In the CRA Sessions podcast series Always on: Reliability in focus, CRA Vice President and host Andrew Dressel interviews Rob Kondziolka, Governing Body Member of the Western Energy Imbalance Market, to discuss the evolving challenges and strategies related to the reliability and resiliency of the Western US electric system.

Drawing on decades of industry experience, Kondziolka emphasizes the critical distinction between reliability—everyday service delivery—and resiliency—the ability to withstand and recover from extreme, low-frequency events like wildfires, storms, and cyber threats.

The conversation highlights tools like the Transmission Resiliency Maturity Model (TRMM), the importance of continuous improvement, and the role of emerging technologies such as smart inverters, dynamic line ratings, and AI in enhancing grid performance. The episode emphasizes the urgency of proactive planning and innovation in the face of climate change and increasing system complexity.

This podcast is part of the Life Sciences 2030 initiative that explores ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) in the life sciences industry. Moderated by Kristen Backor with panelists Michelle Guo, Travis Ruch, and Artes Haderi, the discussion highlights AI's potential to revolutionize drug development, patient care, and healthcare efficiency while emphasizing the ethical challenges such as biases in AI models, regulatory considerations, and the impact on health disparities. The conversation also addresses the role of policymakers in ensuring ethical AI implementation in healthcare and discusses real-world examples, potential future applications, and the importance of using real-world evidence to improve clinical trials and patient outcomes.

In this CRA Sessions Podcast episode, we speak with Valentín Estévez, a vice president in CRA’s Labor & Employment Practice based in College Station, Texas. Dr. Estevez has worked as a consultant and testifying expert in class action and single-plaintiff matters. He also assists clients on the application of big data and artificial intelligence techniques in labor and employment consulting. Valentín talks about the potential of artificial intelligence in human resources. And he'll give some best practices for implementing artificial intelligence solutions. Now, without further ado, let's get this session started.

In this CRA Market Insights Podcast, Michael Tom is joined by Claire Wang, Selena Kiu, and Karla Guerrero, who share their experiences as summer interns at CRA. At the time of this recording, in the summer of 2023, Claire Wang and Selena Kiu are both Life Sciences interns in San Francisco. Claire is a Master of Public Health student at Yale University and had previously completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at Boston College. Selena Kiu is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in chemistry at Brown University. And Karla Guerrero is an associate at CRA, having joined us full time in January 2023, after completing her internship in the summer of 2022 and graduating from UC Berkeley with her Master of Public Health degree, specializing in epidemiology and biostatistics.

In the episode, Michael speaks with Claire, Selena, and Karla about their perspectives on maximizing their time in the internship role at CRA.

In this episode of the CRA Sessions Podcast, Michelle Burtis talks with Thomas Hubbard about one of his recent client engagements that dealt with hog farms, supply chains, vertical integration, and more.

Tom was contacted by the plaintiff lawyers in the litigation and worked with the lawyers for several years. His expertise as an economist helped the lawyers frame some of the legal and economic issues in the case.

The litigation was between some property owners in North Carolina and a large food company owned by a Chinese conglomerate that produces mostly pork products. The company contracts with hog farmers, who raise the hogs, according to its specifications, and the food company then produces and sells the consumer products. The plaintiffs in the litigation were neighbors to the hog farms. They owned their property before the hog farms were built near their homes.

The cases were brought on by “neighbors of a North Carolina industrial hog operation for smells and noise they said made living nearby unbearable,”1 and are the centerpiece of the recent nonfiction bestseller Wastelands. Dr. Hubbard submitted an expert report in January 2017. This report described how the large food company’s operations, in conjunction with those of hog growers, created economic value but potentially generated social harms as well.

There was also an award-winning documentary produced in 2022, The Smell of Money, chronicling the case and the neighbors of the North Carolina hog operation.

To hear more about Tom’s expert report and how the engagement unfolded, listen to the podcast episode.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Charles River Associates, its clients, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This podcast is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice. Copyright 2023 Charles River Associates