Friday September 23, 2022
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Meeting Both In-Person and by Zoom
Dampeer Room, Second Floor of Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
Perhaps like others who live in this area, I have been telling myself that in twenty years or so this may be one of the prime places in the country to live. After all, global warming may be terrible, but the weather here may get better and, even more important, living next to one of the largest supplies of fresh water in the world may become more and more attractive.
Of course, that requires that the water from Lake Erie be healthy. One of the greatest threats to that is from “Harmful Algal Blooms” (HAB), seasonal blooms of cyanobacteria that “are capable of producing toxins that are a risk to human and animal health, foul coastlines, and impact communities and businesses that depend on the lake.” HABs are a problem for many coastal communities, but the situation in Lake Erie is especially prominent.
Much of the algae problem is due to human effects such as phosphorus run-off and could be reduced by public policy and even some modification of personal behaviors. In 1998 Congress passed the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA), and amended it in 2004, 2014, and 2017. Nevertheless, in the words of an interagency progress and implementation report to Congress in 2020 (p7), “(s)ince the mid-1990s there has been an increase in the size, intensity, and prevalence of these scientifically complex events in the Great Lakes region due to increased nutrient runoffs, mostly from nonpoint agricultural sources.”
Addressing the problem begins with figuring out its scope, so monitoring and predicting it. That itself is a technical challenge, met in part with satellite imagery as well as water sampling and other research. (You can see recent projections here). It then includes a range of possibilities, such as reducing runoff of harmful contaminants from fertilizer, a focus of Professor Zhang’s research, with funding from the NSF, USDA, and Ohio Water Development Authority.
Please join us as Professor Zhang reports on her own research and the wider problem and prospects.
In-Person and Virtual Attendance
The discussion begins at 12:30 p.m., but the Dampeer Room should be open no later than Noon. We try to have beverages and refreshments set up soon after that. Participants should be able to sign on to Zoom also by Noon. But please remember not much will be happening online until the talk begins at 12:30.
Zoom participants will probably have trouble hearing comments made by members of the audience in the room. As moderator I will repeat and summarize such comments or questions. Zoom participants are also encouraged to submit questions through Zoom’s chat function. The chat will be monitored.
Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. When you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. If you do not get the newsletter, you should also be able to get the information each Monday by checking http://fridaylunch.case.edu/. Then if you choose you can use the contact form on that website to request the registration link.
This week’s Zoom link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvdemorzwvGNFOeDoXJUag2PGJ-OnpDqPS
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Dr. Huichun (Judy) Zhang is the Frank H. Neff Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. She earned her Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology and her B.S. and M.S. from Nanjing University in China. Her research focuses on the fate and transformation of environmental contaminants in natural and engineered aquatic environments and the removal of organic contaminants and nutrients from contaminated water. Dr. Zhang has published in numerous journals, such as Environmental Science and Technology, Water Research, Chemical Engineering Journal, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Langmuir, Applied Catalysis B, Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Chemosphere, and ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. She has received five competitive research grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as the Principle Investigator. In addition, Dr. Zhang directed research projects for US EPA, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, William Penn Foundation, NSF Water Environmental Technology Center, Research Corporation, and US Geological Survey through Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center and Pennsylvania Sea Grant.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
September 30: Supreme Court Review and Preview. With Jonathan H. Adler, J.D., Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law, and Jonathan L. Entin, J.D., David L. Brennan Professor Emeritus of Law.
October 7: Germany and Ukraine. With Andreas Sobisch, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, John Carroll University
October 14: More Money for the IRS. With Timothy Fogarty, Ph.D., Andrew D. Braden Professor, Department of Accountancy.
October 21: To Be Determined
October 28: Is This the EU’s Moment? With Elliot Posner, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science.
November 4: Midterm Election Forecast (or Guesses) Speakers to Be Determined
November 11: Law Enforcement and the Opioid Epidemic. With Daniel J. Flannery, Ph.D., Dr. Semi J. and Ruth Begun Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, MSASS.
November 18: The First Energy Scandal and the Challenge of Utility Regulation. With Miranda Leppla, J.D., Director, Environmental Law Clinic, CWRU School of Law.
November 25: Thanksgiving Break
December 2: To Be Determined
December 9: To Be Determined |
