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Daniel Sperling Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, and Civil and Environmental Engineering Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies Recipient 1995-1996 Professor Sperling is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the relationship between transportation, energy, and the environment. He believes UC professors have a unique status and special responsibility to advocate in the public interest - because of their scholarly expertise, credibility in the public eye, public funding, and tenured job security - even (or especially) when it is unpopular or professional risky. He has actively sought to inform and positively influence public policy by building policy-relevant research programs and widely sharing his research findings at scientific conferences, public hearings, and industry meetings. There have been costs and risks. He was denied years of funding from one prominent government agency when he publicly questioned that agency’s commitment to what he thought was an ill-advised strategy not in the public interest (those programs and policies were eventually abandoned). He lost funding from a major corporation when he offered testimony at a contentious hearing regarding the advantages of California’s zero emission vehicle program. And his testimony at a Congressional hearing, questioning the appropriateness, design, and effectiveness of a high profile research partnership between the Administration and the auto industry, drew criticism from both sides in subsequent media interviews. In the end, though, his commitment to advocating on behalf of the public interest has gained the begrudging respect of industry, government, and environmental leaders - ultimately resulting in wide-ranging support for his research and his research institute (and also attracted passionate and high quality graduate students to his program). Indeed, the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (ITS-Davis), which he founded in 1991 and still directs, is widely regarded as the leading university center in the world for the study of transportation and the environment. He and ITS-Davis are unique in maintaining close relationships with senior executives from the oil and auto companies, along with senior leaders from the environmental community. The Institute includes a former CEO of General Motors and a VP from ExxonMobil on its Board of Advisors, but also the executive director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. It includes major research consortia funded not only by automotive, energy, and truck companies but also by governmental regulators, with representatives of environmental organizations included in many of the activities. Through his large research programs at ITS-Davis, he creates the scientific understandings to pressure industry and policy makers to “push the envelope” in advancing environmentally friendly policies and technologies. His straddling of public and industrial worlds is deliberate and appreciated. He organizes many workshops and conferences, including a prestigious biennial meeting at the Asilomar Conference Center, where he brings together leaders and experts from key interest groups. His success is now bearing much fruit. Many companies, seeking to be technological leaders in their industries, now seek out Professor Sperling and ITS-Davis as partners. They realize that they cannot be successful on their own (for instance in introducing new types of vehicles, fuels, or mobility services). They need government and public support. Sperling and his associates, as well-connected, independent researchers, bring credibility to the public debate, which those companies do not. The success of Professor Sperling’s balancing act attests to his integrity, sophistication across a range of policy and technology issues, and commitment to sound research. His ability to influence public policy is further aided by his willingness to engage with radio, newspaper, and television media, write opinion pieces and longer articles for influential publications (such as Scientific American and NAS’s Issues in Science and Technology). Recently he has extended his research and advising activities to the developing world. He is now engaged in international debates over greenhouse gas emissions and the spread of motor vehicles in China and other fast-growing regions of the world. |
