A veteran UCLA professor will keep his job for at least one more academic year.

Dr. James Enstrom, who has worked at UCLA for 37 years – the last 34 as associate research professor – reportedly can work for at least another year.

Enstrom was fired last summer after a secret vote of faculty members in his department.

In September 2010, Enstrom appealed his firing under UCLA’s Whistle Blower Protection Policies.

Enstrom made headlines in recent years after he questioned claims made by CARB regarding diesel particulate matter and public health. Enstrom’s research on diesel emissions showed no causal link between diesel soot and early death for Californians.

He also said he may have made enemies when he questioned the Scientific Review Panel of Toxic Air Contaminates for not complying with state-required three-year term limits.

In interviews with Land Line last year, Enstrom said he likely irked top officials at CARB between 2008 and 2009, when he questioned science used to justify the implementation of CARB’s Truck and Bus rule, also known as the Retrofit Rule. The rule requires trucking fleets to install diesel particulate filters and upgrade their truck engines beginning in 2012, though several amendments to the rule are scheduled to be presented this fall.

Enstrom alerted CARB to problems with the resume of Hien Tran, researcher for the agency’s Truck and Bus Rule.

Enstrom pointed out that Tran had faked his resume, and ordered the doctoral degree online for $1,000.

Tran is still employed at CARB.

Source:
Land Line Magazine, the official publication of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association