What’s in Your Water? Using Science-Informed Problem Solving to Protect our Most Valuable Resource

7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | Tuesday, 14 November | Schulze Auditorium, University of St. Thomas | FREE

You can submit a question for the panelists at www.surveymonkey.com/r/SETACtownhall.

Inspired by Café Scientifique and other science outreach organizations, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) is hosting its first SETAC Town Hall. Over 1700 scientists representing a range of expertise and variety of perspectives will be attending a conference in the Twin Cities the week of 12November, and invite you to join the conversation about the science of water. This forum will tackle issues of local, national and global importance – from microplastics to mining extractions and nitrate run-off to pharmaceuticals in wastewater, to name a few.

WHO: The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, an international organization of professionals dedicated to advancing the research related to contaminants in the environment, supporting the development of principles and practices to protect, enhance and manage the environment, and encouraging the application of science to environmental policy. Our members work in academia, business, and the government, and use multidisciplinary approaches and science-based objectivity to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental problems.

WHAT: SETAC Town Hall – What’s in your water? Using science-informed problem solving to protect our most valuable resource

WHEN: Tuesday, 14 November 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

WHERE: University of St. Thomas, Schulze Auditorium

WHY: Everyone should be open to scientific thought and exploration, especially when the topic is as essential as water. Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, has an especially close connection to the work of SETAC researchers. They study, and are here to discuss, a range of topics and issues, such as the environmental impacts of mining, which has been dominating the news up in Ely. Microplastics are an area of emerging concern, and research looking at tap water samples, beer and shellfish have been covered on Minnesota Public Radio News recently. Perhaps you want to know more about nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from fertilizer applied to farm fields, or what impact salting the roads in winter will have on frogs, or how pharmaceuticals are making their way into fish. Citizens and scientists should be able to speak the same language about safe chemical use, baseline risks and their potential effects on aquatic ecosystems.

MODERATOR: Erin Bennett Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada