Bill Kovarik

Bill Kovarik is Professor of Communication at Radford University in the Blue Ridge mountains of southwestern Virginia. He teaches science and environment writing, media history and media law. He has written extensively about environmental and energy issues for publications ranging from the New York Times to Earth Island Journal. He is also an environmental historian and has served as a consultant with the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lloyds of London and other organizations. Kovarik is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University (1974), the University of South Carolina (M.A., 1983) and the University of Maryland (Ph.D., 1993). His Ph.D. dissertation, The Ethyl Controversy, explored the role of the news media in protecting the public interest in a scientific controversy over leaded gasoline and safer alternatives. Kovarik has also served as an academic representative on the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists and on the editorial board of Appalachian Voice. Kovarik is the editor of the Environmental History Timeline and is working on a new book about the history of renewable energy called Brilliant.