Airport Noise Report
A weekly update on litigation, regulations, and technological developments
Volume 18, Number 28 September 6, 2006
Conferences
UC DAVIS TAKING OVER SPONSORSHIP OF BERKELEY NOISE, EMISSION SYMPOSIUM
As many ANR subscribers already know, the University of California at Davis’ Air Quality Research Center is taking over sponsorship of the annual Aviation Noise and Air Quality Symposium, which had been managed by the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies Continuing Education Program.
The idea of moving the conference was proposed by the program planning committee, on which ANR sits, and was prompted by several factors: the opportunity to align the conference with one of only a few Air Quality Research Centers in the country sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency; the ability to tap into UC Davis’ extensive expertise in aviation noise and air quality; and the enthusiasm of Dr. Anthony Wexler, director of the Air Quality Center, for bringing the symposium under his wing and expanding it.
In 2007, the conference will be held in San Francisco due to commitments that had already been made by UC Berkeley. However, planning is underway to move the symposium back to Palm Springs in 2008.
Dr. Donna Reid will continue to serve as the conference manager and Walt Gillfillan as moderator of the symposium.
Following is the text of UC Davis’ announcement regarding the conference move:
After a 21-year history under the auspices of the University of California at Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies Continuing Education Program, the annual aviation environmental symposium is moving to the University of California at Davis’ Air Quality Research Center (AQRC). This symposium, which has an international reputation as the premier gathering on aviation’s environmental impacts, is usually held in late February or early March and was held this past year in Palm Springs, California.
Former Berkeley Program Manager Dr. Donna Reid noted that the move was prompted by the strength of the air quality program at UC Davis. “This move is advantageous in an era when many see the need to train the next generation of researchers, consultants, and regulators as paramount,” Reid said.
Set in the heart of the Sacramento Valley in northern California, the UC Davis campus is the University of California flagship campus for environmental studies, with one in six faculty members specializing in an environment-related subject.
The Air Quality Research Center, under the direction of Dr. Anthony Wexler, has one of the largest concentrations of air quality experts at any university campus in the United States with over 70 faculty members involved in air quality research affiliated with the Center. Investigations underway range from the biological effects of air pollution to agricultural emissions and global climate change. “The synergies which can develop between our symposium and the work here at Davis are unique, it is a great fit for this event,” said Reid.
The Center, supported in part by the U.S. EPA, works across a broad spectrum of disciplines and subfields to look at the impacts of air pollution. Some of this work is going on in California’s San Joaquin Valley which experiences some of the worst air quality in the nation. “UC Davis researchers are working diligently to improve our understanding of how atmospheric pollutants are formed, spread, and affect human health,” Wexler said. “On the campus here, we not only have tremendous breadth and depth in air quality but also a fine Aeronautical Engineering faculty and an acoustics lab.”
The move coincided with the Program Planning meeting in June, where Program Committee members voted to endorse the move to UC Davis. Syposium founder and moderator extraordinaire Walt Gillfillan also will be part of the newly forming Davis team. A smooth transition is expected with the Preliminary Program anticipated to go out in late September. UC Davis will be honoring arrangements made by Berkeley to hold the meeting in the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco on March 4-7, 2007.
In addition to her symposium duties, Dr. Reid is now working on other air quality conferences and jocularly queried colleagues on their knowledge of emissions from cattle. “Cows are right up there with jumbo jets in contributing to air pollution,” she said. “With all the great resources at UC Davis, and a dynamic and visionary leader like Tony Wexler, there is no telling what the future might hold for our symposium,” Reid said. Now there’s something to make noise about.
Readers can contact Donna at dvreid@ucdavis.edu or tel: (530) 754-8374 for more information, or just say Moo.
The website for the Air Quality Research Center is http://airquality.ucdavis.edu. Click on Conferences to get to the symposium page.