Final Program - Society for Risk Analysis

vancing the Next Generation of Risk Assessment project (NexGen) in collaborationwith other Federal and State partners including the National Institutes of Health, theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances,the Department of Defense, and the State of California’s Environmental ProtectionAgency. NexGen is using six data-rich chemical prototypes (i.e., ozone, chlorine,endocrine disruptors, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, conazoles, and benzene) todetermine 1) whether enough next generation data exist to perform a risk assessment;2) if differences exist between the existing hazard assessments, and those made usingthe next generation data; 3) the levels of uncertainty associated with next generationdata; 4) how to incorporate next generation data into future risk assessments.This talk will provide an update on the NexGen effort, discuss the outcomes of ourpublic workshop, and inform participants of our future directions and timeline. Thisabstract has been reviewed and approved for release by the Environmental ProtectionAgency but does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency.T2-D.1 Burkett VR; virginia_burkett@usgs.govUnited States Geological Survey, Department of the InteriorANTICIPATING AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN COAST-AL DELTASThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ranks heavily populatedcoastal deltas among the world’s most vulnerable regions to the effects of climatechange. The IPCC classifies deltas as “hotspots of societal vulnerability” with nearly300 million people inhabiting deltas globally. In addition to serving as a land base formany of the world’s most densely populated cities, deltaic wetlands and the estuariesthey fringe are among the most biologically productive systems in the world. Theirhigh fertility and biological productivity account for a large percentage of world fisherieslandings and many have been drained, deforested, or impounded for agricultureand aquaculture. Even in the absence of a changing climate, 70% of the world majordeltas are deteriorating as a result of human activities that have affected their naturalflood pulses and sedimentary processes. Climate change has the potential to amplifythe decline of deltaic systems through several mechanisms, but the most importantdrivers are sea level rise, increased storm intensity, and changes in rainfall and runoffto the coast. This presentation will provide an overview of how climate change affectsdeltaic land forms and alters the processes that created and sustain them. It willexamine how human development patterns can accelerate or ameliorate the impactsof climate change.70W1-A.4 Burns WJ; bburns@csusm.eduDecision ResearchPUBLIC RESPONSE IN THE U.S. TO THE JAPANESE CRISIS: REAC-TIONS TO THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI VERSUS THE NU-CLEAR ACCIDENTThere is much research suggesting that the public reacts differently to naturaldisasters versus technological accidents or terrorism. Studies appear to suggestperceived risk, emotional reactions and risk-related behaviors (e.g. avoidance of impactedareas) are typically less for natural disasters. Two studies are reported. Thefirst involves university students who were surveyed online every day from Februarythrough April 2011 (74 data points). Among a wide range of questions they wereasked about their perceptions of threats like terrorism, the financial crisis and naturaldisasters. Following the triple disaster in Japan during March 2011 there was a clearspike in perceived threats from natural disasters with a gradual decay thereafter. Therewas no corresponding change in perceived threats from terrorism or the financial crisis.The second involves two nationwide surveys conducted in March and April 2011(about 30 days apart) that compared response to the earthquake, tsunami and nucleardisasters on a variety of measures. There were strong reactions to all three disastersbut response to the nuclear disaster was more pronounced. Likewise, reaction to allthree mishaps decreased between the first and second surveys. Two respondents inthree indicated that the nuclear disaster in Japan increased their perceptions of riskregarding nuclear reactors in the U.S.T4-A.2 Cacciatore MA, Scheufele DA, Corley EA, Shapira P, Youtie J;mike.a.cacciatore@gmail.comUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Arizona State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyDO THEY PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH? USING PUBLICATIONRECORDS AS A PREDICTOR OF SCIENTISTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDTHE REGULATION AND COMMUNICATION OF NANOSCIENCETwo of the more important and persistent issues facing the nanotechnologyindustry in recent years have centered on the regulation of nanoscience research (Berube,Cummings, Cacciatore, Scheufele, & Kalin, forthcoming; Murashov & Howard,2008) and the communication of this research with the public at large (Corley &Scheufele, 2010; Project for Emerging Nanotechnologies, 2006). Unfortunately, despitegrowing social science research in these areas, we remain largely unaware of howleading U.S. nanoscientists form opinions about the regulatory framework for nanotechnologyand the communication of its key scientific findings. Moreover, there are- to our knowledge - no studies exploring the extent to which the opinions expressedby nanoscientists in public opinion surveys match their actual practices. To addressthese issues, we have combined a public opinion survey of leading U.S. nanoscientists’attitudes toward nanotechnology regulation and communication with data of these