the Project, preparing all training material, soliciting corporate donations, and making presentations within the community. Her first hand experience includes twenty plus trips thus far to the Chernobyl Region. She received the 2002 Heroes for Health Award for her dedication to helping these children. Most recently, in 2003, she received from the Gomel Regional Council of Deputies an Honor Award for her extensive work in rendering humanitarian assistance to the population and institutions of the Gomel region, rehabilitating children of the region abroad, and implementing sustained humanitarian projects. In 2004 she was honored for her accomplishments and dedication to the children of the Chernobyl Region as an “Exceptional Women” on Magic 106.7.
- Oksana Garnets, Project Coordinator for "Human Security for
Ukrainian Youth," UNDP Ukraine.
“The Response of National and International NGOs to
Oksana Garents is the former UNESCO-Chernobyl Programme Project coordinator, former Project Coordinator Chernobyl Recovery and Development Program, UNDP Ukraine.
- Robert J. Kaiser, Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Robert Kaiser has been and continues to be very active in the activities of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia at the UW-Madison. His focus is on topics such as political geography and nationalism, and has received NSF and IREX grants and awards for work in Central and Eastern Europe. He received a Ph.D. in Geography from Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including "Borders in Post-Socialist Europe: Territory, Scale, Society," and "The Geography of Nationalism in Russia and the USSR."
- David Marples, Professor of History, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
“Chernobyl: A Reassessment”
David Marples, the author of The Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster and Belarus: From Soviet Rule to Nuclear Catastrophe is a specialist on Ukraine and Belarus. He is the director of the Stasiuk Program for the Study of Contemporary Ukraine, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
- Deborah J. Miller, RN, Board Member of Children of Chernobyl U.S.Alliance, Executive Director of Hand in Hand for Children of Chernobyl
"The Role of the CofC U.S.Alliance Following the Chernobyl Event"Debbie is a registered nurse, founder and Executive Director of Hand in Hand for Children of Chernobyl located in Pennsylvania. She and her family have been hosting children for 8 years. Debbie makes yearly visits to Belarus to take humanitarian aid to two clinics, one hospital, a school and two "social homes". These facilities are all located in the villages our hosted children represent. During these yearly visits, new children are selected for the summer program.
- Michael Patrick, Emeritus, Department of Medical Genetics, UW-Madison.
"On Radiation, Chernobyl and the Nature of Science"Michael Patrick holds a doctorate in biophysics from the University of Chicago and conducted postdoctoral work in biochemistry at Johns Hopkins University. For over 25 years, he was Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Texas at Dallas, and Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School. During this period, he published NIH-funded research on cellular and molecular radiation biology. He currently holds emeritus status in the Department of Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, and continues his work in science education as co-director of the Wisconsin Teacher Enhancement Program, and as co-director of the Center for BioMolecular Modeling, Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he is Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and Physics.
- John E. Peck, Executive Director, Family Farm Defenders.
"Chernobyl: Culture, Agriculture, and Radiation"
John E. Peck grew up on a 260 acre farm in central MN and is currently executive director of Family Farm Defenders, a national nonprofit grassroots organization based in Madison, WI that promotes sustainable agriculture, rural justice, workers rights, animal welfare, consumer safety, fair trade, and food sovereignty. He has a B.A. in Economics from Reed College, as well as a Ph in Land Resources from UW-Madison's Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies.
- Yuri Risovanny, Businessman, San Diego, California.
"Chernobyl: Looking Back" (An Eyewitness Account)Yuri Risovanny is the author of Chernobyl - Through the Eyes of the World (in Russian). At the time of the Chernobyl accident, Yuri lived in Kiev and worked as a Senior Editor at the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Publishing House. He was an eyewitness to the events unfolding in the wake of the accident, and joined the relief operation as head of the Foreign Contacts Bureau in Chernobyl, where he spent four full years. He was the first to accompany Western experts inside the crippled reactor building known as the Shelter Project, otherwise referred to as the "Sarcophagus."
- Mark L. Schrad, Lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of
Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“
His comparative historical research addresses the dynamics of policy decision-making, with an empirical focus on political responses to environmental and health issues in the former Soviet Union. His article on environmental security--which compares international responses to the dessication of the Aral Sea and nuclear reactor safety in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in the aftermath of the break-up of the USSR--is forthcoming in _Global Environmental Change(2006)_.
- Victor Shulepov, Counselor (Science and Technology), Embassy of Ukraine in the United States.
Victor Shulepov is a counselor for science and technology in the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA. His duties include support of the US-Ukraine and multinational cooperation to mitigate adverse consequences of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster. He is also responsible for the issues of the US-Ukraine energy cooperation to assist Ukraine in building its energy independence. Among his other responsibilities are as follows: aeronautics and space, defense industry, export control and non-proliferation, health protection and medical sciences. He graduated from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute as an electronics engineer. Before coming to the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, Mr. Shulepov served as a counselor for science and technology in the Embassy of Ukraine in PR China. In 1994 - 2002 he served for the Ministry of Industrial Policy of Ukraine as a director for international relations.
- Andrew G. Sowder, U.S. Department of State.
“International Efforts to Provide a New Safe Confinement for Chernobyl Unit 4 ”
Andrew Sowder is a physical scientist in the International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau at the U.S. Department of State. His duties include policy and technical analysis in support of U.S. participation in the Chernobyl Shelter Fund established to fund the design and construction of a new Shelter over the aging sarcophagus now covering the destroyed Unit 4 reactor. He also serves as an advisor on the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), which provides authoritative peer-review of research on the human health and environmental effects of the Chernobyl accident. He received a B.S. in Optics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Clemson University, where his training and research focused on health physics, radiochemistry, and uranium geochemistry. Before coming to the State Department, Dr. Sowder conducted environmental research at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory located on a former nuclear weapons production facility. He entered science policy as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) environmental fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
- Vika Vinarsky, Student, Madison, Wisconsin.
"Living with Chernobyl"Vika Vinarsky is an undergraduate studying psychology and medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was born prematurely in Kiev ten days after the Chernobyl explosion. Soon after her birth, along with her mother and grandmother, she temporarily relocated to Moscow for three months.
- Vladimir Vinarsky, Engineer, Evansville, Wisconsin.
"Living with Chernobyl"Vladimir Vinarsky has a degree from Kiev Polytechnical Institute in metallurgy in ferrous and nonferrous metals. At the time of the Chernobyl explosion he lived and worked in Kiev. He was an eyewitness to the evacuation children from Kiev and sanitation of the city following the events of Chernobyl.
- Louisa Vinton, United Nations Development Programme, New York.
“The Changing Role of the UN”
Louisa Vinton is Senior Programme Manager and Team Leader in UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, where she is responsible for UNDP activities in seven countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. She is also the focal point for United Nations coordination on issues related to the legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986. Before joining UNDP in February 2004, Louisa worked for the Economist Intelligence Unit for nine years, first as Editor of the weekly newsletter Business Eastern Europe and Editor in Chief of the company's East European business publishing operations in Vienna, and later as head of the company's Executive Services unit in New York. Between 1988 and 1994 Louisa worked as a Senior Research Analyst for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc., in Munich, specializing in coverage of Polish politics and economics.
-
Stephen Webster, Principal, International Disaster and Emergency Response Associates.
"Disaster Management and Preparedness: What can We Learn from Chernobyl?"
Dr. Webster is a private consultant who has worked in all phases of disaster management for over 20 years. He works extensively for the United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well
as major NGOs and governments. His work has taken him to more than 60
countries. He is a former faculty member of the School of Social Work.