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David Wolf, Children's Environmental Health Institute Board Member Prepares For July Shuttle Mission To The Space Station
Shuttle Endeavour's 16-day flight, called STS-127, is targeted to launch on July 11. The flight will deliver a new station crew member and will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The shuttle and station crews will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module. The platform will serve as a type of "front porch" for experiments that require direct exposure to space.
Mark Polansky will command the STS-127 crew, which includes Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Julie Payette and Tim Kopra. Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata. Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month stay at the station.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For the latest information on the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
For the latest information about the STS-127 mission and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
The Children's Environmental Health Institute Welcomes Valerie Davis to Our Board of Directors
 Whether sounding a warning to greenwashers on NBC's TODAY show or spending all day in a landfill to show her dismay at the state of U.S. recycling efforts, Valerie Davis passionately speaks out about injecting ethics and authenticity into companies' sustainability programs and communications efforts. Davis' led the Don't Mess with Texas campaign to victory in the America's Favorite Slogan Competition, beating Nike's "Just Do It" and "Got Milk?" She is a speaker at water, energy, solid waste, health and advertising conferences, including the National Symposium on Market Transformation for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington, D.C. She is a winner of the American Advertising Federation-Austin Silver Medal Award for outstanding contributions to advertising and furthering the industry's standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern. Davis serves as a board member of the Children's Environmental Health Institute, and earned a Bachelor of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin.
Third International WHO Conference Environmental Threats to the Health of Children
Children are our future, numbering over 2.3 billion worldwide (aged 0-19) and representing boundless potential. Child survival and development hinge on basic needs to support life; among these, a safe, healthy and clean environment is fundamental.
Children are exposed to serious health risks from environmental hazards. Over 40% of the global burden of disease attributed to environmental factors falls on children below five years of age, who account for only about 10% of the world's population. Environmental risk factors often act in concert, and their effects are exacerbated by adverse social and economic conditions, particularly conflict, poverty and malnutrition. There is new knowledge about the special susceptibility of children to environmental risks: action needs to be taken to allow them to grow up and develop in good health, and to contribute to economic and social development.
This conference, hosted by the Ministry of Environment in Korea in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Family Planning, and organized by the WHO jointly with national and international partners, is supported by many organizations involved on actions about preventing childhood diseases through healthy environments.
The event aims at extending the recognition of children's environmental health needs and providing a platform for the exchange of scientific experiences, for learning about research efforts, and promoting protective policies. It will also enable us to work out why existing global efforts have not progressed more rapidly and what needs to be done, both in developing and industrialized countries. To link to the 3rd International WHO Conference on Environmental Health Threats to Children go to http://www.ceh2009.org/.
Texas Healthy Environments for Child Care Facilities and Preschools (TX HECCP)
Children Janie Fields, Executive Director, Children’s Environmental Health Institute joins the task force for the Texas Healthy Environments for Child Care Facilities and Preschools (TX HECCP). The program is sponsored by the Children’s Environmental Health network (CEHN). The first pilot was held in California’s Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The HECCP program soon expanded to the Atlanta area in 2006, and received support to expand further into Washington, DC in 2007, and Texas in 2008.
The goal of HECCP is to train and educate child care providers and administrators on creating healthier and safe environments. The assessment and training program we have developed enables child care providers and administrators to:
- 1. Understand children's vulnerabilities to environmental health exposures
- 2. Identify environmental health hazards in and around child care facilities
- 3. Determine methods to alleviate and remove environmental health hazards
- 4. Develop communication and identification strategies for parents to reduce environmental health risks at home
- 5. Obtain up-to-date information answering questions about environmental health safety in their facilities from local, state, and national organizations and additional resources.
The core of the training curriculum includes 15 modules on topics such as safer cleaning, air quality, pesticides, lead, mercury, plastics, and indoor mold. CEHN has trained over 400 child care professionals in over 75 facilities around the nation.
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