Professor Joseph Arvai Recipient of Chauncey Starr Award

Contact: Jessica A. Knoblauch, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or knoblau7@msu.edu

December 15, 2006

Congratulations to Dr. Joe Arvai, winner of the Society for Risk Analysis' 2006 Chauncey Starr Award! Named for one of the founders of the application of risk analysis to environmental and technology policy, the award is given each year to recognize an outstanding young risk analyst.

Dr. Arvai is an assistant professor of judgment and decision making within the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS) and the Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP) at Michigan State University. He is also an adjunct professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, and an associate of the non-profit Decision Science Research Institute based in Eugene, OR.

Arvai came to Michigan State in January 2005 after working as a professor for four years at Ohio State University. The interdisciplinarity of ESPP, CARRS, and MSU more generally, were the main draws for Arvai. "It seemed like a good fit," he says.

Currently, Arvai serves as the director of the Skunkworks Lab for Environmental Decision Research at MSU. In his lab, Arvai and his students work mainly on environmental risks with a particular focus on policy and decision making under conditions of uncertainty.

Research in his lab tends to focus on two themes. One deals with descriptive studies of behavior, which focus on people's instinctive or unaided decisions under conditions of risk and uncertainty. The other deals with prescriptive studies where Arvai and his students develop and test decision aids that help to simplify complex decisions without glossing over the important details of a decision. "The overall goal of our work is to help provide some much needed clarity and guidance to those dealing with complex and difficult decisions," he says.

Arvai accepted his award at the annual meeting for the Society for Risk Analysis on December 5th, 2006 in Baltimore, MD.