Dr. H. Christopher Frey, professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering at NC State University, has been selected by the National Academy of Sciences to serve a three-year term on the Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST).

BEST is the National Academies' principal study unit for environmental pollution problems affecting human health, human impacts on the environment, and the assessment and management of related risks to human health and the environment.

The board provides independent expert assistance to problems involving air and water pollution, solid and hazardous waste, toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, applied ecology, natural resources and environmental engineering, economics, law and policy.

Frey is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and also serves on a National Research Council committee that will help establish a precedent for regulation of the use of tetrachloroethylene, a potentially harmful chemical used in dry cleaning and industrial processes.

Frey's research interests have been in energy and environmental systems, including air pollutants, greenhouse gases, power generation and vehicle emissions.  He earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1985 from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1987 and his PhD in engineering and public policy in 1991 from Carnegie Mellon University.