Christina Meade

This thesis investigates the role of the scientist in environmental policy-making, using the dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida as a case study. In the early 1990s, Dr. Joann Burkholder of North Carolina State University identified Pfiesteria as the causative agent in 50% of the major fish kills that have occurred off the coast of North Carolina in recent years. She has also implicated Pfiesteria as a human health threat. When policy-makers did not respond to her warnings because of a lack of scientific consensus, Burkholder used the media as a way to involve the public in the debate. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the available scientific evidence regarding Pfiesteria was sufficient to justify a policy response, and whether Burkholder’s approach was appropriate as a scientist. The reviewed studies suggest that P. piscicida is a unique species of dinoflagellate that occurs along the southeastern coast of the United States at the site of major fish kills. According to Burkholder, Pfiesteria demonstrates chemosensory "ambush-predator" behavior, attacking fish with an unidentified toxin, but some scientists disagree that Pfiesteria can actively kill fish. There is still great controversy among scientists about the cause of Pfiesteria blooms, with Burkholder’s work suggesting that Pfiesteria is stimulated by phosphate enrichment, and studies by other scientists finding that it is not. Finally, until Pfiesteria’s toxin is isolated, it cannot be determined whether or not Pfiesteria is the cause of the fish kills and/or the medical illnesses reported by some people exposed to Pfiesteria-laden waters. Since Burkholder first made her assertions about Pfiesteria in 1991, she has published at least 17 peer-reviewed papers, which gained her respect from the scientific community, as measured by the opinions of fellow scientists and the awards she has received from esteemed scientific institutions. In the second step of this analysis, the extent to which Burkholder’s assertions influenced North Carolina’s policy response to Pfiesteria is determined by reviewing the relationship between the type/extent of media coverage and policy response over time. Although the Neuse River has suffered from eutrophication since the 1970s, and the Environmental Management Commission recommended a 30% reduction in nitrogen to the Neuse River, regulations were slow in coming. Serious initiatives to improve water quality began in 1995 and continued through 1997. As these policies coincided with the Pfiesteria story,it seems that Burkholder’s use of the media may have played a role in their enactment. The same trend was not observed for human health policies. A media analysis, which tracked six local and national newspapers from 1992-1997, was conducted to determine public perception of risk. Among the North Carolina local papers, there was a significant rise in press coverage of Pfiesteria in 1995. In 1997, the number of articles printed about Pfiesteria increased exponentially, both locally and nationally, due to the release of Rodney Barker’s book And the Waters turned to Blood, a melodrama tracking Burkholder’s struggle to expose the dangers of Pfiesteria, and the major fish kills that occurred in North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay that summer. In conclusion, although Burkholder approached the public before there was scientific evidence in support of her assertions, her advocacy served to increase public awareness of environmental issues in general, which contributed to the passage of regulations to improve water quality in the Neuse River.