Inspiring Collaboration: The Legacy of Theo Colborn's Transdisciplinary Research on Fracking. (November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wylie, Sara; Schultz, Kim; Thomas, Deborah; Kassotis, Chris; Nagel, Susan
• Other Names: Brown Phil guest-editor.; Green Brody Julia guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: New solutions. Volume 26:Number 3(2016:Aug.)
• Page Start: 360
• Page End: 388
• Publication Date: 2016-11
• Subjects: fracking -- transdisciplinary -- environmental health -- endocrine disruption -- environmental justice -- unconventional oil and gas; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; Industrial hygiene -- Periodicals; Industrial hygiene -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; 613.62
• DOI: 10.1177/1048291116666037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1048-2911

Abstract

This article describes Dr Theo Colborn's legacy of inspiring complementary and synergistic environmental health research and advocacy. Colborn, a founder of endocrine disruption research, also stimulated study of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). In 2014, the United States led the world in oil and gas production, with fifteen million Americans living within one mile of an oil or gas well. Colborn pioneered efforts to understand and control the impacts of this sea change in energy production. In 2005, her research organization The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) developed a database of chemicals used in natural gas extraction and their health effects. This database stimulated novel scientific and social scientific research and informed advocacy by (1) connecting communities' diverse health impacts to chemicals used in natural gas development, (2) inspiring social science research on open-source software and hardware for citizen science, and (3) posing new scientific questions about the endocrine-disrupting properties of fracking chemicals.