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Rosalie Bertell (April 4, 1929 – June 14, 2012) was a Canadian-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.[1][2]
She wrote the book "No Immediate Danger", describing the dangers of radiation from the nuclear industry. [3] Rosalie won many awards, including the Right Livelihood Award in 1986, for "raising public awareness about the destruction of the biosphere and human gene pool, especially by low-level radiation." She died of cancer in 2012.
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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.[citation needed] 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.[4]
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.[1] 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.[citation needed] She wrote the books No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth (1985) and Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War (2000).[citation needed]
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.[5] Bertell's Nuclear Contamination Act was adopted April 2006, as World Legislative Act 35 by the 9th session of the Provisional World Parliament.[6] She suffered attempts on her life, and attacks on her scientific credentials.[7]
In 2012, Bertell died of cancer at age 83 at Saint Mary Medical Center, Langhorne, Pennsylvania.[8]
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Bertell received many awards, including:[citation needed]
- Hans-Adalbert-Schweigart-Medal (1983)
- Right Livelihood Award (1986)
- World Federalist Peace Award
- Ontario Premier's Council on Health, Health Innovator Award (1991)
- United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 award
- Seán MacBride International Peace Prize
Bertell appeared in at least five documentary films between 1985 and 2005. They include:[9]
| Title | Director | Production Company | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speaking our peace | Bonnie Sherr Klein, Terre Nash | National Film Board of Canada | 1985 |
| Uranium | Magnus Isacsson | National Film Board of Canada | 1990 |
| Bhopal: The Search for Justice | Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey | White Pine Pictures | 2004 |
| Fatal Fallout: The Bush Legacy | Gary Null | 2004 | |
| Poison Dust | Sue Harris | Lightyear Entertainment | 2005 |
- International Institute of Concern for Public Health
- There is a Rosalie Bertell fond at Library and Archives Canada.[10] The archival reference number is R6847, former archival reference number MG31-K39.[11] The fond covers the date range 1942 to 2001. It contains textual records, audio-visual material and graphic material.
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