— LISTEE'S SPOTLIGHT —

Richard G. Runyon, a leading expert in environmental biology, leverages more than four decades of experience in hazardous material assessment, response and management. Retiring in 2014, he garnered considerable success as an investigator, supervisor and senior program analyst with the United States Food and Drug Administration, working in the office of the Associate Commissioner of Regulatory Affairs. During his tenure, his work was pivotal in an investigation regarding two animal food component manufacturers in China whose compounds caused hundreds of pet deaths, resulting in an indictment and conviction of one of the involved companies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Runyon was a senior scientist at Scientech Inc., an environmental health specialist and hazardous materials program manager at the Environmental Health Department of Santa Barbara County, and a facilities coordinator at the Lockheed Space Operations Command at Vandenberg. He also taught coursework on environmental health, drugs and genetics at Chapman University for nine years, initially lecturing at Allan Hancock College and the College of the Redwoods. Mr. Runyon’s research on Poinsettia toxicity garnered international recognition, and his expertise in risk assessment and emergency management has been instrumental in supporting worldwide initiatives in Taiwan, Mexico, Trinidad, Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Yugoslavia and Japan.