Ferdinand native Dr. Norma Kreilein wins national pediatrics award

Dr. Norma Schue Kreilein, a Ferdinand native and former Jasper pediatrician, has been named a recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Local Hero Award. The award recognizes her work on children’s exposure to industrial pollution in Southwestern Indiana.

The award will be presented Oct. 3 at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in San Diego.

The AAP says the award goes to pediatricians who lead community action and advocacy for children and who “epitomize the ‘community pediatrician,'” according to the release.

For about 15 years, Kreilein has argued that doctors should treat pollution as a factor in children’s health, especially in areas with heavy industry. She and her allies call those areas “sacrifice zones,” places where they say state regulators have let pollution pile up.

In April, Indiana University geography professor Annie Shattuck said at a presentation in Dale that Spencer County has more industrial toxic releases by pound than Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta combined, according to the release.

“I hope this national award will help to empower medical doctors everywhere to challenge local, state, and national elected officials … to prioritize children’s health over polluting industries,” Kreilein said in a statement. “Children in sacrifice zones especially need the voices of the doctors above all others.”

From 2011 to 2014, as president of Healthy Dubois County, Kreilein led a successful opposition, including a lawsuit, to a biomass power plant that city officials had approved inside Jasper city limits. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, a Notre Dame ethicist and scientist who studied the proposal, estimated its emissions could have led to about 40 deaths a year, according to the release.

From 2017 to 2023, she was a leading medical voice against a proposed $2.5 billion coal-to-diesel refinery near Dale in Spencer County. The release says her work, together with the group Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life, Valley Watch and Earthjustice, helped stop the project.

Kreilein is now semi-retired. She works as a locum tenens, or fill-in, doctor at several hospitals. At the San Diego conference, she will also present a peer-reviewed abstract on the challenges of practicing rural pediatrics in a heavily polluted region.

Members of Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life praised her in statements.

“Dr. Kreilein embodies the courage, compassion, and unwavering determination required to advocate for children living in a sacrifice zone of industrial pollution,” said Mary Hess, the group’s president. “Her work is not simply professional, it is deeply moral, deeply human, and urgently needed.”

Jane Schipp, the group’s secretary-treasurer, said Kreilein became her family’s pediatrician when her daughter was born 37 years ago.

“Norma was, and is, the fiercest, clearest voice in the room, not just for her patients, but for every child out there,” Schipp said. “We need more Normas in this world.”

Kris Lasher, an officer with Healthy Dubois County, called her “the canary in the coal mine.”

“She speaks up for their health and their lives — and asks that society listen, acknowledge, and act,” Lasher said.

Jessica Blazier, a group member, said Kreilein has cared for her son, “thoughtfully managing his complex medical needs by treating him as a whole, growing child rather than simply addressing individual symptoms.”

Maggie Pund-Stimming, another member, called Kreilein “the shepherd working and researching diligently and tirelessly for over 15 years to inform residents, legislators, and anyone who will listen.”