Speakers
Dr. Howard Mielke, Ph.D., Research Professor
Department of Chemistry and Center for Bioenvironmental Research
Tulane University
Howard W. Mielke, native of St. Paul, Minnesota, is currently a Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane University. He is married to Tina Covington-Mielke, a teacher at the Charity School of Nursing. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology, chemistry and geography at Macalester College in St. Paul in 1963 and then joined the Peace Corps for a teaching program in Malawi, Africa. He received his MS in biology and his Ph.D. in geography at the University of Michigan. He began urban geochemistry research in 1971 while teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles, and continued his urban studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Macalester College in Minnesota, and the Center for Regional and Urban Affairs of the University of Minnesota. His Baltimore study on accumulated exterior sources of lead is recognized as pioneering research. His research highlighted the need to prevent urban accumulation of toxins and remove lead from gasoline. He has published numerous articles on the topic of exterior metal accumulation in many cities.
Before Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans he was a professor of environmental toxicology at the College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana. Dr. Mielke joined the faculty at Xavier University in 1988 and became the Principal Investigator of a multimedia study of metals in urban and rural New Orleans for the Environmental Health and Toxicology Research Program with the Minority Health Professions Foundation/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In 2004 he became the Principle Investigator of a pilot project for a Housing and Urban Development Lead Technical Study to Xavier University entitled "Re-Cover New Orleans" whereby clean soils were brought into highly contaminated communities of New Orleans to reduce the potential for childhood exposure to lead and other toxins that had accumulated in the soil. After Katrina and the termination of the toxicology program at Xavier University he was invited to join the faculty of Tulane University as a Research Professor. In New Orleans his focus is on issues related to environmental health disparities from the accumulation of metals. As part of his activities he is involved in policy discussions that changed the regulations for house painting in New Orleans, and his publications have international impact because they form the scientific basis for proactive prevention of metal exposure. Specifically, his research influenced policy for the removal of lead from gasoline, supported revised lead laws in Michigan, Louisiana, Canada, Mexico, Peru, the European Union, and especially Norway. Dr. Mielke is a full member of the Society of Toxicology and a member of the board of the Society of Environmental Geochemistry and Health. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Mielke is an avid traveler, camper, birder, and he sings tenor with the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans.