Panelist Profiles

Brenda Ekwurzel works on the national climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for strong federal climate legislation and sound U.S. climate policies.
Prior to joining UCS, Dr. Ekwurzel was on the faculty of the University of Arizona Department of Hydrology and Water Resources with a joint appointment in the Geosciences Department. Her specialty is isotope geochemistry, a tool she has used to study climate variability in places as disparate as the Arctic Ocean and the desert southwest. She has published on topics that include climate variability and fire, isotopic dating of groundwater, Arctic Ocean tracer oceanography, contaminant hydrology, and coastal sediment erosion. Early in her career, Brenda worked as a hydrologist with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, working with communities to protect groundwater sources.
Dr. Ekwurzel completed her doctorate work at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and post-doctoral research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Bill Chameides received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1974. After spending 30 years in academia, most recently as Regents Professor and Smithgall Chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Chameides joined Environmental Defense as a Chief Scientist in 2005. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a recipient of the American Geophysical Union's Macelwane Award, and, "in recognition of extraordinary service," was named a National Associate of the National Academies.

An atmospheric chemist, Chameides' research focuses on global biogeochemical cycles, global change, and urban and regional-scale air pollution. Through the development and application of numerical algorithms and models as well as the design and implementation of multi-disciplinary research programs and field studies, he has endeavored to elucidate the coupled chemical, physical, and biological processes that shape our environment, and thereby help to identify pathways toward a sustainable future. He has authored or coauthored more than 120 scientific publications, and 5 books.

In addition to his academic appointments, Chameides has served as Editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research, Chief Scientist for the Southern Oxidants Study, a research program focused on understanding the causes and remedies for ground-level ozone pollution in the Southern United States, U.S.A. Study Director of CHINA-MAP, an international research program studying the effects of environmental change on agriculture in China, and Chair of the National Research Council's Committee of Air Quality Management in the United States, which was commissioned by the United States' Congress to conduct a scientific and technical evaluation of the effectiveness of the major air quality provisions of the Clean Air Act and their implementation by federal, state, and local government agencies, and to develop scientific and technical recommendations for strengthening the nation's air quality management system.

Karen Litfin received her Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of California, Los Angeles in Political Science. Since 1999 she has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. She also is on the teaching faculty in the Program on the Environment at the University of Washington. Finally, in 1998 she was a Visiting Research Professor at the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University. Dr. Litfin has published extensively including journal articles, book chapters, and books including The Greening of Sovereignty in World Politics (The MIT Press, October 1998) and Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in International Environmental Cooperation (Columbia University Press, 1994). She is currently working on her next book, entitled Reinventing the Future: The Global Ecovillage Movement and the Emergence of an Integral Worldview.

Eugene Linden writes about science, technology, the environment and humanity's relationship with nature in books, articles, and essays. His most recent books include: Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and The Destruction of Civilizations, published by Simon and Schuster in Feb. 2006 (and serialized in Fortune Magazine), The Octopus and the Orangutan: New Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity, and The Parrot's Lament and Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity. In 2002, Plume published an updated version of The Future in Plain Sight, which was described by The Rocky Mountain News as "the most important book of the decade" when it was first published in 1998.

Linden has consulted with the U.S. State Department, and the United Nations Development Program. In 2001 he was named as one of four recipients of the first Poynter Fellowship at Yale University to be awarded for environmental journalism.