Dr. Gene E. Willeke is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer who worked seven years for the federal government and has 36 years of university teaching and administrative experience (Stanford University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Miami University). He is currently Visiting Scholar at Miami University's Luxembourg campus, doing research on European environmental policy. He is a consultant on environmental issues with federal, state, regional, and local agencies, he served on the Ohio EPA Director's Advisory Council, and has been a panelist and panel chair for NSF Graduate Fellowships in Engineering. He served as editor and study director for the National Drought Atlas, prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since 1993, he has served on the Fernald Citizens Advisory Panel, a Site Specific Advisory Board overseeing remediation of a uranium processing plant in Butler County, one of the largest remediation projects in the United States. In Dr. Willeke's words, "Environmental problems rank among the most intellectually challenging problems of our time. They have a major impact on the quality of life of people all over the globe. No one can pretend that we have solutions to all those problems. However, I firmly believe that we can usually do a good, if not ideal, job of solving these problems by employing a rational, holistic approach. I also believe we have to use and respect relevant knowledge and wisdom wherever it can be found - in the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and in the life experiences of people who are close to the land. Beyond the intellectual challenge of the environment, it seems to me we need to have some passion for working on these issues. It is important to me that landscapes, rock formations, soil, and the many members of the plant and animal kingdoms are not plundered, despoiled, and ruined for this and subsequent generations. We are indebted to our predecessors for the good things in the environment which remain, and we have responsibilities to be at least as good stewards for those who come after us. Thus, some of our guidance needs to come from philosophers, historians, poets, musicians, and artists."
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