March/April 1996
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March/April 1996 |
The International Joint Commission family was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Helen Daly on November 23, 1995 after a long struggle with cancer. Dr. Daly presented an indepth keynote presentation on her research on the behavioral effects of toxic pollutants at the Commission's September 1995 Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality in Duluth, Minnesota, and was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that same month in recognition of her work.
Dr. Daly's research has provided key missing links between several Great Lakes wildlife studies that have shown developmental effects of toxic chemicals in offspring, and human studies by Sandra and Joseph Jacobson, which showed lower weight and reduced levels in short-term memory and cognitive processing speed in children whose mothers consumed PCB-laden Lake Michigan fish. In one study, Dr. Daly fed a 30 percent diet of Lake Ontario salmon to rats for 20 days and either Pacific Ocean salmon or no salmon to two control groups. Even though no signs of illness were found in any of the groups, the tests showed similar behavioral defects in the rats fed Lake Ontario fish, and in their offspring, as seen in the human studies.
Most recently, Dr. Daly was completing a research project funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund and the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to study the developmental impacts of toxic chemicals on infants born to women who ingested Lake Ontario fish. Initial findings have confirmed and extended the Jacobsen's previous behavioral findings. Her work in these areas and in research methodology, computer simulation and mathematical modelling received grants totalling more than $1.3 million.
Dr. Daly earned a B.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Rochester, and a postdoctoral fellow in psychology from the National Institute of Mental Health at Syracuse University. For the past five years, she was Director of the Center for Neurobehavioral Effects of Environmental Toxins at the State University of New York at Oswego, was appointed full professor at the University's Department of Psychology in 1982, and a distinguished teaching professor in 1989. In addition, she was a visiting fellow at Yale University from 1976-1977, a visiting scholar at the University of California-San Diego from 1983-1984, a visiting professor at the University of Texas-Austin in 1988, and a visiting researcher at the University of California-Irvine in 1990-1991.
Her contributions to Great Lakes research, and more importantly her wisdom and warmth, will be missed.
Revised: 28 February 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net