2025 Upton Sinclair Lecture: Protecting Miners: Insights Into Black Lung Disease and Regulatory Challenges

May 07, 2025 at 12:06 PM EDT

The lecture is one of the scheduled events during AIHA Connect, AIHA’s annual conference and expo for OEHS professionals

Howard Berkes, a distinguished award-winning journalist and retired NPR Investigations Correspondent, will deliver the 2025 Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture during AIHA Connect, the annual conference and expo for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals hosted by AIHA.

Berkes' lecture, titled "Protecting Miners: Insights Into Black Lung Disease and Regulatory Challenges," will delve into the hidden epidemic of severe black lung disease affecting coal miners, a crisis uncovered through his extensive investigative work. The lecture is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CT on Monday, May 19, at the Kansas City Convention Center.

His impactful work has revealed instances of progressive massive fibrosis exceeding official reports, alongside thousands of cases of excessive silica dust exposure and regulatory shortcomings. Attendees will learn about the significant changes prompted by these findings and hear compelling stories from the miners themselves.

AIHA Connect 2025 will take place from May 19 to 21 at the Kansas City Convention Center. Media representatives interested in obtaining press passes for the Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture should contact Jessie Lewis, AIHA's director of marketing, at jlewis@aiha.org.

About the Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture

The Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture for an Outstanding Occupational Safety and Health News Story of the Year was first awarded in 2000 by AIHA’s Social Concerns Committee. The annual lecture highlights the importance of media in occupational safety and health, examines issues of relevance globally beyond members’ plants and companies, involves the public in the cause of occupational safety and health, and recognizes good investigative reporting. The lecture is named in honor of political activist, Upton Sinclair, best known for his 1906 novel, The Jungle, which revealed the horrors experienced by workers in Chicago’s meatpacking plants and led to major health and safety changes in the industry.

About Howard Berkes

Howard Berkes was a veteran NPR correspondent for 38 years, covering the American West, rural America, and later serving as an Investigations Correspondent. He earned over 40 journalism awards for his impactful reporting and was a 1997 Nieman Fellow at Harvard. Learn more at https://www.howardberkes.com/.

About AIHA

AIHA is the association for scientists and professionals committed to ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community. Founded in 1939, we support our members with our expertise, networks, education programs, and other products and services that help them maintain the highest professional standards. AIHA serves those employed across the public and private sectors, as well as to the communities in which they work. For more information, visit www.aiha.org.