January 9, 1995 Contact: UCSC Public Information Office (408/459-2495)

EDITOR'S ADVISORY--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPECIALISTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AVAILABLE FOR MEDIA INTERVIEWS

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Among the major environmental laws that could come before the new Congress for renewal or revision are the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Superfund toxic-waste cleanup legislation. At the University of California, Santa Cruz, experts in these and other environmental subjects are available for media interviews. UCSC boasts one of the leading undergraduate programs in environmental studies in the country and this fall became the first campus in the UC system to offer a doctoral program in environmental studies. The program focuses on agroecology, conservation biology, and political economy, with an emphasis on pragmatic problem solving.

The following faculty experts are available to share their knowledge and insights with reporters and to comment on recent news developments. Reporters may contact professors directly at the telephone numbers or e-mail addresses listed below or may call the UCSC Public Information Office at (408) 459-2495 for assistance.

Michael Soule--Endangered species; biodiversity; Wildlands Project (408) 459-4837 soule@cats.ucsc.edu

The founder and first president of the Society for Conservation Biology, Soule is a nationally recognized expert on biodiversity and the plight of endangered species. He has helped mobilize support from the scientific community for the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act. His interests include population viability, extinction of amphibians, and analysis of policy conflicts; his research has pioneered the application of genetics to the conservation of biological diversity. A founding member of the Wildlands Project, Soule is at the forefront of the ambitious--and controversial--proposal to protect biodiversity in North America by establishing a network of wilderness reserves, human buffer zones, and wildlife corridors that would cover hundreds of millions of acres.

Stephen Gliessman--Sustainable agriculture; farming; rain-forest policy (408) 459-4051 gliess@zzyx.ucsc.edu

A leader in the field of sustainable agriculture, Gliessman specializes in the conversion of conventional farming practices to ecologically based alternative growing methods. He is available to discuss these methods and his ongoing work with farmers who are developing alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Gliessman's expertise also carries over to rain forests; he was a member of the National Research Council committee that produced a recent report on sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics. The report identified the critical need for the development of sustainable agricultural practices to replace more damaging forms of farming in the tropics--such as large-scale monocrop export agriculture--that degrade land that has already been cleared and drive farmers looking for new land further into the forests.

Daniel Press--Old-growth forests; toxics management; Superfund legislation (408) 459-3263 dpress@cats.ucsc.edu

An environmental policy analyst, Press focuses on the management of complex environmental problems such as the debate over old- growth forests and the handling of toxics in California. He is knowledgeable about the interaction of local community activists, government agencies, and national environmental organizations on issues of environmental public policy, specifically regarding ancient forests and toxic-waste management. Sites of his timber work include the Shasta-Trinity Forest, Mendocino County, and Humboldt County in California, as well as the Opal Creek area north of the Willamette National Forest in Oregon; his fieldwork on toxics has taken place in Silicon Valley and Kettleman City, California. His recent investigation of the paper industry concluded that making recycled paper is far cleaner for the environment than producing paper from virgin-wood fiber.

Margaret FitzSimmons--Resource management; water policy; farming; trade policy (408) 459-3525 fitzsim@cats.ucsc.edu

FitzSimmons focuses on resource management and the tensions that are played out between regional economic and environmental interests in arenas that include conservation and ecotourism, agriculture, and forestry. She is coauthor of Thirst for Growth: Accountability and Innovation in Public Water Agencies, which traces the behind-the-scenes manner in which urban southern California has jockeyed to get water from competing users. FitzSimmons's current work focuses on the future of farming in the United States, particularly in light of the environmental and economic implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

David Goodman--Agro-food systems; social impacts of biotechnology; trade policy (408) 459-4561 hatters@cats.ucsc.edu

Goodman studies world food systems with an emphasis on the social and environmental consequences of interactions between capitalist economies and the developing world. His policy-oriented work focuses on the role of technological innovation in modern food production, and he monitors the social and policy impacts of biotechnology. For example, the development of high-fructose corn syrups has affected the exports of sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and the Philippines. He is also available to discuss the agricultural aspects of trade treaties, such as NAFTA and GATT.

Steven Minta--Wildlife ecology; endangered species; GIS; land-use management (408) 459-2568 minta@cats.ucsc.edu

Trained in wildlife ecology, Minta focuses on conservation issues that include endangered-species management and the development of new methods to measure human impacts on ecological systems, particularly terrestrial landscapes. As a consultant for governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, Minta consults in population monitoring, spatial analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS) technology, which he applies to the problems of land use and species management; he directs UCSC's new Training and Research Facility for Geographic Information Systems. Among the species Minta has studied are bison, badger, coyote, bobcat, black-footed ferret, grizzly bear, wolf, bison, deer, ground squirrels, deer mice, and goshawks. He has worked in Montana and Wyoming, and is currently working in the Yellowstone National Park area and in California.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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