Community at Risk: Biodefense and Civic Action after the Anthrax Attacks

Mon. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Interlocken B

The anthrax attacks, which came on the heels of 9/11 and the successive menaces of West Nile, SARS, and the Avian Flu, created a sense of urgency among U.S. security elites and prompted the federal government to spend $60 billion to shore up domestic biodefenses. The new risk management plans, however, would meet with public opposition. In this research, I compare public response to the ambitious federal biodefense agenda in three communities—Roxbury, Massachusetts; Davis, California; and Galveston, Texas—where local universities proposed to host National Biocontainment Laboratories, which are a cornerstone of the federal effort.

Thomas Beamish, Presenter
University of California, Davis