The Herbicide and Health conference brings together international experts and local residents to examine the difficult scientific and political subject of herbicide use in Oregon. Dr. Tyrone Hayes, an Integrative Biology professor at University of California, Berkeley, is the featured guest at the University of Oregon Herbicides and Health Conference. Hayes’s influential work on environmental pollution and health has recently been featured in The New Yorker, Mother Jones and National Geographic. The two day conference will feature a convocation address from Hayes and a panel discussion on Friday, October 24th. On October 25th, the conference continues with a daylong series of community and student-led community organizing workshops in Blachly, OR.
Dr. Hayes's findings regarding hermaphroditism in frogs as a result of exposure to the commonly-used herbicide atrazine has created national attention and controversy within academia and beyond. He and his co-authors have published extensively on their finding that amphibians of both sexes developed bisexual reproductive organs when exposed to levels of atrazine that are consistently found in the environment. Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in both forestry and farming operations in the US. The conference begins with Hayes and professor Elizabeth Reis (Department of Women and Gender Studies) leading a panel on how scientific research on intersex conditions affect cultural perceptions of intersex individuals.Dr. Hayes will deliver the UO Environmental Studies Program’s 2014 Convocation address highlighting his innovative research and the backlash it has elicited from Syngenta, the Swedish company that makes atrazine. Hayes is also well-known for his dynamic and often unconventional public lectures.
On Saturday, a group of 100 individuals - comprised of UO students, faculty, Beyond Toxics staff, and community members from Eugene and rural areas directly affected by herbicide sprays - will come together at the Grange Hall of Blachly, OR, for a day of testimony and workshops on how to effect social change. Participants will share their capacity as active and productive citizens. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited so registration is required: http://www.beyondtoxics.org/tyronehayes/
Blachly, near Triangle Lake, has been at the forefront of community action and policy discussion around aerial herbicide spraying. Working with residents of Triangle Lake for over 10 years, Beyond Toxics published “Oregon’s Industrial Forests and Herbicide Use: A Case Study of Risk to People, Drinking Water and Salmon” in December 2013. The report provides the first-ever detailed analysis of aerial herbicides sprays by Oregon industrial timber companies and their impacts on people and water in Lane County. The Herbicides and Health Conference is being held at a crucial moment when Oregonians are taking note of pesticides and herbicides in their communities. Only in the past month have Oregon lawmakers discussed both tightening regulations on aerial herbicide sprays and loosening regulations on roadside herbicide sprays. The Herbicides and Health Conference at the University of Oregon highlights the diversity of stakeholders, academic disciplines, and viewpoints invested in issues of chemical exposure in Oregon communities.
