The Strathmore Speaker Series’ March 2019 event featured scientist and professor Dr. Donald Siegel who examined the dismissal of facts in science-related decision making. This event was held on Thursday, March 14th at the Onondaga Park Firebarn.

About this event

In this talk, Professor Siegel presents the root causes for why the public on both sides of the political spectrum dismisses overwhelming scientific facts when making personal and public decisions related to energy, health, and well being. He will discuss the strategies used by both sides to defame the arguments of the other by using a personal example, and finally presents a way to communicate that can forge discussion and common ground.

About Dr. Donald Siegel

Donald Siegel is the Emeritus Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor in the department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University. He earned a B.S. in Geology from the University of Rhode Island, a M.S. in Geosciences at Penn State, and a doctorate in Hydrogeology at the University of Minnesota. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey as a hydrologist and geochemist before joining Syracuse University in 1982. During his 35 years at SU, his research ranged from hydrofracking, to maintaining wetland and lake water quality, to identifying and cleaning up water contamination.

Siegel has served as Chairman of the National Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council (NRC) and on many of its panels related to water resources. The Geological Society of America awarded him its Distinguished Service Award, O.E. Meinzer Award and Birdsall-Dreiss Lectureship in honor of his research and other contributions to science. He was elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union. Siegel serves as President-Elect of the Geological Society of America.

Not retired but rewired, he now serves as partner at “Independent Environmental Sciences,” a consulting firm specializing in forensic water science. He competed on the Food Network in 2016 and has a secondary career playing solo jazz guitar at coffeehouses, wineries, and receptions in upstate New York. Don has lived on Stolp Avenue with his caterer and editor wife Bette for 36 years.