By Ron Meador

Deborah Swackhamer has gotten considerable recognition over the decades for her work as an environmental chemist and toxicologist at the University of Minnesota, where she headed the Water Resources Center and oversaw preparation of the state’s landmark Water Sustainability Framework.

Three years retired from the U, she has continued to work as an adviser on environmental policy, and was startled a couple of weeks ago by an announcement from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, which honored her in its 2018 Disobedience Awards for speaking out about official meddling with the scientist panels advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.