Society for Risk Analysis Meeting in Baltimore, MD

Key Policy Issues Up for Discussion at Science and Risk Conference in Baltimore

The Society for Risk Analysis Meeting set for Baltimore, MD, December 9-12, 2013, will include sessions on sustainability, Big Data, bioterrorism, nanotechnology, toxics, climate change, food safety and whether regulation kills jobs, among many others.

More than 600 environment, food safety, security, engineering and economic experts will be detailing emerging research evidence, practical experience and public policy tools relevant to important government and private-sector decisions at an upcoming conference held by the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) in Baltimore, MD, December 9-12, 2013.

Addressing a wide range of relevant science, policy and regulatory topics, the annual SRA meeting is the “highest profile event for linking science and decisions for policymakers and those involved in their efforts,” said SRA President-Elect Ortwin Renn of Stuttgart University. Keynote speakers include  a panel on risk science and policy making, featuring Anne Glover, chief scientific advisor to the European Union, and Sir Marc Walport, chief scientific advisor to the U.K. government and a panel of international experts on “Exploring Risk, Ethics, and Decision-Making: Three Cases.” In addition, Norman Loayza of the World Bank and Director of the World Development Report, 2014, will discuss “Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development,” reflecting the global scope of SRA.

The annual meeting, which draws a broad cross-section of U.S. and international technical experts and policy professionals, is focused this year on the theme “Risk Analysis for Better Policies” reflecting the goal of SRA to provide an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis  and its application to improving safety, public health and environmental quality. Sessions at this year’s conference will address drinking water, catastrophic risks, the evaluation of regulations, nuclear power, predicting adversary behavior, managing natural disasters, evaluating emerging threats, press coverage of environmental debates, air pollution, ecology and communicating about risk, among other pressing topics.

The 2013 SRA annual meeting will be held at the Hilton Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and right next to major sports arenas. With members spanning many disciplines such as health sciences, communications, development, law and policy as well as economics, psychology and other sciences, “SRA analysts leverage the perspectives and tools offered by risk scientists and practitioners from all disciplines and share a commitment to sound decision support,” said current SRA President George Gray of the George Washington University.

Nearly 100 plenary and technical sessions will be featured on diverse subjects of pressing international, national, regional, state and local concern. For more information on conference sessions: http://birenheide.com/sra/2013AM/program/sessionlist.php3

SRA is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Risk analysis is defined broadly to include risk assessment, risk characterization, risk communication, risk management, and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private-sector organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global level. www.sra.org

Contact: Attending the meeting as reporters is free for credentialed journalists and freelance reporters. To secure press credentials for the conference at the Hilton Baltimore in the city’s Inner Harbor, please call the SRA Secretariat at: 703.790.1745 or email: sra@burkinc.com. To arrange an interview with SRA representatives, contact Steve Gibb at 202.422.5425 or skgibb@aol.com