EMSG Speaker Series: Joe Rudek - 1/27 - LSRC A155

Please join the EMSG Wednesday for the next event in our speaker series. We will be hosting Joe Rudek, whom will speak concerning carbon markets on 1/27 at 6:15pm in LSRC A155. Mr. Rudek will be speaking about Nitrogen Markets in North Carolina. Add this event to your google calendar - http://tinyurl.com/yzfjysc

Nitrogen is a very important regulator of plant production and hence of the food chain. In addition, excessive quantities of various nitrogen compounds are important contributors to a number of environmental and public health concerns (e.g. algal blooms, dead zones, acid rain, loss of biodiversity, ozone, fine particulate particles, climate change.) Several North Carolina watershed nitrogen management plans have been developed as a result of Clean Water Act regulations. These watershed management plans include various forms of nitrogen trading systems. The structure and effectiveness of these trading systems will be discussed.

About Joe Rudek:
Joe Rudek is a Senior Scientist with Environmental Defense Fund in its North Carolina office. Dr. Rudek is involved, both within North Carolina and nationally, on issues associated with nonpoint source pollution, especially intensive livestock production and nitrogen pollution. He was very active in the Technology Peer Review Panel for evaluating alternative hog waste treatment technologies as part of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Agreement with Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Premium Standard Farms from 2000 - 2006; and the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (2002 – 2006). He played a leadership role in the development and passage of the 2007 NC Swine Farm Environmental Performance Standards Act which sets standards for new hog farms, and initiates a voluntary Lagoon Conversion Cost Share Program.

Dr. Rudek received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. Since completing his degree he has worked with the USGS and as a private consultant involved with Natural Resource Damage Assessments. He has been at EDF since 1996.

Environmental Defense Fund is dedicated to preserving the environmental rights of all people, including the right to clean air, clean water, healthy food, and flourishing ecosystems. From its founding in 1967, EDF has used an innovative mix of scientists, economists, and attorneys to devise practical, economically sustainable solutions to environmental problems.