Rosalie Bertell

Rosalie Bertell (April 4, 1929 – June 14, 2012) was an American scientist, author, environmental activist, epidemiologist, and Catholic nun. Bertell was a sister of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, best known for her work in the field of ionizing radiation. A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, she worked in environmental health since 1970. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "raising public awareness about the destruction of the biosphere and human gene pool, especially by low-level radiation." Rosalie Bertell was born to Paul G. and Helen (née Twohey) Bertell in Buffalo, New York, the third of four children. Her mother was Canadian and her father was American. She had an older sister, Mary Katherine Bertell (1925–2011), and a younger brother, John Twohey Bertell (1930–2002). A third sibling, Paul W. Bertell died in infancy in 1921. In 1966, she received a Ph.D in Biometrics from the Catholic University of America. She received her BA in Math/Physics/Education from D'Youville College, and later was an associate professor of mathematics at D'Youville from 1969–1973.From 1969 to 1978, Bertell was senior cancer research scientist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was a consultant to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and to Health Canada.In 1983, she received the "Hans-Adalbert Schweigart"-Medal from the World Union for Protection of Life. She was president of International Institute of Concern for Public Health from 1987 to 2004. She founded the International Medical Commission Chernobyl in 1996.Bertell was a coordinator for the International Medical Commission on Bhopal, and campaigned for an independent body "to coordinate health care, research and rehabilitation" for victims of the Bhopal disaster.Bertell's Nuclear Contamination Act was adopted April 2006, as World Legislative Act 35 by the 9th session of the Provisional World Parliament.