Borsuk Appointed to U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board

Mark Borsuk, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University and co-director of the on Duke Center Risk, has been appointed to the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Borsuk joins 46 well-qualified experts with a cross-section of scientific disciplines and experience needed to provide advice to EPA leadership to help advance the agency’s mission. The group was chosen from 352 candidates cultivated through an open public call for nominations. Their role is to review the quality and relevance of the scientific and technical information being used by the EPA, review EPA research programs and plans, provide science advice as requested by the EPA Administrator, and advise the agency on broad scientific matters.

“This highly qualified, diverse group of experts will ensure that EPA is receiving sound science-based advice to inform our work to protect people and the environment from pollution,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “We worked expeditiously and deliberately to finalize the new Science Advisory Board, and now we can move forward knowing EPA’s work is guided by the most credible, independent expertise.”

Borsuk was chosen for his influential work on environmental risk assessment, which combines statistical analysis, mathematical modeling and decision theory. He has led research projects used to inform Federal and State policy, including assessment of the total environmental costs and benefits of hydropower, evaluating and communicating the risks of arsenic in groundwater, determination of the full ecosystem service value of small streams and coastal wetlands, and accounting for the value of climate risk reduction in determining the appropriate social cost of carbon used in environmental regulations.