HCRA Faculty: John Evans

HCRA Faculty

John Evans

Senior Lecturer on Environmental Science
Department of Environmental Health

135 Market Street, Unit C
Portsmouth NH 03801
phone: 603-433-3956
fax: 603-433-4174
Email: jevans@hsph.harvard.edu
Education

    S.D., 1980, Harvard University
    S.M., 1977, Harvard University
    M.S., 1971, University of Michigan

Research Interests:

    Dr. Evans' research focuses on risk assessment, uncertainty analysis, and decision making in environmental health. Quantitative information about uncertainty is needed by decision makers responsible for determining how much to spend to control environmental exposures and by scientists responsible for prioritizing research efforts. Much of Dr. Evans' work has involved the development and application of methods for characterizing uncertainty in estimates of exposures to and risks from contaminants in the environment. Simple and transparent approaches for estimating population exposure to air pollutants are necessary to support many risk assessments - especially in developing countries. Dr. Evans has pioneered application of the concept of intake fraction (formerly known as exposure efficiency) to meet this need. Environmental decision makers often need to distinguish situations when they have enough information to make control decisions and from those in which it would be best to wait for research to improve the scientific basis for decision making. Dr. Evans has demonstrated how the decision analytic approach for estimating the value of information can be used to address this issue in support of environmental decisions. For the past five years Dr. Evans has directed a program of study intended to assess the public health impacts of Iraq's 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The study uses epidemiology and risk assessment to characterize the health impacts of mine and ordnance accidents, smoke from the oil well fires, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the marine and terrestrial oil spills, and depleted uranium from spent munitions. The project also examines the health consequences of the Kuwaiti population's exposure to trauma related to these events.

Publications:

    Evans JS. Theoretically optimal environmental metrics and their surrogates. J Environ Economics and Management 1984, 11(1):18-27.

    Evans JS, Gray GM, Sielken RL Jr., Smith AE, Valdez-Flores C, Graham JD Use of Probabilistic Expert Judgment in Uncertainty Analysis of Carcinogenic Potency Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 1994, 20: 15-36.

    Thompson KM, Evans, JS, The Value of Improved National Exposure Information for Perchlorethylene (Perc): A Case Study for Dry Cleaners, Risk Analysis 1997, 17 (2) 253-271.

    Brand KP, Rhomberg L, Evans JS, Estimating Noncancer Uncertainty Facotrs: Are Ratios NOAELs Informative? Risk Analysis 1999, 19 (2) 295-308.

    Carrothers TJ, Evans JS, Assessing the Impact of Differential Measurement Error on Estimates of Fine Particle Mortality, Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association 2000, 50: 65-74.

International Research Projects

Websites