Dr. Chris Whipple has more than 35 years of environmental engineering experience in the management of human health and environmental risk, with a particular focus on radiological issues. His work experience has included risk assessment methodology, risk management, regulatory analysis, and risk communication. He brings considerable expertise to a number of key areas, most notably public health and environmental management issues related to radioactive and hazardous waste and hazardous air pollutants. Dr. Whipple has served on and chaired numerous national committees to study and advise on radioactive waste management, including committees of the National Academy of Sciences, Environmental Protection Agency, and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, of which he is a member.
He chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Risk-Based Approaches to Securing the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex, Committee on Medical Isotope Production without Highly Enriched Uranium, Committee on Models in the Regulatory Decision Process, Committee on the Review of the Hanford Site’s Environmental Remediation Science and Technology Plan, and Board on Radioactive Waste Management. He serves as co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences Report Review Committee. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2001. He is a charter member of the Society for Risk Analysis and served as its second president. In 2004 he received Purdue University’s Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.