A full-page conversation with Arlene was featured in the Dec 8, 2008 issue of C&E News, p. 35. Two excerpts:
“Blum is taking action to limit the amount of potentially toxic chemicals used in consumer products by bringing together independent scientists and industry and government decisionmakers … She is particularly concerned about hazardous halogenated chemicals. Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants are pressing concerns, she says.”
“Blum fell in love with molecules and mountain climbing when she attended Reed College, in Oregon. She wrote her senior thesis about volcanic gases, collecting samples on nearby Mount Hood in the process.”
Anyone who can work their senior thesis into a conversation with a reporter from a national news magazine is a true Reedie. Out of curiousity, I looked up the title of Arlene’s thesis: “Fumarole emanations from Mount Hood, Oregon”. The Reed library also contains two other books by Arlene: “Annapurna: A Woman’s Place” (Sierra Club, 1980) and “Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life” (Scribner’s, 2005). Arlene spoke at Reed on Nov 18, 2008 as a guest of the Reed Outdoor Club.