Rosalie Bertell
The neutrality of this article is disputed. (February 2015) |
Rosalie Bertell (April 4, 1929 – June 14, 2012) was an American scientist, author, environmental activist, epidemiologist, and Catholic nun. Bertell was a sister of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, best known for her work in the field of ionizing radiation. A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, she worked in environmental health since 1970.[1][2] In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "raising public awareness about the destruction of the biosphere and human gene pool, especially by low-level radiation."
Biography[]
Rosalie Bertell was born to Paul G. and Helen (née Twohey) Bertell in Buffalo, New York. Her mother was Canadian, her father a citizen of the USA. In 1966, she received a Ph.D in Biometrics from the Catholic University of America.[citation needed]
From 1969 to 1978, Bertell was senior cancer research scientist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was a consultant to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and to Health Canada.[1]
In 1983, she received the "Hans-Adalbert Schweigart"-Medal from the World Union for Protection of Life. She was president of International Institute of Concern for Public Health from 1987 to 2004. She founded the International Medical Commission Chernobyl in 1996.[citation needed]
Bertell was a coordinator for the International Medical Commission on Bhopal, and campaigned for an independent body "to coordinate health care, research and rehabilitation" for victims of the Bhopal disaster.[3]
Filmography[]
Bertell appeared in at least five documentary films between 1985 and 2005. They include:[4]
Title | Director | Production Company | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Poison Dust | Sue Harris | Lightyear Entertainment | 2005 |
Fatal Fallout: The Bush Legacy | Gary Null | 2004 | |
Bhopal: The Search for Justice | Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey | White Pine Pictures | 2004 |
Uranium | Magnus Isacsson | National Film Board of Canada | 1990 |
Speaking our peace | Bonnie Sherr Klein, Terre Nash | National Film Board of Canada | 1985 |
Death[]
Bertell died of cancer at age 83 at Saint Mary Medical Center, Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
Bibliography[]
Library resources about Rosalie Bertell |
By Rosalie Bertell |
---|
She wrote the books No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth (1985) and Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War (2000).
Awards[]
Bertell received many awards, including:
- Hans-Adalbert-Schweigart-Medal (1983)
- Right Livelihood Award (1986)
- World Federalist Peace Award
- Ontario Premier's Council on Health, Health Innovator Award (1991)
- United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 award
- Sean MacBride International Peace Prize
See also[]
Archives[]
There is a Rosalie Bertell fond at Library and Archives Canada.[5] The archival reference number is R6847, former archival reference number MG31-K39.[6] The fond covers the date range 1942 to 2001. It contains textual records, audio-visual material and graphic material.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Dr. Rosalie Bertell profile at rightlivelihood.org Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""Anti-Nuclear Nun" Rosalie Bertell Dies at 83". Democracynow.org. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ Letter to the Editor: Bhopal's Victims, New York Times (September 27, 2002).
- ^ "Rosalie Bertell". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
- ^ "Finding aid to the Rosalie Bertell fond at Library and Archives Canada" (PDF). Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "Rosalie Bertell fond description at Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved July 13, 2020.
External links[]
- Cancer researchers
- Radiation health effects researchers
- American conspiracy theorists
- 1929 births
- 2012 deaths
- American Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns
- American women epidemiologists
- American epidemiologists
- Writers from Buffalo, New York
- Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
- American expatriates in Canada
- Canadian people of American descent
- Activists from Buffalo, New York
- 20th-century Christian nuns