Mary Ellen Ternes to Speak at Oklahoma NanoFocus 2007 Conference

Environmental attorney Mary Ellen Ternes will be a featured speaker at the Oklahoma NanoFocus 2007 Conference on March 28 - 29 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.  The two-day event, which is sponsored by the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative, will focus on nanotechnology research, national and regional trends, current nano education programs and grant opportunities for Oklahoma researchers and businesses.  Over 35 Oklahoma companies are now actively involved in incorporating nanotechnology into their business products.

Ternes will summarize the current national and international thought regarding issues critical to developing appropriate nanotechnology health, safety and environmental regulation, including toxicology, routes of exposure, environmental fate and transport and recommended work practice standards, including EPA's recently issued "Nanotechnology White Paper."

Ternes is a former chemical engineer who began her environmental career as an EPA Region 6 emergency On-Scene Coordinator in 1985.  She also worked as a hazardous waste incinerator permit writer both for EPA Region 6, then industry, before going to law school.

As an environmental lawyer, Ternes assists clients with all types of environmental issues, including potential liability resulting from exposure to hazardous chemicals.  She recently wrote the American Bar Association's position paper on the Clean Air Act and Nanotechnology, briefed EPA's now former General Counsel Ann Klee regarding these issues, and moderated the national ABA teleconference on the same issues.

She currently serves on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Board of Directors.

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