About
the Author:
Dr.
Chiras is an adjunct professor of the Environmental Policy and Management
Program at the University of Denver, where he teaches ˇ§Toward a Sustainable
Public Policy.ˇ¨ He has been a visiting professor at the University of
Washington in Seattle, where he taught introductory environmental science.
Dan
Chiras began his teaching career in 1976 after earning his Ph.D. in reproductive
physiology from the University of Kansas Medical School, where he was awarded
the Latimer Award for his research on ovarian physiology. That year, he accepted
a teaching and research position at the University of Colorado, Denver where he
taught a variety of courses, including general biology, cell biology, histology,
reproductive biology, and endocrinology.
Over
the years, Dr. Chiras developed a number of courses on the environment,
including a graduate course on pollution, environment, and health as well as
several undergraduate science modules on air pollution, nuclear power, noise
pollution, impacts from coals development, and strategies for sustainability.
Dr.
Chiras worked on several EPA projects on the health impacts of chlorinated
organics from wastewater treatment and on the impacts of coal mining in the
West. He also wrote an assessment of the impacts of oil shale development in
Colorado for the U.S. Department of Energy.
In
1981, Dr. Chiras decided to pursue a full-time writing career. Since that time,
he has published over 70 articles and 9 books. A leading advocate of critical
think-
ing
and sustainability, Dr. Chiras has published several articles in the American
Biology Teacher that are helping to reshape environmental education. He
recently published a new theory on the roots of the environmental crisis.
Currently, Dr. Chiras writes the environment section for Science Year published by the World Book Encyclopedia, and
serves as coeditor of Environmental
Carcinogenesis and Ecotoxicology Reviews.
In
addition to teaching and writing, Dr. Chiras plays an active role in the
environmental movement. While at the university, Dr. Chiras has served on the
Board of Directors of the Colorado Environmental Coalition since 1987, and he
was president of this coalition of 40 environmental groups for two years.
In 1988, Dr. Chiras cofounded Friends of Curbside Recycling, which was
instrumental in convincing the city of Denver to begin a curbside recycling
program. In 1989, he cofounded Speakers for a Sustainable Future, an
organization that offers slide shows on recycling, water conservation, and
sustainability, and that works to establish state chapters. Dr. Chiras cofounded
another nonprofit organization in 1993, the Sustainable Future Society (SFS).
Its mission is to foster the transition to a global sustainable society by
promoting a broader understanding of sustainable principles, policies, and
practices and by encouraging adoption of these practices.
When heˇ¦s not writing, teaching, or working as an activist, Dan Chiras likes to kayak, hike, ski, and bicycle. He lives with his wife, Kathleen, and two children, Skyler and Forrest, in a superefficient passive solar home in the Colorado Rockies where he tries to practice all that he preaches.