Impacts of Climate Change on Water & Health (I)

Betsy Foxman, PhD 

(Hunein F. and Hilda Maassab Endowed Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases (MAC-EPID),  Co-Director of the Integrated Training program in Microbial Systems (ITiMS))

E. Carol Adair

Professor and Director of the Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont

Introduced by student

Dr. Carol Adair is a biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist at the University of Vermont whose research centers on how ecosystems and ecosystem processes like decomposition and nutrient loss respond to natural and human-driven environmental change. Recent projects have explored cold-air pooling in New England forests, finding that temperature inversions help sustain cold‑adapted species in lower elevations; how climate change and management impact the molecular composition of soil carbon; and how climate change—particularly warmer, wetter winters—alter watershed processes and nutrient fluxes. This last project, and the focus of her talk, has demonstrated that warmer winters are no longer dormant periods for seasonally snow-covered watersheds: instead, they’re critical times for nutrient export. 

Lab Website 

Kevin Rose

Associate Professor and Frederic R. Kolleck ’52 Career Development Chair in Freshwater Ecology. Acting Director of The Darrin Freshwater Institute. Director of The Jefferson Project, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Introduced by Student

Mary Jo Kirisits, PhD

Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Texas – Austin.

Introduced by Student

Prof. Kirisits works in the field of drinking water, where her group studies the occurrence of opportunistic pathogens at the tap and the use of native microorganisms to treat drinking water at the plant.

Please note that Dr. Kirisits will be presenting unpublished work so we will not be streaming or recording this talk.  Please join us in person!