Neil Carman

Austin | Botanist

Dr. Carman holds a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Texas, and has conducted wide-ranging research in phytochemistry, looking at the function of secondary plant organic chemicals, such as phenolics, alkaloids, and terpenoids. His interest in chemicals carried over into his work as an inspector from 1980 through 1992 for the Odessa office of the Texas Air Control Board (the former state air pollution agency, now within the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality). While at the TACB, he made more than 200 annual plant inspections, documenting air pollution law violations and advising on compliance plans. In the years since, he has worked as a staff member for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, and as an advisor to the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention. Through his work at the state agency and non-profit organizations, he has been involved in diverse efforts to clean up cement kilns, hazardous waste and medical incinerators, concrete batch and hot-mix asphalt plants, aluminum die-casting plants, copper smelters, rendering plants, coal-fired power plants, fuel tank farms, and many other facilities.