About Us

SEHN was founded in 1994 by a consortium of North American environmental organizations (including the Environmental Defense Fund, The Environmental Research Foundation, and OMB Watch) concerned about the misuse of science in ways that failed to protect the environment and human health. Granted 501(c)(3) status in 1999, SEHN operates as a virtual organization, currently with six staff and seven board members working from locations across the U.S.

Since 1998, SEHN has been the leading proponent in the United States of the Precautionary Principle as a new basis for environmental and public health policy. SEHN has worked with issue driven organizations, national environmental health coalitions, municipal and state governments, and several NGO/government teams to implement precautionary policies at local and state levels.
 

The Network:

• Translates law and science for the public and decision makers;
• Provides the legal and scientific tools needed to protect and restore justice and ecological wholeness;
• Serves environmental, public health and environmental justice coalitions and grassroots campaigns with legal and scientific expertise, informed by ethics;
• Lifts up women’s voices and leadership, as well as others who are traditionally excluded from leadership and influence, to address the challenges of our time.