This Friday, Oct. 13, Deborah Swackhamer, PhD (Professor Emerita, Humphrey School of Public Affairs and School of Public Health), will discuss the federal advisory committees mandated to oversee the quality and scope of the science used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Her talk is called "Scientific Integrity in the Balance: What's at Stake?" and will be held in 105 Cargill at 3 pm on the St. Paul campus; a remote webcast is also available here (registration required). Dr. Swackhamer is a past Chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board, and is the current Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors, and will share first-hand knowledge of how these committees have done their work, and how they are currently being used by the new Administration. This seminar is particularly timely in light of yesterday's announcement by EPA chief Scott Pruitt that his agency is taking formal steps to repeal a rule limiting greenhouse-gas admissions that was put in place under the Obama administration. From 2002-2014, Prof. Swackhamer was the director of the Water Resources Center, a Consortium member.