Barbara Allen awarded Fulbright for comparative research on Italian chemical industry
Barbara Allen, associate professor and director of the Science and Technology Studies program in the National Capital Region, has been awarded a Senior Research Fulbright Fellowship for research in Italy, sponsored by the Program in Science in Society, University of Trento.
During the 2009 spring semester, Allen will examine citizen activism, environmental health science, public use of science, industrial regulation, and policy change in the chlorine-based chemical industry in Porto Marghera, on the lagoon adjacent to Venice. She will reside in Padova, near the research site.
“I will be looking at the impact of national regulatory structures, legal systems, professional and non-professional cultures, NGOs, and labor unions on determining regulatory action that effects a positive environmental change,” said Allen. “This comparative work on shaping environmental regulation is counter to the often totalizing globalization discourse regarding technology. Even given the same industrial infrastructures, there are likely to be significant differences due to diverse social, cultural, and national arenas.
The Italian study parallels Allen’s previous research and book, Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor Disputes (MIT Press, 2003) on the chlorine-based chemical industry in the United States.
Allen received a Ph.D. in science and technology studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999.
Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields.
Established in 1946, the Fulbright program is America's flagship international education exchange activity and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. Since the program was established, thousands of United States faculty and professionals have studied, taught, or conducted research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the United States.
