JUNE 2001 - UCLA School of Public Health

alumni profile
Heal the Bay’s Mark Gold Uses “Impact Science”
to Clear the Murky Waters Off of Santa Monica
MARK GOLD (D.Env ’94) REMEMBERS THE LECTURE like it was yesterday —
even though it took place nearly 15 years ago, while Gold was taking courses
toward his doctorate in the UCLA School of Public Health’s Environmental
Science and Engineering (ESE) Program.
“It was a talk given by someone from the California Department of Health
Services,” Gold recalls. “He said, ‘If you in academia don’t make recommendations
on technical issues, just remember, elected officials will. If you stay in that
ivory tower, those multi-million dollar decisions that impact public
health are going to be made without you.’ ”
The statement reaffirmed what Gold had concluded while
getting his master’s degree in biology at UCLA. “I decided I was
a big-picture kind of guy, and that, rather than pure science, I
wanted to do something that was going to make a difference in
protecting the environment,” he says.
He found his calling in 1986, shortly after entering the policyoriented
ESE Program. Gold was in a class in which one of the
guest speakers was Dorothy Green, who had just founded a nonprofit
organization of volunteers concerned about coastal pollution
in Santa Monica, where Gold had been raised. Gold began
volunteering at Heal the Bay. Two years later, he was hired as the
organization’s first employee, in the position of Staff Scientist.
Since 1994, he has served as Executive Director.
Heal the Bay was formed at a time when the Santa Monica Bay
was, in Gold’s words, “a mess.” Pollution from sewage and storm
drains was causing reproductive problems and tumors in fish, and a
large section of the bay had become essentially lifeless. Sewage
spills were shutting down the bay with regularity. An alarming number
of surfers and swimmers were complaining of stomach flu,
sinusitis, and other illnesses. Meanwhile, Gold had heard too many
politicians use the lack of sound science on a given issue as an
excuse not to protect the environment and public health. He vowed
to fight back with data. Gold calls it “impact science” — timely
research designed to assist decision-makers in acting in the public
interest. “I think our use of science to educate the public and advocate
on issues is what sets us apart from most groups,” he says.
Today, Gold says, the Santa Monica Bay is in much better shape than when
Heal the Bay began its efforts. Gold estimates that there has been a 90% reduction
in sewage solids discharged to the bay since the mid-1980s, restoring plant
and animal life to previous “dead” zones. Among its successes, Heal the Bay coauthored
legislation setting the first statewide bathing water standards, along
with a protocol for health warnings and beach closures.
He’s quick to point out that there’s still work to be done, particularly in reducing
storm water pollution, where little reduction has occurred despite Heal the Bay’s
best efforts to push for tougher regulations. “The combination of inertia and dischargers’
refusal to do what’s necessary to protect water quality is continually frustrating,”
Gold says. “People just hate to change.” But by harnessing the persuasive
powers of its 10,000 members and 500 volunteers, Heal the Bay has already
effected more change than could have been predicted. Gold, who is assisted by two
staff scientists who are doing their dissertations through the ESE Program, says his
D.Env. has been a key to his success. “It gives you the diversity of skills necessary
to tackle complicated problems,” he says. “That’s critical, because environmental
issues are a great deal more complex than a lot of other research issues.”
“I think our use of
science to educate
the public and advocate
on issues is what
sets us apart
from most groups.”
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alumni UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH